# O Estranxeiro Tinto Mencía (2023)

- **Producer:** Quinta do Estranxeiro
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Mencía
- **Region:** Galicia, Spain
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 13.0%
- **Average price:** €17
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 14–16 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, raspberry, plum, rose, violet, white pepper

## About this wine

Quinta do Estranxeiro was founded in 2019 by renowned Galician winemaker Eulogio Pomares and his wife Rebeca Montero. Celebrated for his work with Albariño at Bodegas Zárate in Rías Baixas, Pomares turned his focus to the heroic mountain slopes of Ribeira Sacra. The name 'O Estranxeiro' means 'The Foreigner' in Galician, a tongue-in-cheek reference to his arrival from a neighboring winemaking region. Sourced from old bush vines grown across steep, hand-terraced granite, slate, and schist soils along the Miño and Sil rivers, this wine highlights the freshness and stony minerality of Galicia.

## Interesting facts

- 'O Estranxeiro' translates to 'The Foreigner', reflecting Eulogio Pomares' entry into Ribeira Sacra from Rías Baixas.
- Vineyards feature extreme hand-molded stone terraces with mountain slopes reaching steep inclines up to 85 percent.
- Fermentation avoids stainless steel entirely, utilizing traditional local chestnut vats and concrete tanks.

## Food pairing

The vibrant Atlantic acidity, moderate tannins, and expressive red fruit profile of Mencía easily cut through rich fats in pork, duck, and octopus, while earthy floral undertones complement wild mushrooms and aged goat cheeses without dominating the dish.

## Wine making process

Hand-picked grapes are harvested from old vines averaging over 50 years of age across two distinct sub-zones. The clusters are destemmed and placed into open concrete tanks and chestnut vats for spontaneous fermentation driven by native yeasts. The must undergoes roughly three weeks of skin maceration before gentle pressing. Eulogio Pomares purposefully avoids stainless steel tanks to prevent reductive off-odors in Mencía. The wine ages for 7 months in concrete tanks and large neutral wooden botti before bottling unfined and unfiltered with a minimal addition of sulfur dioxide.