In late 2019 the Somos boys knew the days of the Carignan-Cinsault/Mazuelo-Cinsault were drawing to an end. What could replace that delightful, vibrant crunchy wine? They got a lead on a relatively new planting of the Galician red variety Mencía, tucked away in a little valley in the Adelaide Hills. It has been dry-farmed/organically farmed since it was planted and now really starting to show its personality. Ben & Mauricio have nicknamed this wine the ‘The Iberian Lynx’ in order to differentiate it from the previous ‘Lynx’ label.
The fruit was hand-harvested and placed into a number of small picking bin ferments, some with tons of whole-bunches, some without. Some bins were pressed early, and others were left on the skins for a bit longer. Each one was pressed separately and into 2-4th fill Burgundian French oak for close to a year. Trying to follow the canons in Ribeira Sacra where this variety has restraint and poise to the point of the sublime, this is a really delicate, floral, bunchy expression.