Description

Bierzo is a region that totally missed the industrialisation that so much of Europe went through post WW2. It was too difficult to mechanise and there was simply no interest in the area until a clutch of winemakers realised the remarkable potential of the high altitudes, old vines and quartz and slate rich soils. French winemaker Gregory Prez was one of those drawn to the area by the sheer potential of the remarkable terroir as well as the two principal, indigenous grape varieties of Bierzo: Godello and Mencia. Prez had already become very well known for his work at Bodegas Luna Beberide, where he started over a decade ago, before launching his own project, Mengoba with the 2007 vintage. Since then Mengoba – an acronym of “Men” from Mencia, “Go” from Godello and ‘Ba ” from Valenciana (the local patois for Doa Blanca) – has fast established itself as one of the region’s benchmarks.Today, Prez makes around 5000 cases of wonderful, high country-wines from a patchwork of vineyards in the hills of the Alto Bierzo. The vineyard work is absolutely artisanal; the vines are grown according to organic principles and Perez’s highest plot remains one of the Spain’s few quality producing vineyards still ploughed by cow. As the authors of The Finest Wines of Rioja and North West Spain (Jess Barqun et al) point out; this is a “name to watch.”