R. Parker (93+/100)
The 2018 Finca El Curvado comes from five small plots of a single vineyard, the same vineyard that has been used since the initial 2013 vintage. It's planted on granite and slate soils in the Chantada subzone of Ribeira Sacra. The slopes are planted with mixed varieties, old plants, mostly Mencía with some Garnacha Tintorera, Bastardo and even some whites. It fermented with full clusters in oak vats, with a longer maceration than previous vintages (three months) and aged in 500-liter oak barrels and a 1,500-liter oak foudre. The nose is expressive, floral, open and very clean, with some cereal-like notes. It's an elegant expression of Ribeira Sacra, with great freshness in a cool and rainy vintage that presented challenges but could deliver very fine wines. The palate is vibrant, with some marked violet notes, very fine tannins and a long, tasty finish with the sapidity of the granite. A textbook elegant Ribeira Sacra. 8,000 bottles produced. This was bottled in April 2020, a couple of weeks before I tasted it, yet the wine was not dizzy at all.