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The 2024 Moncerbal is from grapes grown in layered soils, where there’s more space between the rocks and thus more air in the soil. Ripening can be uneven in these mineral-driven, complex soils, and that is reflected in this mineral-driven, complex wine. A majority Mencia, it has 8% Alicante Bouschet and 3% Jerez. It features a soft, giving texture and chalkiness, complex and supple, with rounded, medium-bodied intensity, tasting of fresh blackberry and plum seasoned in cardamon and white pepper. 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.
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Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2024 Moncerbal was called juicy and crystalline by Álvaro Palacios. It's a Vino de Paraje (lieu-dit) from multiple small plots they own that total 2.1 hectares in the village of Corullón. It was produced with approximately 89% Mencía, 8% Alicante Bouschet and 3% white grapes, mostly Jerez (Palomino), and fermented with partially destemmed grapes in oak vats with 46 days of maceration. It is currently in barrel. It comes in at 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.81. This year, Moncerbal is more Las Lamas and Las Lamas is more Moncerbal, and the character is quite similar, both gaining.