Monday, October 10th, 2022
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Dear Artisans,
Alvaro Palacios, one of Spain's greatest 100-point winemakers, has churned out his best vintage to date of this perennial bestseller. This vintage is even more beautiful than its label.
This is for all Pinot, Burgundy, Beaujolais and Spanish wine lovers:
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This wine has been ranked in Wine Spectator's Top 100 multiple times, as high as #35, and somehow has kept its price very fair for almost a decade!
Don't take just my word for it:
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If Priorat is Spain's own "Chateauneuf-du-Pape", then Bierzo is analogous to Burgundy, except with extremely steep hillside vineyards and intensely rugged terrain. The distinctive terroirs have ancient vineyards of Mencía, a unique red grape believed to have been brought by French pilgrims during the Middle Ages.
"Pétalos del Bierzo" is assembled from old hillside and hilltop vines from across Bierzo's western edge. This is the winery's entry-level wine, and it is vinified for immediate appeal, but it retains the estate's signature finesse and restraint.
If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of "The New Spain", it is Alvaro Palacios. Born into a wine family in Rioja, he now makes wine in three different appellations: Priorat, Bierzo, and his hometown of Alfaro in Eastern Rioja. Alvaro's flagship Priorat wine, L'Ermita, is one of the highest-rated wines to come out of Spain, and he was voted "Winemaker of the Year" twice.
It's a known fact that Spanish wines offer great value, but this takes it to another level, one that's arguably shared with the Cote d'Or.
All my best,
—James Tran
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Descendientes de Jose Palacios
'Petalos del Bierzo' 2020
93+ Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"...It's a little more fruit-driven, a vintage of sun, jovial and juicy, approachable and round with very fine, slightly powdery tannins. The fruit is darker than in the 2019. This is still young, and, as it happens with even the most approachable wines from the region, it should be even better in a couple of years. I tasted it again in mid-December, and the wine is showing better and better; time in bottle has done it some good, and the wine has settled and is getting more balanced. I don't feel the sun now; it's harmonious and more serious, juicy and tasty." -LG (Jan 2022)
93+ Points - John Gilman, View From the Cellar:
"The 2020 Pètalos bottling from Ricardo Perez is a lovely bottle of Mencía. This wine is made from about a fifty-fifty split of estate-grown fruit that is primarily planted on slate soils in the hills around the village of Corullón, coupled with purchased fruit from nearby farmers whose vines are planted more often than not on clay. The wine comes in at 14.1 percent octane this year and offers up a deep and youthfully complex bouquet of sweet dark berries, pomegranate, graphite, a hint of tree bark, a fine base of dark soil tones, a touch of coffee grounds and a gentle topnote of Bierzo botanicals. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and moderately tannic, with an excellent core of fruit, fine soil signature, impeccable balance and a long, complex and very promising finish. Though the Pètalos is ostensibly crafted for early drinking, the 2020 vintage is going to want some bottle age to soften up its and drink properly. I remember drinking one of Ricardo’s earliest vintages of Pètalos in a restaurant in Madrid many years ago and the distance this bottling has traveled in quality aspirations in that time is quite remarkable, as this is one stunningly beautiful wine in the making! Drink between 2026-2060." (3/1/22)
92 Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"A rather dense expression here, with dark cherries and hints of lavender and oyster sauce to the slate, crushed blueberries, dark cherries and baked strawberries. Full-bodied and tannic, but silky and powdery. Long and tangy to the end. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better in 2024." (9/22)
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- Bierzo is Northwest Spain, almost bordering Galicia and Asturias
- Made of 92% Mencía with 5% other red grapes (Alicante Bouschet, Gran Negro, Pan y Carne and Negreda) and 3% whites (Valenciana, Jerez and Godello)
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60 bottles left
Lowest price in NorCal
Our Sale:
$23.97 btl (1-5 )
$22.97 btl (6-11)
$19.97 btl (12+ )
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Descendientes de Jose Palacios 'Villa de Corullon' 2017
Up to 100-Year-Old Vines
9 bottles left
94-96 Points - Robert Parker's WA:
"The sample of the 2017 Corullón showed a wider side of this village blend, where they have been focusing to get more precision through harvesting every plot the exact day it should be bottled. That's why they sold up to seven hectares of vineyards, the most challenging plots, those at higher altitude and with more challenging ripening conditions, enabling them to achieve an even more precise blend with the remaining grapes. I had a sample from one oak foudre that seemed to amplify the spicy side of the wine, with an herbal twist thrown in. The palate showed much better, with great balance and very fine tannins. This should be bottled around February 2019." -LG (2/19)
94 Points - Vinous:
"Deep, brilliant violet. Powerful red and blue fruit aromas show sharp delineation and pick up suave floral and exotic spice nuances with aeration. Juicy and densely packed, offering appealingly sweet boysenberry and cherry flavors that show a hint of gaminess, underscored by a vein of smoky minerality. Shows solid, spicy thrust on the impressively long finish, which is given shape by smooth, polished tannins. Drink between 2023-2031." -JR (Jun 2021)
93 Points - Wine Spectator:
"This firm red features a core of black cherry and red plum flavors, backed by licorice, smoke and subtly bitter herb notes. The light tannins are well-integrated, while the orange peel acidity is fresh and lively. Shows intensity, yet remains graceful, harmonious and long. Drink now through 2027. 1,200 cases made." - TM (Sep 30, 2020)
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9 bottles left
Lowest price in the state
Our Sale:
$49.97 btl
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