Paixar 2018

The 2018 Paixar is all violets, wild berries and raspberry leaves, a captivating, aromatic, floral and elegant expression of old-vine Mencía from the slate soils of Dragonte (Corullón) at 700 to 950 meters in altitude. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and matured in 225- and 500-liter French oak barrels for 14 months. It's all very classic, but the wine has a very modern and clean profile, a change that perhaps started with the also cooler 2016 vintage. The wine is still powerful and has energy, but there is a level of sophistication, elegance and nuance I hadn't seen before. It's clean and floral and has depth and nuance. But it's on the palate and the beautifully textured mouthfeel that you see the greatness of this wine, which has all the ingredients to develop for a long time in bottle. I think this is the finest vintage of Paixar to date. 12,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2020. Bravo!