2013 Dominio do Bibei Mencia Ribeira Sacra

RP92+ The grapes from the older vineyards are selected to produce the red cuvée 2013 Lacima,
which is from different vineyards and with a breakdown of approximately 75% Mencía, 20% Brancellao, 3% Mouratón and 2% Sousón. It fermented in open top 500-liter French oak barrels with indigenous yeasts and punching down of the cap and then was transferred
to 300-liter barriques for malolactic and 16 months aging. The élevage was completed with a further five months in one 3,500-liter oak vat. It felt riper and oakier than the Lalama—a constant across vintages—with spices, toast and smoke intermixed with darker
cherry flavors. The palate is medium-bodied, with more weight and denser, keeping its poise and balance, with some dusty tannins and oak-related flavors in the finish. It might need some more time in bottle to better integrate the effect of the élevage. 4,600
bottles produced. It’s been in bottle since 2015.  
Dominio Do Bibei works with 32 hectares of vineyards ranging between ten and 100 years old in the Bibei Valley
of Ribeira Sacra. The annual output is 100,000 bottles. I tasted a new (at least to me) eponymous red Domino Do Bibei from the excellent 2014 vintage produced exclusively with Brancellao and Mouratón grapes that was truly excellent and might indicate a new
direction in the reds, perfumed, transparent, insinuating and tantalizing. I was very pleasantly surprised by it.  Robert Parker