2024 La Faraona

A rare Viña Clasificada, the 2024 La Faraona opens in vibrant aromatics and fine tannins, the 99% Mencia and tiny addition of Jerez grown at extremely high elevation facing southeast where the grapes only get sun in the morning. As a result, it takes the longest of all the producer’s sites to ripen, further complicated by a tectonic plate in the middle of the parcel adding a lot of mineral to the dirt. Fine tannins present on the entry and persist through the finish. The wine is light to medium-bodied, complete, and fully balanced in flavorful tangy red fruit. A barrel sample, it already exhibits the balance of the vintage, harvested when the grapes tasted the way they wanted. This will be one to age easily another 15-20 years. Founded in 1999 by Alvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Perez Palacios, this producer is all about showing off the bedrock, metamorphic, and slate soils in Bierzo, using it as a canvas for the different profiles of Mencia. They farm vineyards that are 130 years old and at high elevation, many interplanted with whites like Palomino.