Descendientes de Jose Palacios "Petalos del Bierzo" 2022
(Bierzo, Spain) - [WA 93] [JS 92]

About the Winery:
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 Wine:
Pétalos del Bierzo is assembled from old hillside and hilltop vines across from Bierzo’s western edge. The wine is vinified for immediate appeal, but it retains the estate’s signature finesse and restraint.

Fruit Source: Rented vineyards from schistcovered vineyards in Corullón and
surrounding towns. Vine age: 40-90 years.
Oak Aging: Few weeks in new French barrique
+ 6-10 months in 2nd & 3rd passage barrels.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

The 2022 Pétalos was produced with 85% Mencía, 10% white grapes and 5% other reds from over 90 hectares, 20% owned by them and the rest from 180 families. It fermented with some full clusters in oak and stainless steel vats and matured in barrels of different sizes for 10 months. It's clearly more Mediterranean, with notes of rockrose and other aromatic herbs, juicy and round, more fruit-driven, aromatic, velvety and very pleasant and easy to drink. It has 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.54.