Vanessa

9.2

🍷This wine comes from the steep, south-facing slopes of a historic vineyard called Las Lamas—a Viña Clasificada within Corullón, Bierzo.

🇪🇸 The “Viña Clasificada” designation in Spain is akin to a “Cru” designation in Burgundy and is fitting for this particular wine, which hails from a celebrated single-vineyard site that showcases the beauty and distinctive qualities of this particular place.

🕰️ This classification departs from Spain’s historical focus on appellation (e.g., Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo) and aging categories (e.g., Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva).

🌿 Las Lamas sits at a high altitude, above slate and clay soils, and is made with fruit of old-vine Mencía by the legendary Descendientes de J. Palacios (DJP).

👌In the glass, this wine had a wonderful structure to age. We opened this bottle in its infancy (something we do from time-to-time out of excitement). 😆

☝️ Not to mention, we truly enjoy visiting and revisiting great wines at all stages of their life, even in their youth.

🍒 Right now, this wine is deliciously pure in its fruit expression with an old soul that emerges as it opens. After decanting, we were greeted with gloriously dark cherry, pomegranate, and berry notes next to tar, rose, spice cake, vanilla, black licorice, cacao, and savory elements.

😋 The palate had sweeter characteristics, though the wine was fully dry. Its acidity was fresh, giving a firm backbone, and its tannins were refined, leaving a lingering presence on the finish.

👏 With time, we imagine it would evolve marvelously to develop layers and enhanced aromatic complexity. — 12 days ago

with Deked1

Victor Charcan

8.9

If you are in the mood for a light, easy, strawberry candy wine, light bodied and tense, this is it. — 4 months ago

Scott Kahn

9.2

A perfect complement to osso bucco and fish soup! Rich red fruit with good structure - M tannins and M+ acidity. Very enjoyable. — 5 months ago

Jeremy Shanker

Sommelier at RN74

9.3

One of the BEST Mencia — 7 months ago

Sébastien F

9.1

Nez viandé fumé, bouche longue équilibrée tanins parfaitement fondus — 10 months ago

Maitri

9.0

Great wine with great company — 2 years ago

with Mike

Mark S.

9.0

Deep cherry red with violet. Good aroma! Oak vanilla. Rose flowery. Red cherry. Slight meaty. Sweet aroma. Clove nutmeg cinnamon. Complexity. This is for wine lovers. Minerally. It is for more tasting its taste one than enjoying drinking. Fruitiness M+ Sweetness M Acidity M++ Tannin M Bitterness M Body M Finish M % Elegant Envinate Lousas Vina de Aldea Mencia 23 @1240, JJ, 261021 — 4 days ago

Taavi Davies

8.9

Bright, floral, but enough body to stand up to jamon — 3 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

See my previous note in February 2026. Very similar to now. This is fulsome and savoury at once - black cherry and raspberry. Very easy to like. Like a hypothetical blend of Syrah and Merlot. The herbal savouriness of Syrah with the softness of a supple Merlot. Made by Alvaro Palacios. Love the flamboyant Spanish label. — 3 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.2

A nice Mencia from Bierzo, Ruby red color, purple hues, with aromas of juicy red fruits, spice and earthy notes. On the palate flavors of cherry, tart strawberry and cranberry, with spice and gentle oak notes, very Rhône-like. Fine tannins, medium+ finish ending with fruit, spice and earthy character. Nice! — 7 months ago

Jakub Kalinowski

9.1

Light footed and quite light bodied, yet with nice tension, beautifully integrated tannins and a juicy flow.
Dark fruit (black cherries, mulberries) and turned earth with a hint of tar and leather but also with a floral whiff adding freshness & lightness.
Juicy, with a certain effortlessness yet with quite some depth and a dark, rocky mineral core.
Somewhere between a good Morgon and a Baga - this is delish! And with just 13% alc, dangerously gluggable. — 9 months ago

Sébastien F

9.1

C'est bon! Efficace appétant — a year ago

Peter Sultan

9.3

Wine with roasted whole chicken part 2: I used to adore Ribera Sacra, & then moved away with the inevitable rise in price & trend towards more modern styles. Not this. A short decant (45-60) to take the wind out of the Brett sails, & we were off: dense, brambly black fruits on nose & palate, with a distant barn door left open on the nose. Medium plus acidity. It’s the length though that impressed me, along with a freshness (at 13%). Evolves in glass, as if the fruit still has layers. Like a really good chinon. At about 28$, a high end QPR. Eric Solomon imp, interestingly enough. — 5 years ago

with Owen

Taavi Davies

9.1

Dark red fruit, spices, herbs and lots of tannin — at Quinta da Auga — 3 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Interesting to compare this with the Bierzo had a few days ago - both the Mencia grape. Consulting my map i note that Ribeira Sacra is next to Bierzo, both in Galicia. I found this wine slightly more delicious than the Bierzo. This wine is 80% Mencia - the other 20% being Garnacha and 5 other varietals that no one would’ve heard of before. Difficult to describe the palate - very savoury and spicy and lacking in overt fruit you might see in an Australian wine. No lesser wine because of this. I had my first one 28 weeks ago in January 2026. — 3 months ago

Donald Williams

9.4

One of our favorite Spanish reds. — 5 months ago

with Bonnie

Daniel M

9.0

Nice nose that reminds me of La Folle Noire d'Ambat from Domaine le Roc in Fronton. There is a bit of a wild thing on the nose, with nice cherry and black cherry notes, there is also an iron, metallic touch. Some savoury scents add some complexity. The palate is juicy, acid driven, with some width, some savoury notes all along, like worcestershire sauce. There is a bit of a tannic grip in the rear and a rather long and juicy, and grippy finish that goes on for a while and ends up with that umami flavour. This is very good and a great value at about 17 USD in equivalent local currency. Warmly recommended. 14% abv — 5 months ago

Donald Williams

9.5

Don’t see this varietal on a restaurant menu very often, so I grabbed it. Great choice. With rack of lamb and braised beef short ribs, it was truly wonderful. — 8 months ago

with Bonnie

Ross Bathgate

9.0

Really interesting — a year ago

Bart Bartlett

9.0

Excellent dark cherry notes that give way to a peppery middle and a nice earthy finish. — 5 years ago

with Jennifer