Losada Bierzo 2018
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Suckling
James
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Winemaker Notes
The elegance Losada has brought to the new Bierzo in a very easy-drinking style. From managed vineyards on more gentle slopes in which clay soils predominate, is aged nine months in French oak and expresses the more tender and juicy side of the Mencía variety.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Attractive dried herbs and a fresh, minerally edge and plenty of lemon, too. The palate has a supple and elegant feel with a juicy, elegant and very pristine, linear style.
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Losada Vinos de Finca was established in 2004 on the outskirts of the village of Pieros, on the Camino de Santiago, midway between Cacabelos and Villafranca del Bierzo, opposite the ruins of Castro Ventosa, Bierzo’s Roman-era fortification.
Losada’s founding philosophy was to take the region’s wines to higher level, prioritizing elegance, balance and purity of expression through limited production and adequate, but not excessive, technology. They sought out old Mencía vineyards planted on primarily clay soils, a terroir which had been relatively overlooked by the Bierzo new wave of the 1990s in its ‘rush to slate’.
The skins of Mencía grapes grown on clay soils are more hydrated and less thick, the structure more mellow, the wines generally softer in feel. Fresh acidity (the backbone of Bierzo wines) in combination with this tenderness, created an elegance that is now considered a principal characteristic of Bierzo wines.
Every part of the winemaking process is unhurried. The sustainably-farmed fruit is harvested by hand and undergoes rigorous selection on the vine so that additional sorting at the winery is minimal. After de-stemming, the grapes are gently crushed and fermentation begins naturally using the indigenous yeasts. Fruit from individual plots is kept separate in order to better observe and interpret the variety from each location, a traditional non-interventionist technique that aims to showcase the soil. Cooperage is 100% French, with a minimum barrel capacity of 300L. All techniques are adjusted according to the character of the vintage, and the wines are differentiated according to vineyard origin rather than the length of time spent in the barrel.