2022 Descendientes de J. Palacios La Faraona

Tank sample. 98% Mencía, 2% white grapes – Jerez (Palomino Fino) and Godello. Single-vineyard, 0.55 ha, yield 39 hl/ha. 2,065 bottles produced. Much more reduction on the nose. Closed and brooding with dark-cherry and damson fruit slowly emerging with aeration. Savoury and spicy. Plenty of tannic structure, this needs several years but has great promise. A remarkable example of how good Mencía can be in the right hands. (AWH)

The bottled 2022 La Faraona, from the 0.5 hectares of 82-year-old vines at 800 to 860 meters above sea level they own in the "paraje" of El Fierro in Corullón, is a lot less explosive and showy than the barrel sample I tasted almost 12 months ago. In fact, the wine feels more backward, closed and austere than any of the 2022s. It has more of everything: it's very spicy and peppery, with plenty of tannins and grip. This is going to require more time in bottle. It shows some notes of sweet spices that should integrate with a little more time. Patience... It matured in foudre for eight months. 2,050 bottles, 82 magnums, 16 double magnums and seven Jeroboams produced. It was bottled in November 2023.

Tank sample. 98% Mencía, 2% white grapes – Jerez (Palomino Fino) and Godello. Single-vineyard, 0.55 ha, yield 39 hl/ha. 2,065 bottles produced. Much more reduction on the nose. Closed and brooding with dark-cherry and damson fruit slowly emerging with aeration. Savoury and spicy. Plenty of tannic structure, this needs several years but has great promise. A remarkable example of how good Mencía can be in the right hands. (AWH)