El Aqueronte is a very special vineyard of Mencía (90%) and Alicante Bouschet/Garnacha Tintorera (10%) in the northern part of Bierzo around 500m in altitude. This area’s soils are mostly clay, but here, at the top of the hill, there is a substantial portion of limestone mixed in. This is the driest and most remote of the vineyards that Diego Losada works with and one of the oldest, with vines averaging 70-90 years. In 2018, El Aqueronte was harvested by hand in early September, immediately before the grapes for 1984, and the grapes were partially destemmed and fermented on their skins in chestnut vats before resting in old French oak barreles for 11 months. As with his other wines, Diego bottles without fining or filtering, and there is no sulfur added to wines. El Aqueronte shows notes of dark berries, anise, fresh earth amid other herbal and spice notes. On the palate, there’s ripe blackberry, fresh raspberry, and a vein of chalky minerality wrapped in well-knit tannins and refreshing acid. A unique expression of Bierzo terroir that opened beautifully over an hour or two. Ben Fletcher