La Muria, Viariz, 2021

A genuinely joyous bottle that contains perhaps the most intellectual, harmonious and elegant wine we have ever drunk from Spain. Two recent bottles have been equally majestic, one on the high-toned, ethereal side, the other all that plus a more structured tannic edge. Incredible persistence and like all great wines, the last glass from the bottle is the best. Produced from the highest vineyard in Bierzo at 1045m facing south and southwest, fully exposed to the wind on complex slate, schist, quartz and dark soils. La Muria takes its name from the walls of rock created by people panning for gold in the valley in the Roman times – the discarded rocks amassed over time built up to become walls. There are two “Murias” in the vineyard which separate the subplots. A total of 0.5ha and 900bts produced – 300bts of which will not be released and kept in the winery library.