2023 Envinate Lousas Parcela Seoane Mencia

Lousas is the name Envintate has given to their wines from Ribeira Sacra, translating to slate and a nod to the rock that marks these wines. Each of their Lousas releases are predominantly Mencia, along with a smaller component of various indigenous varieties such as Merenzao, Caino, Garnacha Tintorerra, and Palomino among many others.

Vina de Aldea is a blend of several plots from the Amandi, Quiroga, and Ribeiras do Sil subregions of Ribeira Sacra. Doad meanwhile hails from different terroirs throughout the Galician town of Doade, is Mencia dominant with the remaining 15% a field blend of various varieties. Rosende is sourced from a single vineyard from a village of the same name, and the soils here are similar to the Northern Rhone with granite crystals flecked through the sand. Finally the single vinyard pair of Seoane and Camino Novo perched on the edge of the River Sil, each featuring vines over 80 years old. While similarly located these two are very different in style, Seoane being the more lifted, elegant and immediately attractive, whereas Camino Novo is more brooding and often one of the most profound Mencia in the area.

Other Reviews....
The 2023 Lousas Seoane has an intoxicating floral nose and seems to close in the glass. It's very young and tender, perfumed and primary. I think the field blend of red and white varieties brings nuance, perfume and detail (and possibly freshness too). It has pungent flavors and doesn't lack ripeness at 13.55% alcohol; this is the ripest of the single vineyards, a south/southwest-acing slope harvested the sixth of September. Like the rest of the single-vineyard wines, it was vinified with full clusters and indigenous yeasts, foot trodden in plastic bins, pressed with a vertical press and matured in neutral 228-, 400- and 500-liter barrels, including malolactic and without any added sulfur until bottling. This beauty is pure perfume. 1,960 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2024. Drink 2025-2033.
98 points
Luis Gutiérrez - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate