Terravista releases Canada’s first Mencía

Photo" Terravists's Dallas and Eric Thor

Terravista Vineyards, a winery on the Naramata Bench, has released an exceptional red wine made with the Spanish varietal, Mencía. This is Canada’s first Mencía.

Terravista has a history with Spanish varietals The winery’s original owners, Bob and Senka Tennant, who opened the winery in 2011, planted two whites, Albariño and Verdejo. When they decided to retire, they sold the winery to Dallas and Eric Thor, an ambitious young couple who quickly invested in additional vineyards after purchasing Terravista in 2019.

Dallas explains that “in the pursuit of growing and farming the majority, if not all, of our own grapes, Eric met and established a long-term lease with the owners of Naramata Outlook Vineyard below Naramata Road. When assessing what we wanted to plant there, of course we chose our core unique varieties, Albariño and Verdejo, in addition to a little block of Marsanne.” She continues: “Eric and I felt strongly that we should add a Spanish red to the portfolio. In 2020 we had some fun tasting through Spanish red varieties, and we became very excited about the extensive range and fresh profile of Mencía, and the potential of growing it at this site and in cool climate conditions. We rolled the dice and planted four acres in clay/silt loam soils.”

“This Mencía block,” Dallas says, “has endured climatic extremes since 2021. It was planted during the heat dome and then survived the 2022 and the 2024 freeze conditions. There was no fruit in 2024, and some damage to the vines in the first few years of growth. Despite the growing challenges, we saw incredible quality and ripening conditions during the 2025 vintage.” The vineyard itself has been a challenge. Dallas writes: “The site itself is very compact and has presented some growing challenges. Eric and the vineyard team have been diligently deep ripping the vineyard, doing post-harvest supplemental irrigation, planting root vegetables to break up the soil, as well as doing some foliar nutrition to help with canopy.” As a result, this pioneering Canadian planting of Mencía is a good bet to inspire other growers to consider Spanish varietals.

The just-released 2025 wine, Dallas writes in an email, “is just the ‘beginning of an answer’ of how Mencía is expressing itself on this clay bluff at Naramata Outlook Vineyard. We are not asking, is this Spanish enough? but what is the Naramata expression of this unique Spanish red grape, highlighting bright red fruits and signature acidity. This block is also certified organic and we farm it with our small team.”

Jancis Robinson and colleagues, in their authoritative 2012 book, Wine Grapes, describe Mencía as an “increasingly appreciated aromatic variety found in both Spain and Portugal.” They speculate that “it is plausible that Mencía was brought to Dão [in Portugal] by pilgrims on their way back from Santago de Compostela.” The Robinson book says there were 22,375 acres (9,055 hectares) of Mencía in Spain in 2008. There is a third that acreage in Portugal. It is a versatile varietal producing table wines range from rosé to dense, full-bodied reds.

Terravista winemaker Nadine Kinvig has made a similar range of wine from the Terravista planting. “We have produced three wines from this site,” the winery writes. “A rosé in the spring from an early 2025 pick; the 2023 which is wine club only with only 45 cases in a savoury and structured style; and now our 2025 Mencía made intentionally to highlight the more floral, herbal and red fruits side of the variety.” The winery’s tasting notes also add that this is a chillable red. I concur with that but I would be careful not to overchill the wine. Here are notes on the wines.

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