Spanish Mencía: Panel tasting results

Sarah Jane Evans MW, Beth Willard and David Williams tasted 58 wines with 5 Outstanding and 29 Highly recommended.

Spanish Mencía: Panel tasting scores

58 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 5

Highly recommended 29

Recommended 23

Commended 1

Fair 0

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release Mencía red wines, incorporating single varietal wines or blends with a minimum 85% Mencía, from any region in Spain.

Mencía is the aromatic, elegant star of northwest Spain. Our tasting notes summed the wines up in a flurry of appealing adjectives: vibrant, pretty, flinty, graceful, pomegranate, redcurrant, red- fruited acidity, youthful.

In the past few years Mencía has travelled far from its original role as a niche regional variety. Today it can take centre stage among Spain’s red varieties, in distinct contrast to the traditional image of Tempranillo. The northwest has other equally fresh and crisp red varieties, but Mencía dominates. Nor is the variety at home just in the top left-hand corner of the country, as we were to discover when we encountered a very successful Valencian version.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Spanish Mencía panel tasting

In addition to Valencia, we tasted 40 wines from Galicia. One was from the Atlantic Rías Baixas and the remaining 39 from further south: Ribeira Sacra (24), Valdeorras (seven) and Monterrei (eight). Bierzo – next door to Galicia, but a little further inland within the Castilla y León region – accounted for 17. In general terms, we were delighted with many of the wines. More than half scored 90 points or more, and five were rated Outstanding. Only one of the wines was faulty. Vintages ranged back as far as 2013, although the majority clustered in the 2021 and 2020 vintages. Overall, these were bottles that are best enjoyed relatively young, within the next five years or so.

The headline news from this tasting is that Ribeira Sacra came out on top, with three out of the five Outstandings and eight in the top 14. This certainly chimes with the attention that the denomination has been receiving, for the freshness of the wines as well as the heroic viticulture on its steep, steep slopes.

Bierzo has been the leader in profile-building for Mencía, particularly with the top wines of Raúl Pérez and (no relation) Ricardo Pérez of Descendientes de J Palacios. Those

wines did not figure here, and we missed the elegance of Bierzo at its best. David Williams noted that some of the Bierzo wines disappointingly lacked regional and terroir

character, and were masked by winemaking.

See all Spanish Mencía panel tasting wines

By contrast, we found the best wines from Valdeorras altogether fresher. Monterrei, from the small sample provided, did not do so well. It is Galicia’s most southerly denomination and it may do better to concentrate on the increasingly known white variety Godello. It’s a case of ‘follow the producer’.

One of the attractions of Mencía, especially as the climate warms, is its crispness, putting it in much the same category as a Loire Cabernet Franc. However, noted Beth Willard: ‘You need an adventurous customer when discussing lighter, crunchier wines. Acidity in wine is not easily understood.’ Williams agreed: ‘You need to be cautious describing the concept to people.’

Looking back at my notes for our last Mencía panel tasting in 2019, I commended the Ribeira Sacra wines, but commented that, in contrast to the Bierzo samples, ‘their labelling and bottles won’t yet encourage wine lovers to buy’. I’m glad to say I take it all back. The packaging has come to match the quality of the wine inside. There’s nothing to prevent you from snapping these wines up.

Spanish Mencía panel tasting scores

The following wines all scored 92 points or above

The judges

Sarah Jane Evans MW is a Decanter contributing editor and Co-Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards. Her latest book The Wines of Central and Southern Spain (£35 Infinite Ideas) is set for release in early 2024.

Beth Willard sources wines for both the on- and off-trade in the UK, with a particular focus on Spain and Eastern Europe. Formerly buying manager at Direct Wines, she is a DWWA joint Regional Chair for Spain, and a member of Spain’s Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino.

David Williams is a regular contributor to Decanter on all things Spanish. He is also wine correspondent for The Observer, deputy editor of The World of Fine Wine, and a columnist for trade magazine The Wine Merchant.

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