Camiño Real - Mencia&co.

80% Mencía & 20% 'tutti frutti' (Brancellao, Caiño, Merenzao, e.a.) | Camiño Real = koninklijke weg | gelegen tussen Doade en Castro Candelas, een route voor koningen met paarden | Amandi regio | mix van ligging en terroir (voornamelijk leisteen) | 50+ jaar oude stokken | 60% whole bunch | vergisting in groot gebruikt Frans eiken | rijping in 500 en 5000 liter groot gebruikt Frans eiken voor 10 tot 12 maanden | floraal | vlezig | meer spice en vulling | olijven | lavendel | brede zuren | fijne structuur 

In 2016 zijn de wijngaarden van Pedro getrofen door een flinke hagelbui. Hij heeft besloten om in 2016 één wijn op de markt te brengen waar hij de overbleven Mencia druiven gebruikt van alle vijf de Finca's en de druiven voor de basis wijn. Vanaf 2016 elk jaar gemaakt en Camiño Real genoemd.

Guímaro

Na twintig jaar hard werken heeft Pedro een prachtig domein gecreëerd dat klaar is voor de toekomst. Het bezoek aan de wijngaarden is indrukwekkend! Wat een helden werk wordt hier verricht om het mogelijk te maken deze unieke wijnen te bottelen! Zo steil en dus alles met hand! Er is geen enkele twijfel over de succesvolle toekomst van Guímaro, mede doordat Gutiérrez van Parker al meerdere malen de Finca Capeliños als beste wijn van Galicië heeft uitgeroepen! All time favourite!

Review

Camiño Real was a path from Doade to Castro Candelas only suitable for horses, not for carriages, that was said to have been used by the kings, hence the name, which means "royal path." The 2019 Camiño Real is a red to close the gap between the young unoaked wine and the reds from the single vineyards. It was produced with grapes from old vines in Amandi combining orientations, altitudes and soils. It's around 80% Mencía and the rest local grapes intermixed in the old vineyards that are always field blends—Brancellao, Merenzao, Sousón, Caíño… It fermented with some 60% full clusters in troncoconic oak vats with indigenous yeasts and a total maceration time of 45 days. The wine matured in a combination of 500-liter oak barrels and 5,000-liter oak vats for 10 to 12 months. It has a beautiful nose with floral notes, hints of fresh meat and great nuance and complexity. It's medium-bodied with very fine tannins, somewhat ethereal, like a weightless Côte-Rôtie. This has to be the finest vintage for this bottling. This was the only red I didn't taste from 2020 as it had not yet been bottled. This wine is a true bargain, and in this great vintage, they produced a little bit more, some 25,000 bottles. It was bottled in June 2020. 94+/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Pedro "Guímaro" thinks 2019 could be one of the finest vintages of recent times, with textbook conditions and a perfect (and long) cycle for the grape. 2020 was a warmer vintage than 2019, but the profile of the wines is still quite fresh although with a little more alcohol. It was a low-yielding year—25% or 30% less than normal—which, combined with one week of very warm weather, increased the ripeness and concentration. 2021 can be considered a classic vintage in the style of yesteryear, with a very fresh wine profile. It was a very challenging year in the vineyards, with lots of rain and cold weather, a little in the style of 2013. Yields were generous. They are experimenting with granite eggs and also testing fortified wines with the great help of Niepoort, with whom they also produce a dry red, Ladredo. In 2020 there will be two new wines, one Miño and one Sil, and the 2018 and 2019 from the granite eggs, but the wines were not ready when I tasted.