2014 Algueira Pizarra Ribeira Sacra
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Tasting notes
Limpid ruby. Expressive, mineral-accented cherry, black raspberry and violet pastille aromas are complemented by suggestions of exotic spices and licorice. Sweet, seamless and penetrating on the palate, offering intense dark berry, bitter cherry and spicecake flavors that show excellent clarity and spicy lift. Displays appealing sweetness on an impressively long, juicy finish that features repeating smoky minerality and subtle, slow-building tannins. (Fermented in large, French oak vats and aged in neutral French oak barrels.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2014 Pizarra is named after the slate soils where the Mencía grapes are grown, and it's one of the more classical wines in the portfolio. It has a more developed nose (it's also a little older than the rest) that combines varietal aromas with notes of wild herbs, spices and smoke, something earthy and more-complex aromas of dried leaves and forest floor. The palate is medium-bodied and very tasty, with clean and intense flavors, fine tannins and a savory finish. It's very approachable, but it should continue its life in bottle for a few more years.
100% Mencía from a patch called Parcela Carballocovo. Up to 30-year-old vineyards on sloped terraces of slate with a southern exposure. Hand-harvested grapes, fermentation in truncated-cone shape tanks, stalks are kept during the process. Prolonged post-fermentative maceration with a further 12 months’ ageing in French oak barrels. Tasted blind. The 2014 Pizarras is great. It preserves the delicate style but the fruit is really alive. On the nose, oak aromas are noticeable but a soft red fruit and stony sensation really shines. It is slightly warmer than past vintages but still delicious. Long and subtle with integrated tannins and a touch of cherry brandy on the back palate. (FC)