Stop the press: I have a part-time job and it entails getting dressed, stepping out the house and interacting. The year 2009 was not a good vintage for wine writing and so at the turn of a new decade I decided to plunge into the workforce. As luck would have it stylish all-Spanish wine shop, Tinto Fino, was looking to hire a new face, connected to hands that could tap out an engaging sentence or two. Currently on trial period, I can be found manning the shop and writing on my ancient iBook. 

In less than a week at Tinto Fino I’ve tasted three Mencia wines. I was weary of the Mencia trend that emerged a few years ago and had tasted several over extracted versions but the three I sipped on most recently were pure pleasure.

Jose Palacios Petalos from Bierzo is a rich wine that is plenty gorgeous and redolent of morello cherries with a faint underlying taste of minerals. A cherry-like tang could also be found in the leaner structured Benaza Mencia (Monterrei D.O.) and finally the Guimaro from Ribera Sacra, which offered generous fruit and that hint of mineral again. There you have it: same grape, three different terrunos and I get to say mencia! with a pseudo Spanish accent.