Critics reviews
Hamish Anderson - The Daily Telegraph - 20th June 2014
About this WINE
Dominio do Bibei
Ribeira Sacra is one of the most exciting regions to emerge from Spain in recent years. Situated in the North-Eastern corner in Galicia, the area is remote, the landscape arid and mountainous. Domino do Bibei's winemaker, Javier Domínguez, is producing modern wines with beautiful definition and verve, using traditional grape varieties such as Mencia, Garnacha and Muraton for the reds and Godello, Albariño and Dona Blanca in his whites.
The vineyards are steeply terraced at high altitude, up to 670 metres. There is little top soil with the old vines working hard to survive amongst the rocky terrain of slate/schist. These are thoughtful wines which not only please but also challenge the senses through their extraordinary purity and detail. No stainless steel is used, fermentation and storage is in wood and cement. Grapes are hand harvested and are fed via a gravity system.
Tempranillo/Tinto Fino
A high quality red wine grape that is grown all over Spain except in the hot South - it is known as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero, Cencibel in La Mancha and Valdepenas and Ull de Llebre in Catalonia. Its spiritual home is in Rioja and Navarra where it constitutes around 70% of most red blends.
Tempranillo-based wines tend to have a spicy, herbal, tobacco-like character accompanied by ripe strawberry and red cherry fruits. It produces fresh, vibrantly fruit driven "jovenes" meant for drinking young. However Tempranillo really comes into its own when oak aged, as with the top Riojas where its flavours seem to harmonise perfectly with both French and American oak, producing rich, powerful and concentrated wines which can be extraordinarily long-lived.
In Ribera del Duero it generally sees less oak - the exception being Vega Sicilia where it is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and then aged for an astonishing 7 years in oak and is unquestionably one of the world`s greatest wines.
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Description
Perfumed, vibrant and pure with red cherry and raspberry characters reminiscent of Burgundy. With fine acidity, this is cleansing and refined. The supple texture builds discreetly across the palate. A blend of 90% Mencia, and the remaining 10% from Garnacha, Brancellao and Muraton. The long finish offers sweet spice and forest floor notes. Ethereal and simply fantastic.
Martin Rolph, Fine Wine This blend of 90% Mencia with the remaining 10% from Garnacha, Brancellao and Muraton is scented with black cherries and Parma violets. It has a lively and juicy palate with a hint of spice.
Alice Cave, London Shop
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