The red Alanda is a blend of Mencía, Bastardo (aka Merenzao or Trousseau), Garnacha Tintorera and a swig of the white Doña Blanca. The fruit is drawn from a mosaic of high-altitude organic vineyards spanning myriad soil types, including slate, granite and clay. The resulting wine is, therefore, a kind of vinous mural of the Monterrei landscape. One-third of the grapes were destemmed, and everything is co-fermented. The wine aged for 15 months in used oak barrels and six months in vat before bottling.
We have shown previous vintages blind to some very good tasters who went straight to 1er cru Burgundy, and the new release is cut from similar cloth. Velvety and caressing on the palate, it’s a juicy, perfumed wine delicately shaped by lacy tannins and buoyant freshness. Another superb, super-classy ‘Spanish Burgundy’ that only a master grower could produce!