"Germán Blanco La Nave bottling is made from very old vineyards that are not technically in the D.O. of Bierzo, as these vines are in the upper reaches of the region and just outside of the present day D.O. The small vineyard belonged to Germán’s grandmother and is more than eighty years of age, planted to a classic Galician field blend of Mencía, Garnacha Tintorera, Doña Blanco and Godello, amongst others. Germán ferments both the red and white grapes together with indigenous yeasts and raises the wine in used Burgundy casks. The 2023 La Nave comes in at an even thirteen percent alcohol and delivers a superb aromatic constellation of dark berries, black cherries, espresso, tree bark, a complex base of dark soil tones, cigar smoke and incipient notes of Bierzo botanicals in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a superb core of fruit, ripe, buried tannins, fine balance and a long, youthful and promising finish. This deserves some hibernation time to blossom properly. It will be a fine bottle of Bierzo Tinto, even if the vines lie just outside of the official boundaries of the DO! 2035-2065+. "