Raul Suarez - Divina Clementia 2018 (750ml)

94 Points John Gilman 

"I love the wines from Raúl Suárez’s Divina Clementia. Raúl’s Mencía vines range from sixty-five to eighty years of age, planted on granite and sandy soils in his organically-farmed terraces overlooking the Miño River. The wine includes twenty percent whole clusters, is fermented with native yeasts and raised in older Burgundy barrels for thirteen months prior to bottling. The 2018 version comes in at 13.5 percent octane and delivers a beautifully complex bouquet of pomegranate, black cherries, tree bark, graphite, a complex array of spice tones, stony minerality, a touch of pepper and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is pure, focused and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, great mineral undertow and grip, fine-grained tannins, tangy acids and impeccable balance on the long, complex and very refined finish. This is a great, great wine in the making. It deserves at least another five years in the cellar to further soften up its tannins more properly; it will age long and very gracefully. Stunning juice! 2028-2075."

93 Points Wine Advocate

"The 2018 Divina Clementia feels a lot more balanced and complete than the 2019 I also tasted next to it. It was a slow-ripening year, and the wine has full development of aromas and flavors, a medium-bodied texture and power. It has taken well the two years it spent in barrel."