Michelini i Mufatto A Merced

The 2019 A Merced was produced with grapes from three vineyards in the village of San Lorenzo (Ponferrada) on schist, slate and quartz soils, all in the Alto de Valdecañada (where the Encrucijada vineyard is and where they are going to move their winery and center of operations). It fermented with 100% full clusters matured in used barrels for 14 months. Since 2019, they have not added any sulfur in the grapes. It's clean and floral, with notes of blood and meat, perfumed and with good tension. This is medium-bodied with moderate ripeness and alcohol (12.5%). There is more complexity and depth here than in the 2018, and it is fresh, fine and elegant. 5,000 bottles and 30 magnums produced. All the 2019s were bottled after the 2020 harvest in November 2020.

I find a chalky and organic profile on the nose, mineral, ash, truffle. The red fruit is rising from the back. It has the unmistakable finesse of the Michelini winemaking. White-pepper notes, with fresh red-fruit flavours and tense acidity. It is a Bierzo out of the box where you cannot expect concentration.