Mencía (men-THEE-yuh) is a red grape from northwest Spain and Portugal. Fresh and packed with wild berry flavors and delicate floral aromas, it’s been compared to delicate pinot noir, earthy cabernet franc, and spicy syrah.
In a world where more and more consumers are seeking out fresh wines bursting with acidity, Mencía provides an answer to Spain’s longtime reputation for making heavy, alcoholic wines from grapes like Tempranillo. Mencía from DO Bierzo has rocketed to fame in the last few years thanks to superstar winemakers like Raúl Pérez, but there’s a whole other side to this grape waiting just around the corner in Galicia.
What is mencía?
Mencía is a red wine grape from the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. It’s the most-planted red grape in all of Galicia’s wine regions except for Rías Baixas, where it comes in second place. In Galicia, the largest plantations are in the Ribeira Sacra and Valdeorras wine regions. Outside Galicia, mencía is grown in Bierzo, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla-León, Asturias, and Cantabria, as well as in the north of Portugal where it’s known as Jaén do Dão.
Mencía Tech Sheet
- Color: Purple-ruby
- Aromatic Intensity: Medium
- Aromas: red cherry, raspberry, blackberry, flowers, slate
- Acidity: High
- Alcohol: 11-14%
- Body: Medium
- Produced In: Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, Monterrei, Rías Baixas, IXPs of Galicia
- Synonyms: Jaen, Jaen do Dão (Dão), Loureiro Tinto (Portugal), Mencía Pajaral (Bierzo)
What does Mencía wine smell like?
Mencía is a versatile grape that can take on many different expressions based on where it’s grown. Generally speaking, in Galicia it makes wines that have black and red fruit aromas like raspberries, blackberries, red cherries, and delicate floral notes. These fruit aromas share the stage with earthy, vegetal notes and hints of black pepper. Apart from these, it’s common for wines made from mencía to present reductive aromas.
What does Mencía wine taste like?
Although Mencía from the Ribeira Sacra has higher acidity than its counterparts in Valdeorras and Monterrei, most wines made from mencía have a high acidity that helps to give it structure. This acidity combines with tannins to make for wines that have good structure on the palate without the need to soften them through oak aging. Young wines are fresh and fruity, although their earthiness gives them a good depth of flavor and complexity. Mencía wines with aging tend to express the soils even more than young wines, with aromas and flavors ranging from herbal and spicy to fruity and vegetal.
Where does Mencía come from?
No one knows exactly when mencía was first planted in Galicia, but it really started to expand after phylloxera tore through Galicia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, forcing many to replant their vineyards with different varieties than the ones they had been growing before the crisis. For much of the 20th century, people thought mencía was related to cabernet franc, but that theory has been disproven. Modern researchers put mencía into the eastern Galicia genetic group and think it descends from the varieties albarín tinto and patorra.
Albarín Tinto is cultivated in Spain under many different names, such as baboso negro, bruñal, or caíño gordo, and in Portugal it’s known as afroxeiro, tinta Francisca de Viseu, tinta bastardeira, or tinta bastardinha do Douro. Patorra is cited as having been planted in 1865 in Alijó, in the Douro, which leads modern researchers to hypothesize that mencía originated in Portugal. Others think it comes from the area around Salamanca, in Castilla-Leon.
Although mencía’s origins are unclear, its name has been around at least since the Middle Ages. “Mencía” was a popular girl’s name in the medieval period, and the most famous Mencía even sat on the throne of Portugal!
Mencía Lopez de Haro was a Basque noblewoman who had a life worthy of a novel. Born to Castilian nobles, her first marriage weathered rebellions, excommunications, and battles with the Moorish rulers of Muslim Al-Andalus.
She became queen of Portugal through her second marriage to King Sancho II (who also happened to be her cousin, once removed). King Sancho was already unpopular with the Portuguese, and his marriage to a widowed outsider proved the last straw.
With approval from the pope, the scheming pretenders to the throne kidnapped poor Mencía while the Church annulled her marriage. She ended up in Ourem in Portgual, but from there traveled to Galicia and beyond.
Some think that her extraordinary life could have provided the inspiration for naming a certain grape which might also come from Portugal.
Some technical details
Wines made from mencía tend to have alcohol levels between 11-14% and acidity around 4.5-5 g/L.
Mencía winemaking
In the past, Mencía had a bad reputation for being a light, low-alcohol, acidic wine that didn’t really taste like much. Luckily, winemakers saw its potential and gave it the treatment it needed to take on the starring role it has today.
Galician winemakers tend to make two broad categories of monovarietal Mencía wine: the first is a young wine, fermented in stainless steel and bottled after just a few months. These wines go through the typical red wine-making process. These wines are light, fruity, and acidic, making them the perfect easy-drinking wines that pair with all kinds of food.
The second style is age-worthy Mencía, often with barrel contact. Barrels are usually second- or third-use French oak, with light toast, as heavy oak aromas can overpower the more delicate sides of the grape. Winemakers let grapes meant for these wines ripen more than the ones for their younger counterparts, gaining more potential alcohol to complete their acidic backbone in order to be able to age for longer periods of time.
How is mencía grown?
As the most-planted red grape in Galicia, mencía grows in a huge variety of conditions. It can adapt both to vineyards planted on the impossibly steep slopes of the Miño and Sil rivers and to relatively flat areas perfect for mechanization. Older vines are usually trained in goblet form, and newer plantations are in single or double cordon. Pruning also depends on the yield that growers want. Mencía is a moderately vigorous variety, but highly productive.
Pairing with Food
Mencía is hugely versatile, and goes with practically everything you pair it with. In Galicia, it’s common to drink Mencía with both wine and fish, especially the local delicacy: octopus!
Meat
Mencía pairs with most meats, from a grilled steak to pork chops, lamb, or game. Wines with a bit of age on them pair especially well.
Cheese
Aged cheeses adapt really well to Mencía. In Galicia, it’s also common to serve young cheese with young wine: Galician tetilla cheese is ideal companion for a young Mencía, but any soft cow’s milk cheese could substitute. A Manchego curado could accompany an aged Mencía, or any sharp aged cheese. Cured meats like chorizo are always a good pairing for Mencía as well.
Fish
Mencía is a great red wine for fatty fish like tuna, sardines, mackerel, or salmon, and it stands up perfectly to strong garnishes or sauces. But the absolutely perfect, made-in-heaven pairing, is a young Mencía with Galician octopus.
Other Pairings
Mencía goes perfectly with any rice dish that has a hearty base, like mushroom risotto. Its acidity and fruitiness make it the perfect compliment to pretty much any roasted vegetable. I like to have it with Thanksgiving dinner, as it cuts through heavier foods like gravy and mashed potatoes and perfectly compliments sweet potatoes and green bean casserole. Finally, with no disrespect to Italy, Mencía might be the perfect pizza wine. Try it and see for yourself.