2018 Versos de Valtuille Mencia Bierzo 750 ml

We weren’t competing with the masses.

We swiped this allocation of the impossible-to-find 2018 Versos de Valtuille Mencia from the insiders: the somms at the MICHELIN-starred restaurants and wine bars from coast to coast. They’re the ones who normally snap up wines like this one because they know that Spain’s rare, ancient-vine Mencia delivers a near-impossible amount of gorgeous red-fruit richness, concentration, and minerality for the price.

None does this better than this Versos de Valtuille, which is without a doubt one of the finest under-the-radar values coming out of Spain. Grown on 90-year-old vines planted on steep hillsides, this gorgeous Spanish red is a no-brainer for red-wine lovers.

Boasting an impressive 92 points from Wine & Spirits, this beauty will leave no question as to why every somm worth their salt is pouring it by the glass—and why retailers all over the country wish they could have it. Tough luck: EVERYONE but Wine Access members are out in the cold on this bottle

Grown almost exclusively in northwest Spain, Mencía has ascended as a star among the US sommelier set, popping up on the wine lists of MICHELIN-starred restaurants from NYC to San Francisco. Its best expressions come out of Bierzo, on León’s frontier with coastal Galicia. Rugged, high-altitude (1500’–2000’) hillsides are home to forlorn plots of old vine, bush-trained Mencia just waiting to be rescued from obscurity and given the royal treatment.

We worked hard to get a small allocation of this intense old-vine red. Why not spoil yourself with a case to enjoy this winter and spring with dishes like roast lamb and rosemary potatoes?