Pétalos del Bierzo 2014

Descendientes de Jose Palacios is the name of the Palacios family winery from Rioja in Bierzo. Ricardo Perez Palacios is on site, while his uncle Alvaro Palacios spends his time between Priorat and La Rioja. [...]. They follow biodynamics, out of pure conviction; I was visiting them with a group of Portuguese wine producers a decade ago, when biodynamie was very trendy. We spent the whole day with Ricardo, and he did not even mention the word. He now lives it full-time, and has moved to a biodynamic farm in Corullon where they have their animals and offer courses on agriculture, cheese making and so on. As for the wines, they are different from the rest of the Bierzo; they have to be, because their very old vineyards are located in the village of Corullon, high up in the mountains, some of them at 1,200 meters altitude on slate slopes where they yield minuscule quantities of grapes. They also carry out very detailed work, both in the vineyards and in the winery, and the result shows. The wines have the purity and clean rusticity of the Cornas from Clape, and if you push me, I’d also say they also have a similar texture. 2010 and 2011 are very different in character. The 2011s jump out of the glass, but you really need to coax the 2010s out. I believe 2010 will develop superbly, but it will be a vintage similar to 2001 that will take a long time to really show its best. [...] Ricardo is really excited about the latest vintages, and he tells me that his all-time favorite vintages are 2010, 2011 and 2012, together with 2001. What I tasted is a superb collection of wines.