Avancia Cuveé de O Mencía 2017

The smoky and meaty red 2017 Cuvee de O Mencía is the old-vine cuvée, mostly Mencía, but in the old vines, there's always a small percentage of Garnacha Tintorera, Mouratón (Juan García), Gran Negro, Sousón, Cariñena ... perhaps coming up to 10% of the volume. It fermented in flextank with uncrushed berries and neutral yeasts and matured in used French barriques for eight months. It transported me to the slopes of the Northern Rhône, as it feels like a juicy unoaked Syrah, with some grainy tannins and enough of everything to stand up to hearty food. Very tasty. 18,000 bottles. It was bottled in July 2018.