The 2020 Bodegas y Viñedos Merayo Mencía Las Tres Filas offers one of Bierzo's finest expressions of old-vine Mencía. Sourced from 80–100+-year-old bush-trained vines planted on clay and pebble soils, the wine is crafted by Pedro Merayo, who established the estate after years spent restoring his family's vineyards. Today, Merayo farms 42 hectares of high-elevation vines using sustainable methods. The 2020 vintage benefited from excellent conditions and was vinified in stainless steel, with approximately six months of lees aging in French and American oak, which preserved freshness while adding depth. This is a fantastic value, earning best in show at the Decanter Awards, which is conducted blind.
Bright, pure red and black fruit dominate the nose, accompanied by floral and mineral notes. The palate shows vibrant acidity, silky tannins, and a long, stony finish, offering impressive finesse and surprising aging potential for a wine at this price point. It's an exceptional value and a perfect introduction to serious Mencía!
Decanter 97 points! "Our Best in Show journey across Northern Spain continues with a 2020 Bierzo, grown just across the provincial border from Galicia into Castilla y Léon. It’s another zone of steep slopes and old vines – the variety in this case being Mencia (known as Jaen in Portugal’s Dão region). This wine is deep black-red in colour and vivacious and urgent in aroma: wild plums mingled with the woodland scents of leaf, copse and forest floor. The palate is fruit-packed and vibrant, vigorous with an energy derived both from ripe acidity and fresh though smooth tannins; look out, too, for a stony, bitter-edged finish perhaps derived from the region’s slate soils. Wonderful drinking now in the flush of youth, but fruit of this quality will hold well for a few years yet."
James Suckling 93 points! "This shows notes of blackberries and blueberries with hints of walnuts, dried herbs, baking spices and cocoa nibs. Medium-to full-bodied with chalky, dusty tannins and a smooth, seamless texture. Juicy and crunchy blue-fruit character and notes of chocolate and licorice to close. Drink or hold."
2020 Bodegas y Vinedos Merayo Mencía Las Tres Filas Eta W/O 6-9-2025
2020 Bodegas y Vinedos Merayo Mencía Las Tres Filas Eta W/O 6-9-2025
The 2020 Bodegas y Viñedos Merayo Mencía Las Tres Filas offers one of Bierzo's finest expressions of old-vine Mencía. Sourced from 80–100+-year-old bush-trained vines planted on clay and pebble soils, the wine is crafted by Pedro Merayo, who established the estate after years spent restoring his family's vineyards. Today, Merayo farms 42 hectares of high-elevation vines using sustainable methods. The 2020 vintage benefited from excellent conditions and was vinified in stainless steel, with approximately six months of lees aging in French and American oak, which preserved freshness while adding depth. This is a fantastic value, earning best in show at the Decanter Awards, which is conducted blind.
Bright, pure red and black fruit dominate the nose, accompanied by floral and mineral notes. The palate shows vibrant acidity, silky tannins, and a long, stony finish, offering impressive finesse and surprising aging potential for a wine at this price point. It's an exceptional value and a perfect introduction to serious Mencía!
Decanter 97 points! "Our Best in Show journey across Northern Spain continues with a 2020 Bierzo, grown just across the provincial border from Galicia into Castilla y Léon. It’s another zone of steep slopes and old vines – the variety in this case being Mencia (known as Jaen in Portugal’s Dão region). This wine is deep black-red in colour and vivacious and urgent in aroma: wild plums mingled with the woodland scents of leaf, copse and forest floor. The palate is fruit-packed and vibrant, vigorous with an energy derived both from ripe acidity and fresh though smooth tannins; look out, too, for a stony, bitter-edged finish perhaps derived from the region’s slate soils. Wonderful drinking now in the flush of youth, but fruit of this quality will hold well for a few years yet."
James Suckling 93 points! "This shows notes of blackberries and blueberries with hints of walnuts, dried herbs, baking spices and cocoa nibs. Medium-to full-bodied with chalky, dusty tannins and a smooth, seamless texture. Juicy and crunchy blue-fruit character and notes of chocolate and licorice to close. Drink or hold."
