Álvaro Palacios and Descendientes de J. Palacios - New Releases

BY NEAL MARTIN | APRIL 03, 2023

I covered Spain in a professional capacity for Robert Parker just over ten years ago, and though my tenure was brief, the country made a big impression – the landscape, people, gastronomy and, of course, its wines. En route to another recent tasting in London, I made a short detour to Berry Brothers & Rudd to reacquaint myself with one of Spain’s most esteemed winemakers, Álvaro Palacios. Together with his nephew, Ricardo Pérez, they showed their 2022s from their vineyards in Rioja, Priorat and Bierzo.

Just to recap, Álvaro Palacios was born in Rioja, and his family owns Bodega Palacios Remondo. Naturally, Palacios was expected to one day step into his father’s shoes. But he had an adventurous spirit and wanted to furrow his own path. Palacios spent a couple of years working at Petrus in Bordeaux before buying his first vineyard, Finca Dofi, in 1990. Three years later, he acquired a steep north-east facing parcel cultivated by vines planted between 1900 and 1940 that he named L’Ermita, becoming the first vineyard to use the Gran Vinya Classificada qualification. It soon became one of Spain’s most iconic and coveted wines. In the following years, Palacios was instrumental in reinvigorating the Priorat region and bringing it to global attention, building a small portfolio of highly-regarded single vineyard wines using indigenous varieties, Garnacha and Cariñena (Samsó), as well as applying organic viticulture. He also began a joint venture with Perez in 1998, named Descendientes de J. Palacios, to exploit the potential of Bierzo.

I will let the tasting notes speak for themselves. I was reminded of the elegance of Palacios’s wines, perhaps more so than when I was tasting them regularly a decade ago. These terroir-driven wines benefit from aeration, so I took my time tasting them and allowing them to open. Though familiar with L’Ermita, I was taken with the La Faraona, virtually pure Mencia that blossomed in the glass.

The 2022 Quiñon de Valmira, Perez’s wine from Eastern Rioja, is a blend of 85% Garnacha and a mixture of other varieties, cropped at 14.5hL/ha. It has a light, airy bouquet with black fruit, chimney soot and subtle sea spray scents. The palate is medium-bodied with a smooth and velvety opening. Plush tannins, lightly spiced, fresh and focused with a twist of bitter cherry and soy towards the finish. This is going to be very seductive. I adore its seamlessness. 93/Drink 2024-2038.