V.O. 2016

The 2016 VO Versión Original is an old-vine Mencía from the same vineyards where Ortega gets the grapes for ROC, but these vines are in the lower part where there's more sand and deeper soils, which tends to produce more concentrated wine. 2016 is a lighter and cooler vintage, which seems to offset quite nicely the character of the place, and delivered a very balanced wine. The full clusters fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a 2,400-liter oak vat for 14 months. It was bottled in March 2018. This wine has the austerity and seriousness of the other 2016s, with shy aromas, slowly developing a nose of wild strawberries and flowers. This is sophisticated and lean, with subdued minerality, combining energy and elegance. It feels very young and should benefit from some time in bottle, so if you drink it now, give it plenty of time in the glass or in a decanter. Beautiful. 3,529 bottles produced. In 2018 this wine will change, as she had to find a different source of grapes in 2017 because of the frost. She found a plot of old vines in Villabuena, and this will be one of the Vino de Finca, a single-vineyard wine, a new category in the Bierzo appellation.