2004 Descendientes de J. Palacios Bierzo Petalos, Spain
A bit of reduction and a fair dose of vanilla edged oak. There’s a chewy chocolatey earthy start with a shot of darker fruit that’s quickly overtaken by extraction and tongue tingling tannins. Not enough acidity to cleanse the somewhat jumbled midpalate. A surprising touch of heat on the back end despite the listed 13.5% abv. I wanted to like this old vine Mencia but found it way too new world. Maybe a night in the fridge will help, but I’m not overly optimistic. Should’ve bought a Ribeira Sacra!
RT
don’t give up on it, Richard. I had a bottle of the '07 a month or so ago – upon first opening, it was jumbled/kinda all over the place. A couple hours into the bottle it really started coming together. I’ll be curious to hear your follow-up impressions on this bottle.
I was given a bottle of the 07 recently and was pleasantly surprised by it - there was a nice combination of dark fruit, decent acidity and modestly rustic tannins. A nice food wine at a decent price.
A bottle of '07 Ventura Ribeira Sacra Pena do Lobo last weekend was super reductive upon opening and took hours of decanting before it was drinkable - not a good first impression.
Tonight, some minor improvements. Less reduction and somewhat more integrated oak. The midpalate is better balanced but still fairly extracted with slightly more of an oxalic (spinach) mouthfeel. The heat was subdued by the cooler serving temps.
Scott, I had a relatively positive experience with the 07 D. Ventura Vina Caneiro Ribeira Sacra with more lively fruit, no oak and no reduction. Kind of Bojo and Loire Cab Franc-ish, compared to the Bierzo Petalos which strikes me as Cali Merlot-like.
RT