Descendientes de J. Palacios, Villa de Corullon, Bierzo, Spain, 2023

Overview of the Wine
Descendientes de J. Palacios is owned by Ricardo Perez Palacios, the nephew of renowned winemaker Alvaro Palacios, who is known for his great work in the Priorat and assists the family winery.

The grapes used comes from plots of very old vines, aged between 50 and 90 years old. These are underperforming, making the fruit of high quality. The vineyards that give rise to Pétalos del Bierzo are planted mainly on slate floors and are located on slopes. The harvest is done manually and the first selection occurs in the same vineyard.

In the winery, the grapes are destemmed and fermented for about 25 days in open wooden vats and open stainless steel tanks. Malolactic fermentation is carried out for two months in closed wooden vats and open stainless steel tanks. Subsequently, Pétalos del Bierzo is aged for 10 months in French oak barrels before bottling, it is filtered and clarified.

It's mostly Mencía, but there are other grapes varieties in the vineyards; they estimate about 3% of other reds, Alicante Bouschet, Gran Negro, Pan y Carne, Negreda, etc. and around 4% whites, Valenciana, Jerez and Godello, half from Corullón and the other half from other villages. The grapes were partly destemmed and fermented in open-top stainless steel and oak vats with 25 days of maceration where the wine underwent a slow three-month malolactic. It matured in barrel for 12 months. This is the wine that showcases the house style and the character of the vintage, which, in this case, is delicate and very much from the zone.

Biodynamic.

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Winemakers
Alvaro and Ricardo Perez Palacios

Grape / Blend
100% Mencia

Origin
Castilla León, Bierzo, Spain

Tasting Notes
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.

93 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even though the 2020 is already hitting the shelves, I also tasted the 2019 Pétalos, a very balanced vintage that shows moderate alcohol and great balance. It is very approachable right now, open aromatically, and despite what the parameters might read, the wine comes through as fresher than the 2020. This is a wine produced with around 80% purchased grapes and 20% grapes from their own vineyards. There are notes of berries but also plenty of herbs; it's aromatic, complex and with very fine tannins. It's a classical continental vintage from Bierzo.

97 Points - Wine Advocate
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... 34,933 bottles produced. It was bottled in April 2025.

Product size: 750ml