2023 Paixar
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From a single vineyard on the other side of Bierzo than Villafranca, where Luna Beberide is based, this is a wine of the mountain, the Mencia and 3% white varieties planted in slate slopes at high altitude. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak barrels, it tastes of white pepper, lavender, and sage, as wild as its environs. The juicy midpalate accentuates this sense of place, the mountain and the soils, earthy in blackberry and plum. The medium-bodied core is enveloped in tannins that are supple but there. Drink now through 2033.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Wild mulberries, boysenberries, lavender and white pepper on the nose. Lovely energy, with a tensioned, medium- to full-bodied palate and very firm, stemmy tannins. Long and pristine. Drink or hold.
Since 2022, the regular Paixar produced since the turn of the century is now the 2023 Paixar Paraje A Serra. This is the second time it has carried the name from that lieu-dit (or "paraje") in the village of Dragonte on slate-rich soils. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and matured in 500-liter French oak barrels for 12 months. This is a lot more reticent than the Viña de Vaca; it's subtler, serious and terribly elegant and balanced. It has contained ripeness and 13% alcohol, a pH of 3.36 and 5.16 grams of acidity. It's finer-boned, more elegant and precise. The mouthfeel is beautiful, with very fine tannins. The two wines are getting more differentiated, getting their own personality. 12,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2024.
The 2023 Paixar Vino de Paraje A Serra comes from Dragonte in Corullón, Bierzo. This aged for 12 months in 500-liter barrels. It opens with a faintly liqueur-like note, followed by blackberry, pomegranate and mountain herbs. The profile is dark and compact, with a taut, talc-textured palate and marked, structured tannins.