Descendientes de Jose Palacios "La Faraona" 2016
(Bierzo, Spain) - 750 ml [WA 98+] [JS 97-98]

If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain,” it is Álvaro Palacios. His L’Ermita is widely considered—along with Peter Sisseck’s Pingus—to be the most important new Spanish wine of the modern era.

Álvaro had long sought making great wine from old-vine Mencia, so he, along with his nephew Ricardo Perez, soon came to believe that the greatest potential lay around Corullón, a small town on Bierzo’s western border. Old vineyards lined the precipitous hillsides there, and the local soils were extremely poor—composed mostly of schist—but with incredible diversity. The minute variations in soils and exposures across this zone immediately reminded the two of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or or Piedmont’s Langhe hills.

Ricardo moved to Bierzo to guide this pioneering project. From the beginning, he embraced biodynamic viticulture as a means to craft the transparent wines of his dreams. The effort required in this sometimes-rainy corner of Spain is extraordinary, yet Ricardo believes it yields wines with more balance and transparency. And it has allowed him to build an entire ecosystem around his vineyards. Work animals provide fertilizer, produce milk for cheeses, and help him to process the biodynamic preparations. He has worked with locals to market healthier vegetables, and he produces fruit juices from surrounding orchards.

About the Vineyard:
Sitting regally above Corullón, La Faraona is one of appellation’s highest vineyards, near the upper limit for Mencía viticulture. A tectonic fault runs through the vineyard, producing a wide variation in its slate soils. And because La Faraona yields less than 100 cases per year, its wine has become among the most prized in Spain. Typically restrained and cerebral in its youth, La Faraona synthesizes the strengths of Ricardo’s other wines, and it adds an utterly distinctive savory personality all its own.

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