1985 Portugal

Beautifully scented, this wine has bright red cherry aromas alongside a fresh beetroot character. Vibrant and refreshing, it has lovely concentration with crunchy red fruit, hedgerow and earthy notes alongside fine, yet pert, tannins. This is a fascinating wine which clearly displays the delicate and individual character of the Mencía grape. Drink now to 2019.
Catriona Felstead MW - Wine Buyer, June 2017

Deep ruby in colour, this pure Garnacha has an expressive nose of ripe black cherry and plum with layers of subtle spice, toast and balsamic. It is concentrated and complex, yet extremely elegant thanks both to the benevolent 2013 vintage and the incredibly old Garnacha vines which date back to the early 20th century. Precise fruit and subtle spice on the palate is complemented by well-integrated, supple tannins and a long smooth finish. Drink now to 2021.
Lucy Bland, Assistant Buyer

PIntia is wonderful in 2013. It was a lighter vintage in general but this has really brought out the elegance of this wine, so often swathed in structure and tannins. There is a gentle touch of ripe blueberry alongside the ripe raspberry on the nose, yet the core of the wine is rich and dark. The tannins are still definitely in evidence; they have a tissue-like quality yet are also firm. They have been extremely well managed. A savoury, tasty mineral freshness comes through, leaving the palate wanting more. There is a gentleness to this Pintia which is extremely attractive with all the power still there, just held well in check. This is a truly lovely wine. Pintia: tamed. Drink now to 2025.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer

El Carretil is a richer wine, more densely textured, with notes of mocha and blueberry evidenced on the nose. The fruit character is etched with lapidary care and the finish has poise, freshness and length. 
Simon Field -Wine Buyer

From a single parcel of vines, La Faraona is the best Mencia on the market. The nose is beautiful with heady violets, lavender, crushed rocks and forest floor. Alongside the abundance of aromatics, this has fleshy, ripe fruit flavours and captivating smoky oak notes from the 600-litre barrels. The minerality keeps everything fresh and pure but a powerful structure suggests this will be a long lived one. This has such a long finish, showing all the details and layers you expect in exceptional wine.
Laura Atkinson - Private Account Manager

Always eagerly anticipated; Finca Dofi is intense, generous and velvety, yet it remains a very fairly priced offering from Álvaro Palacios. The 2013 effort has wonderful floral notes, framed by fine tannins and acidity. Vibrant and forward, thus extended ageing isn’t required but this will develop until 2025. A good introduction to fine Priorat. 
Martyn Rolph - Private Account Manager

Such an attractive nose with aromas of purple flowers, rose petals, musk and ripe plum fruit. Almost Port-like. On first taste it is very gentle, but given a swirl of air it develops into a weighty palate brimming with elegant herbs, fennel, lavender, fresh plum fruit and a powerful, mouth filling mid-palate. Gratallops always seems to be effortless and elegant, all the while retaining a lightness of touch and fine detail to the very end. The 2013 is no exception. 
Laura Atkinson - Private Account Manager

A resounding success, flourishing from a late, cool vintage. Beautifully perfumed, boasting precision and definition.

“2013 by the Bodegas’ own admittance was, to use that great wine-trade euphuism, ‘difficult’ in Ribera del Duero. The mark of a great estate however, is what they can achieve when the elements don’t play ball; that this Reserva was produced from the latest harvest in history, is testament to Peter Sisseck’s stellar site, fruit and barrel selection. Cool, pure and precise throughout this is refinement to the last. Fruit-forward yes, but it isn’t necessarily the fruit that keeps your nose so absorbed, granite, cool stone and a touch of blackcurrant leaf add layers of complexity to the 80% Tempranillo 20% Cabernet blend. Concentrated and silky, the tannins have been honed by 20 months in French oak and the finish is so harmonious and complete that you wish to repeat the entire experience instantly.”

Jared Ehret, Private Account Manager

One of only two Vins de Finca Qualificada from Priorat, the 2013 Clos Mogador is a complex blend of Garnacha and Cariñena with a touch of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It felt serious and a little backward, terribly balanced with shy notes of peat and graphite emerging with some time in the glass, subtle and complex, slowly revealing nuances of dark cherries, violets, black olives and later some red fruit. The palate is surprising: when I expected it to show its power, it just whispered and danced on my tongue with lively acidity that made it feel a lot lighter than it is. There is depth, elegance and incipient complexity. Here everything is in perfect harmony, with lots of everything, dry extract, acidity, alcohol and tannin, but somehow you don't notice any of it.

A remarkable vintage of Mogador. Given the quality, the price seems like a bargain, and availability shouldn't be too bad either, as some 28,000 bottles were filled in June 2015. Put it aside in your cellar, because this is a 20-year bottle of Priorat.
Luis Gutiérrez - robertparker.com, Oct 2016

Bierzo's principal grape is the obscure, indigenous red variety Mencía. While Bierzo is a relatively new wine appellation (a DO since 1989), it has a wealth of very old vines, planted on extremely steep hillsides, and in this respect it much resembles the Priorat region. Alvaro Palacios, with his nephew Ricardo Perez, established Descendientes de J. Palacios in 1998 in the village of Villafranca del Bierzo.

This is almost the definitive expression of Mencía, its vines perched on a stark vineyard of pure schist. Typically aromatic, this Mencía combines concentration with remarkable finesse. Floral notes lead to dark, well-defined blueberry and blackberry fruit. It has lovely depth, but is linear in style, so you’ll experience a luxurious glide along the palate. There is a real lightness of touch on show here. Very classy indeed.

Outstanding in every way, El Pisón is still swathed in oak and youthful insouciance; its potential cannot be hidden, however. For me it has now joined the rather small coterie of world wines, of which, paradoxically, both expectation and experience seem to increase every year. 
Simon Field - Wine Buyer

The nose reminded me of wet chalk straight away, a fine and subtle minerality, slowly opening up to aromas of violets and lavender. It had hints of pollen and honey wax, perfumed but in a subtle way. It is perhaps a little more austere and reticent than previous vintages that were warmer and drier. There is a big difference in the acidity that provides for an effervescent texture, with a terse sensation, with tension and a tasty finish with notes of acid berries. This feels like a real triumph over the conditions of the vintage, and a year that should evolve nicely in bottle. 
Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate. 31st August 2016.