2023 Pago de Valdoneje Bierzo Mencia

New importer San Pelayo Imports offers two sentences on the back label of this wine that are more compelling than anything we could come up with: "Valutille de Abajo is a village of 85 inhabitants that boasts fifteen wineries and over 400 hectares of centenary vineyards. It is in this village that the sister and brother team of Elena and Marcos 'Polo' Garcia Alba farm grapes and make wine, as many generations of their family have before them." This is the Bierzo that we've been trying to find for years now -- as lithe and effortless as Beaujolais, though truly demonstrative of its mountainside origin, giving real verve and grit. Assembled from several parcels of very old (125+ years) vines of mostly mencia with small amounts of alicante bouschet, trousseau, and palomino, made in the classic Joven style. Best served with grilled lamb, wild mushrooms (especially morels and chanterelles), and aged cheeses.