Descendientes de J. Palacios - Corullon 2023

Ricardo Perez and Álvaro Palacios put Bierzo, and the Mencía variety, on the map. Their trailblazing winery, Descendientes de J. Palacios, is named after José Palacios, Álvaro’s father, and Ricardo’s grandfather. The estate vineyards are located around the town of Corullón, on Bierzo’s western edge. The zone is home to the region’s highest vineyards, steepest slopes, and poorest, slate/schist soils. Ricardo has influenced a generation of Spanish farmers and winemakers through his pioneering work with biodynamic and sustainable farming. Vineyard work is done primarily by hand or mule, and all estate fruit is farmed biodynamically.

The grapes are harvested by hand, sorted and destemmed by hand. They macerate for 25 days in oak fermentors with hand punch down. Spontaneous fermentation. No fining or filtering. Aged in French oak, all of which was previously used either for past vintages of Corullon or to have briefly aged Petalos.

“The village 2023 Corullón was produced with a selection of 90 plots from the 200+ that they own in the village. It drove me crazy when I tasted it unbottled last year, and it has delivered what it promised. It had an élevage of 9.7 months in barrels, bocoyes and foudres and finished at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.74. It has a stony, quite Moncerbal-ish (according to Ricardo), serious, austere and a little reductive character, with a flinty and elegant reduction that I love. The vines have been worked organically and biodynamically since they started in 1999, and they achieved organic certification in 2018. The vines are very balanced, and they have learned to manage the warm years much better than in the past (in 2017, they were a lot less ready than today). 2023 was still a warmish year (or at least it's not a textbook Atlantic year), even if the wines, like this Corullón, have a profile that makes you think of a classical year in Bierzo from 20 years ago. It makes me think of the 2001 that I've always liked very much, among my favorite years ever, and also 2021. This is super elegant and fine-boned, one of the finest vintages to date. It's not very fruit-driven and is a little spicy, with weight but ethereal…” - 97 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

“The palate offers sour cherry and redcurrant, with firm tannins for structure. Fruit is drawn from seven vineyards totalling 10.1ha and has up to 10% of white grapes in the blend. Tasted en primeur, Villa de Corullón is still a bit of an awkward teenager, presenting with some reduction on the nose, which Ricardo Pérez Palacios says will disappear with time. It’s definitely a wine to return to in due course.” - 92 Points, Decanter

Producer: Descendientes de J. Palacios

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla y León

Varietal: Mencia

Appellation: Bierzo

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml