Akilia - Bierzo / Mario Rovira - Alella y Cádiz
Making some of Bierzo's most elegant wines, Mario Rovira organically tends a handful of vineyards in the San Lorenzo district of the region, just south of Ponferrada. After his training at La Fleur Petrus and Quintessa, Mario set out to find a region with old vines, indigenous varieties, interesting soils, slopes, and a cool climate. After an extensive search, he found the San Lorenzo district of Bierzo. The San Lorenzo district of Bierzo is higher and cooler than where most small producers work. Mario crafts his wines in a highly specific and intentional way, with great thought behind each decision and a focus on minimal intervention - gentle processing, slow and cool spontaneous fermentations, and low SO2.
Akilia “Villa de San Lorenzo” Blanco 2021
Palomino Fino and Doña Blanca from the Fontairo (78-years-old) and Valdesacia (119-years old) vineyards.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in small bins on September 6. 12-day skin contact with spontaneous fermentation in concrete tank followed by 5 months aging on the fine lees in stainless steel. Low total SO2 (32 mg/L). Low dose clarification with bentonite (natural clay) and a very gentle filtration to remove sediment.
Production: 440 cases
Akilia Valdesacia Palomino 2019
75% Palomino/25% Doña Blanca from the 117-year-old Valdesacia vineyard.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in small bins. Crushed/skin contact until fermentation starts (3-4 days). Spontaneous fermentation and aged 5 months on its fine lees in stainless tank. Low total SO2 (26 mg/L). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Production: 544 bottles
Akilia Clarete 2022
75% Palomino/25% Mencía from the 79-year-old, 2.5ha Fontairo vineyard.
Clarete refers to an old style of bright, fresh wine historically made in Spain, where red and white grapes are co-fermented together. Historically the larger portion is red grapes, but this is Mario's ultra-fresh, white-grape-dominant, rendition.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in small bins. Spontaneous 25-day carbonic maceration (co-fermented). Aged for 5 months in stainless tank. Low total SO2 (36 mg/L). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Production: 3,400 bottles
Akilia “Villa de San Lorenzo” Mencía 2021
Mostly Mencía with ~2% Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouchet). 90% from the 75-year-old Fontairo vineyard and 10% from the 98-year-old Villarín vineyard.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in small bins on August 26. Spontaneous fermentation with 20% carbonic maceration in a separate fermenter. Aged 9 months in concrete and used oak. Low total SO2 (32 mg/L). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Production: 1,000 cases
Akilia Villarín Mencía 2021
98% Mencía/2% Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouchet) from the 98-year-old Villarín vineyard.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in small bins. Cool spontaneous fermentation in concrete. Aged 8 months in used French oak. Low total SO2 (26 mg/L). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Production: 1,490 bottles
Mario Rovira La Flamenca 2019
75% Pansa Blanca (Xarel-Lo)/25% Macabeu from the 36-year-old Can Ballus vineyard.
Winemaking: 14 days skin contact, spontaneous fermentation, 11 months aging on fine lees in a combination of stainless steel, ceramic egg, and an old Manzanilla barrel (one each). Low total SO2 (31 ppm). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Production: 300 cases
Tosca Palomino Fino en Rama 2021
100% Palomino Fino from two of the Sherry Triangle's finest vineyards, Pagos Balbaína and Miraflores.
Winemaking: Six months in stainless tank under flor. Unfortified. Bottled “en rama” without any treatments (no SO2, fining, filtering, or cold stabilization). Thus, some sediment in the bottle is possible.
Production: 2,600 bottles
Professional Reviews
RP92 - Akilia Villa de San Lorenzo White 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: August 10, 2023
The white 2021 Villa de San Lorenzo White, produced mostly with Palomino and a little Doña Blanca, is a fresh and drinkable white from old certified organic vines on quartzite and slate soils. It fermented in concrete after four days of contact with the skins, and it has character, aging potential and a combination of fruit and crunchiness. It has 12.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity with Palomino typicity and a tasty and long finish, a little more oxidative than the Valdesacia. 7,000 bottles were filled after five months in stainless steel. It was bottled in February 2022.
RP94 - Akilia Valdesacia Palomino 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: August 10, 2023
The golden colored 2021 Valdesacia Palomino comes from ancient vines on quartz and slate soils, and it fermented in concrete after a four-day maceration with the skins and aged with the lees for five months. It's darker and has some smoky and toasty notes, palate with rectitude and austerity, a dusty and a powdery sensation and a very tasty finish. An unusual white from Bierzo. 1,100 bottles were filled in February 2022.
RP94 - Akilia Valdesacia Palomino 2020
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: January 31, 2022
The super tasty but austere white 2020 Valdesacia Palomino, the wine formerly known as K, was produced with the grapes from 0.5 hectares of north-facing, head-pruned 116-year-old vines on quartz and slate soils that showcase the minerality, rectitude and the fresher side of Bierzo. It has only 12% alcohol and a pH of 3.22 coupled with very good acidity. The wine has a stony, dry and tasty sensation on the palate akin to licking pebbles, with a light to medium body. It feels like a yogi, all muscle and bones, no fat. It has a yeasty/smoky twist from aging five months with the lees. Again, the vineyards are organic, but there's no certification on the label. Only 540 bottles were filled in February 2021.
RP92+ - Akilia Villa de San Lorenzo Red 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: August 10, 2023
The difference between the village red 2021 Villa de San Lorenzo Red and the 2022 is like night and day. This is pale, delicate and ethereal, with a mineral mouthfeel. It's medium-bodied, has some stony austerity and is a lot more about the soil than the fruit. I love the seriousness. 5,500 bottles were filled in March 2022.
RP91 - Akilia Villa de San Lorenzo Red 2019
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: January 31, 2022
The juicy and fruit-driven 2019 Villa de San Lorenzo Red is pure Mencía. It is naked, without excess ripeness (it's 13% alcohol), coming through as serious and mineral, with incipient floral character. This fermented in concrete, where it matured with lees for four months. 6,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2020.
RP95 - Akilia Villarín 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: August 10, 2023
The elegant, balanced and complex red 2021 Villarín Mencía was produced with the grapes from one hectare of 96-year-old vines on quartzite and slate soils, and it fermented in concrete and matured in used 228-liter barrels for one year. It's floral, perfumed and elegant, clean and fresh, not explosive but subtle, insinuating and a little shy at first. It has depth and complexity and terrific balance on the palate, tasty, dry and long. 1,049 bottles produced. It was bottled in April 2022.
RP91 - Mario Rovira La Flamenca 2019
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: September 30, 2022
The white 2019 La Flamenca is the entry-level wine with fruit, acidity, minerality and subtle oak that wants to represent the fresher and more drinkable Mediterranean. It was produced from a good vintage that delivers a fruit-driven and expressive wine. It's a blend of Macabeu and Pansa Blanca (the local name for Xarel.lo) that macerated with skins for 12 days before starting spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel, then 60% of the wine matured in stainless steel, 20% in concrete egg and the rest in a Manzanilla Sherry butt. It has a subtle Sherry twang, a touch spicy and smoky, which is especially noticeable in the aftertaste. It has 13% alcohol and a pH of 3.33, keeping the poise and balance, intense and tasty. 3,600 bottles produced.
