2023 Lousas Parcela Camino Novo

The nose of the 2023 Lousas Camiño Novo has all the flowers, wild herbs and red berries and is as intoxicating, perfumed, showy and nuanced as the Seoane and Rosende but with a flinty and smoky note and a step up in nuance, complexity and depth, which puts it in a different category level. The palate is seamless and solid, with fine-grained tannins and great precision and length, very clean and focused. It even has some stony austerity on the palate. This comes from an 80+-year-old plot at 350 to 450 meters above sea level and a south exposition planted with 85% Mencía, 12% Alicante Bouschet and 3% other varieties on gneiss soils, harvested the 7th of September. It fermented with 100% foot-trodden full clusters with 25 days of maceration and matured in neutral 228- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. It comes in at 12.8% alcohol and perfect balance. This has to be the finest Camiño Novo and their finest wine from the region so far. Bravo! 1,560 bottles produced. It was bottled the 14th of November 2024.