The Wines Of Galicia

We have been enamoured with the mencia based wines of Spaces northwest since first we tried them. Their beautiful lifted nose spiked with mineral accents that flowed onto graceful pallets raked with fine granit like tannins an earthy savouryness at the edges. They are something akin to cru Beaujolias crossed with the finest reds of the loire and we just cant get enough.

Bodegas Pittacum is owned by the Terras Gauda operation and is situated in Argaza in the heart of Bierzo and made from grape sourced from small plots of organically grown 90 year old vines grown in clay soils on steep slopes.

Glace fruits with crème de mure and raspberry coulis flecked with granitic mineral shards. Mid weight styling come from slippery red fruits and a gentle burst of freshness that comes not from acidity but from a deep mineral vein soaked up from the long roots and rocky slopes. Its like a bowl of mixed berry smashed onto rock and is absolutely delightful. If you have not had the wines of the region or mencia this is a belter of an introduction.

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I couldn't skip to pick a Mencia from El Bierzo this year, as Luis Gutierrez from Parker said: "There have never been better and more interesting wines in Bierzo than there are now." And Cesar Marquez is a name to remember. From Raul Perez's family, Cesar is focused into showing the differences in Bierzo, with parajes (lieu-dieux) at different altitudes (from 500 to 1100 m) and different terroirs. He has tried different approaches to the amount of stems but the priority is to harvest earlier, when the fruit is crunchy, herbal and fresh. The wines are aging in neutral, 600-liter French oak barrels, for 12 months, exactly the same as his single sites (one of them, Villegas 2023, got 100 points from Tim Atkin).

There's a lot of winemaking, old vines (some of them over 100 yo) and terroirs in this entry level wine which worths every penny. If you never had a Mencia, think about a Burgundian style, fruity, herbal, fragrant, with dried flowers and graphitic notes, with fine-grained tannins and long finish.  A splash of Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante bouschet) brings juiciness to the blend. SARA 
 


The 2022 Parajes is the regional red representing El Bierzo, and it's a blend of different places, soils and expositions, from vines at different altitudes, between 450 and 780 meters above sea level. He used less full clusters, as he uses less stems in warmer years, with some 15% this time; part was in stainless steel and part in bins, as he ferments by plot. The wine matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. It's super fine and elegant, fresh and balanced, with moderate ripeness and 13.3% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 4.76 grams of acidity. It's medium-bodied, with very fine tannins and great balance. The tannins are round and fine-grained, and the mouthfeel is juicy and tender, reflecting the warmer year. But there's no heat in any of the wines from the year. 32,605 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2024. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

César Márquez Parajes is a coupage of the most prestigious and unique Bierzo plots. Old vines grown as they used to be, without using pesticides or chemicals that can damage the natural balance of the terroir. Each of the plots is worked separately according to their needs and the harvest is carried out manually.

In the winery, 50% of the grapes used to make César Márquez Parajes are destemmed. Then they are pressed in the old-fashioned way, with feet, so that some of them stay whole during fermentation. Fermentation is spontaneous with the grape’s native yeasts. Once the must becomes wine, it is pressed and placed into 225 and 500 litre barrels separately. After 12 months the barrels are emptied and the different wines are combined. DECANTER

Founded in the 1980s, Bodegas Granbazán was one of the pioneers in Rías Baixas to elevate Albariño from a local variety into a world-class white wine. Nestled in Galicia’s Val do Salnés, the estate is famed for its meticulous vineyard work and its striking blue-tiled winery. Granbazán’s philosophy blends tradition and modernity, crafting wines that capture the crisp Atlantic influence while showcasing the richness and texture Albariño can achieve. Today, their bottlings stand as benchmarks for the region, embodying precision, freshness, and regional character.

The 2024 Granbazán Verde Albariño is a vibrant, expressive example of what makes this grape so captivating. Aromas of citrus zest, green apple, and white peach leap from the glass, layered with subtle floral notes and a hint of sea spray. On the palate it is crisp yet textural, delivering juicy orchard fruits and a streak of saline minerality that speaks of its Atlantic home. Bright acidity keeps it lively, while a gentle weight on the mid-palate adds balance and complexity. The finish is long, clean, and mouthwatering – a wine that feels tailor-made for seafood but is equally refreshing on its own.

Notes on previous vintages:
A crisp and refreshing white that has aromas of lemon peel, lime zest and green apples. It’s light- to medium-bodied with tangy acidity. Pristine, minerally and mouthwatering finish. CLARE NESBITT, jamessuckling.com

Limpid, green-hued straw. High-pitched citrus and orchard fruit scents show fine detail and pick up floral and succulent herb flourishes with air. Tightly wound and focused on the palate, offering fresh Meyer lemon, green apple and honeysuckle flavors that show fine detail and back-end cut. Closes long and stony, with repeating florality and a touch of bitter quinine. JOSH RAYNOLDS

Aromas of ripe summer peach, lemon zest, wet river rocks and honeysuckle waft from the glass. This wine is full in the mouth and has brilliant acidity. It offers flavors of orange marmalade, peach pie, lemon, and dried herbs de Provence. WINE ENTHUSIAST

Notes of black olives, hibiscus, ripe red cherries and some baked berries. Still quite juicy, with fine-boned tannins and a full-bodied palate. Round, structured and long. Drink now. ZEKUN SHUAI, JamesSuckling.com

The 2022 Pétalos was produced with 85% Mencía, 10% white grapes and 5% other reds from over 90 hectares, 20% owned by them and the rest from 180 families. It fermented with some full clusters in oak and stainless steel vats and matured in barrels of different sizes for 10 months. It's clearly more Mediterranean, with notes of rockrose and other aromatic herbs, juicy and round, more fruit-driven, aromatic, velvety and very pleasant and easy to drink. It has 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.54. It's still not all bottled, as it's done in different lots, for a total of around 270,000 bottles and 3,000 magnums. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

The nose of the 2024 Zarate shows something savory, with a clear influence from the sea breeze and an almost salty twist in the finish. This is, of course, their flagship Albariño that always shows the character of the year, here very complete, with good ripeness, 13% alcohol and a very balanced mouthfeel. This is clean and precise, harmonious and elegant, with the chalky, slightly grainy finish from the granite soils. It's superb at this price point. LUIS GUTIERREZ, JamesSuckling.com

Scented nose of honeysuckle, nectarine, pears and minerals. Bone-dry on the palate, with bitter herb, elegant stone fruit and citrus notes. Simple and supple at the end. Drink now. ZEKUN SHUAI, JamesSuckling.com

The nose shows aromas of pleasant and exuberant red fruit. The palate is juicy but elegant and ethereal, easygoing and very drinkable. A great young Guimaro with plenty of fruit. Drink now. JAMES SUCKLING

The young red 2023 Mencía also contains the allowed 15% of other local varieties—Brancellao, Merenzao, Garnacha, Mouratón, Negreda, Sousón… It has notes of wild berries, herbs and flowers and a characteristic touch of honey and beeswax that I sometimes find in very young reds. It's juicy and velvety, with contained ripeness and 12.5% alcohol, integrated acidity and a clean finish. 100,000 bottles produced; it represents half of the annual output of the winery. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

This wine is close to definitive of Mencia’s best attributes. Valdeorras is possibly the perfect natural place for Mencia – enough solar energy to ripen tannin, but cool enough to preserve its scant natural acid reserves, with line, crunch and nerve from the granite. Gaba Mencia is unwooded and barely handled, with a great harmony of fruit, earth and the countryside.

Gaba is a wine of soft red fruit alive with granite and herbs, arranged around gentle fruit tannin and a herb-acid tang. The nose is roasted meat, rhurbarb, fennel, white strawberry, thyme; shining red fruit in a pastoral setting, aromatic bitters, a touch of brush. Sweet and sour agrodulce bifolds off a fleshily vegetal palate, nicely rounded in the middle, gently radiating down and out to all parts of the mouth.

Aromas of sliced apples, crusted salt and hints of iodine. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, salty, tense, delicate and nuanced, with a pleasant saline finish. From grapes grown in Sanxenxo, very close to the sea. You can actually see the ocean from the vineyards. Drink now. JamesSuckling.com

The sea-infused 2023 Tempus Vivendi, named after Alberto Nanclares's boat, was produced with grapes from the parishes of Vilalonga, Noalla, Adina and Dorrón in Sanxenxo in the coastal part of the Salnés, a total of 16 vineyards. It was produced like the rest: the full clusters were pressed and the juice fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and then kept with the lees for some seven months. This is always saltier and very tasty, with contained ripeness and alcohol (12.8%), neatly balanced by good acidity and a low pH and with a bone-dry finish this year. This is a wine that ages beautifully in bottle. 6,133 bottles and 50 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2025 on a flower day. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

This is floral with subtle white fruit. The palate is balanced and harmonious, with a subtle texture and freshness. The wine spent a year and a half in tanks and then another year in bottle. A blend of a third each of dona branca, verdello antiguo and treixadura, all co-fermented. From different parcels around the town of Verín. Drink now or hold. (94) JACOBO GARCIA-ANDRADE LLAMAS, JamesSuckling.com

The 2021 Alanda Blanco is a village wine from Monterrei, a blend of Dona Blanca, Treixadura and Verdello that reflects the diversity of soils, altitudes and expositions. The varieties fermented together, being added to the vat progressively, and 1,500-liters matured in a used French oak foudre for 15 months and the rest was kept in stainless steel. It's pale, young and austere, more about soil and rocks than fruit, with notions of wet granite and dry flowers. It has contained ripeness, 13% alcohol, very good acidity, freshness and balance, with a sense of purity and transparency that is common to all whites here. It has depth, energy and light and extra vibrancy this year. It could very well be the finest white Alanda to date. 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2023. (95) LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

The visually stunning Finca Cortezada vineyard was carved into a dizzyingly steep amphitheatre well over a century ago. When Fernando González Riveiro found this abandoned plot, it had been reclaimed by the mountain forest and he spent years painstakingly clearing the land and rebuilding the ancient terraces.

Located in the Ribeira del Sil sub-region, the vineyard’s walled terraces are between two and three meters high and are 200 metres long, planted to Albariño, Godello and Treixadura. These old vines are rooted in soils rich in gneiss, quartz and slate. Naturally, all the work carried out here is manual.