Envinate Lousas Vinas de Aldea Tinto 2022
Envinate Lousas Vinas de Aldea Tinto 2022
93-94 Wine Advocate
Mainly (~85%) Mencía, with Brancellao, Merenzao, Mouraton, Grao Negro, Garnacha Tintorera, and other indigenous varieties (white and red) co -planted.
Aldea means “village” in Gallego; thus, this is Envínate’s “village wine”, produced from a combination of –minimum- 60-year-old plots located in the ancient vineyard region of Ribeira Sacra. This cuvee is made up of 90-95% Mencía with other co-planted varietals blended in. The native vines are grown on steep slopes made of slate and sit in between 400-600 meters elevation. The plots used for this wine are in the Amandi, Ribeiras del Sil and Quiroga regions of Ribeira Sacra and range in elevation between 400 and 600 meters. The vines are 25 to 60 years old, and the majority of the soils are gneiss, with some granite and slate. Each of the plots was harvested and fermented separately in open -top concrete and plastic fermenters. Depending on the plot, a portion (ranging from 0% to 30%) of the grapes were destemmed and skin contact lasted between 25 and 60 days. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine was transferred to concrete tanks (20%) and used French oak barrels (80%) where it completed malolactic fermentation and rested on its lees for 11 months before bottling.
93-94 pts Wine Advocate: The sample of the 2022 Lousas Viñas de Aldea was in stainless steel, blended and sulfured and waiting to be bottled in a couple of months. Most 2022s are more immediate than the 2021s, and this is floral, perfumed and expressive, with a juicy and round palate. They now have more vineyards in general, so they compensated the lower yields with more land under vine. The 2022s have turned out fresher and cooler than what the conditions of the year pointed out. There will be some 25,000 bottles of this. Even though it's a lower-yielding year, they had more vineyards.
