Algueira Dolio 2020 (750ML)

98 JS / 96 JA / 94+ DB / 94 WA

A mind-blowing Ribeira Sacra red with pure fruit. Grapefruit, flowers, iron and chalk. Mineral, with subtle white pepper and blueberries. Really expressive, yet not sassy. Restrained and pure with plenty of fruit, but there is nothing too fleshy or sumptuous about the fruit. Complex, nuanced and full of nerve. So harmonious. A serious and persistent Ribeira Sacra that makes you want to finish the bottle. Great depth, too. Mencia, brancellao, merenzao, caino and souson. 6,658 bottles made. Drink or hold.-James Suckling

Medium intensity ruby red colour, floral rose bud, raspberry leaf, red cherry, dried herbs, black tea, lemongrass, intense and fragrant, a wine that appeals to lovers of intense flavours, a foodie wine because it is about texture and contrast, rather than being layered with sweet oak. Extremely juicy on the finish, mouthwatering and extremely drinkable, joyful, crammed with flavour and interest. Can be drunk soon, or will have a good ten years ageing in it. Just the second vintage on the Place de Bordeaux, and already it feels like it has found its place. A clear win for me. Granite, schist soils, native yeast fermentation in 500l barrels with stems, vineyards ranging from 200-600m in altitude. Just 6,668 bottles produced by winemaker Fernando Gonzalez Riveiro. I have tasted this a few times over the summer in different situations, and each time the biggest takeaway is that it is full of character and life, and is one that you will enjoy sharing with friends. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

(Ribeira Sacro DO; a blend of Mencia, Brancellao, Merenzau, Caiño and Sousón, with no Garnacha Tintorera this year; foot-trodden and 100 per cent whole bunch fermented in a single troncoconic oak vat with indigenous yeasts; matured in 225-liter barrels and 2,000-litre foudres for 24 months; 14% alcohol; 6658 bottles produced; tasted twice, first at the Joanne press tasting and then in Paris from a sample sent by the property). A wine that cries out for a decanter and patience. Very Burgundian in style. Delicate and refined, with a bright, crisp and yet crystal clear mid-palate charged with red berry and stone fruit. Raspberry. Goji berries. Cherries. A little redcurrant too. A peppery florality and no hint of oak. Deceptively, this has quite an ample frame, reinforcing the limpid and glossy mouthfeel. Spicy, with a lovely note of crushed rose and green Szechuan peppercorns. Sapid and juicy especially on the finish and nicely layered too. Impressively crystalline. Likely to represent excellent value. This will need a lot of aeration in its youth. - Colin Hay, Drinks Business

The second vintage of the red blend produced for La Place de Bordeaux, the 2020 Dolio was produced with grapes from their best terroirs, Carballocobo (Mencía and Garnacha Tintorera) and Cortezada (Brancellao, Merenzao and Caíño), and in this second vintage, it has more ancestral varieties (mostly Brancellao and Merenzao) and less Mencía. Some full clusters and uncrushed grapes were foot trodden and fermented in a tronconic oak vat with indigenous yeasts and matured in 225-liter barrels and 2,000-liter foudres for 21 months. It's ripe at 14% alcohol, with a pH of 3.5 and 5.6 grams of acidity. It's clean and focused, with a modern feeling to it, with integrated oak and a sleek palate with fine tannins. 6,658 bottles were filled in April 2024. - Luiz Gutierrez, Wine Advocate