2020 El Rapolao
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Tasting notes
For some reason, the 2020 El Rapolao was not certified as vino de paraje for the 2020 vintage but should be in future years. It's fine-boned, perfumed and elegant, still reflecting the warmer year, with 14.5% alcohol, but with very good balancing acidity. It's still young and somewhat marked by the élevage in 225-liter oak barrels, and I feel the small barrels kind of compress Mencía too much. I wonder how this would be in larger-volume barrels. 1,800 bottles were filled in September 2021.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Transparent crimson. A little dumb on the nose but there is lots going on underneath. A sort of busy bee of a wine. Some bitter-cherry flavour. (JR)
100% Mencía. Old bush vines in the paraje El Rapolao (Valtuille de Abajo). Iron-rich clayey soil. Alcoholic fermentation in oak foudres, with 100% of the stems and a long post-fermentation maceration. Aged in 500-litre barrels. 14,500 bottles produced. Tasted blind. Very delicate nose, but juicy palate. A lot of primary fruit is perceived and it is quite spectacular in the middle of the palate because of the way it fills it and the volume it develops. It is an expressive and very gourmand Rapolao. Black plum, mountain grass and graphite. (FC)
There is more freshness in the 2020 La Vizcaína El Rapolao, where I even found notes of eucalyptus. It's medium-bodied and has fine tannins, very tasty and balanced. There are two new plots in 2020, so they produced some 7,500 bottles. He wants to reach 20,000 bottles here, and there will be a white Rapolao from a plot that he planted with Godello.