2022 Rafael Palacios As Sortes

Rafael Palacios, brother of famous winemaker Alvaro Palacios from Priorat, started making wine in Valdeorras in 2004. He bought old vineyards with Godello grapes from local farmers. All 22.5 hectares of the company are planted with this grape, spread over 26 vineyards. The age of the vines ranges from 7 to 91 years old. All the plots are farmed organically. He grows his best parcels: Sorte O Soro, Sorte Antiga and Os Canieros entirely in biodynamics. The name of the wine As Sortes is Galician for 'heirloom lots'. After all, the Galician inheritance law system is structured in such a way that each child receives an equal share of a piece of land, in this way the vineyards are of course incredibly fragmented and everyone receives a 'sorte' or inheritance lot. It often happens that a vineyard of 1 hectare is divided into 10 different lots or 'sortes'. The plural As Sortes is therefore many heirs together in one wine.

Rafa has his vineyards in Santa Cruz do Bolo, where the soil is different from the rest in Valdeorras. The soil here is completely granite, with an upper texture of coarse sand grains from the eroded granite. The granite here is composed of feldspar, mica and quartz. Quartz in particular, a mineral of crystallized silicon, gives a mineral and salty character to the wines. The pluviometry is high, which means that the soils have a very low pH and therefore a very high acidity. All the 'sortes' have the same bases, with only the texture and size of the grains varying. The altitude varies from 650 to 720 m.

What Rafa attaches great importance to is the selective harvest of each plot, precisely so as not to lose the unique character of the different plots. The grapes are placed on the selection table at harvest. Cold maceration and maximum protection against oxidation are other techniques he uses to ensure quality is not lost. The use of foeders is very important. Rafa selects the oak from northern French forests: the colder the forest, the less aromatic the wood, more neutral and with better oxygenation for the élevage sur lies. The wood is lightly toasted, for many hours with a very low heat so that the pores of the barrique open, but so that it is not marked by smoke or torrefaction aromas. He does less bâtonnage than he used to, as he notices that the wines lose character and personality by making too much use of the yeast cells. The As Sortes is fermented in large wooden vats of 500 liters for a good month, after which the wine is aged in the same vats for 6 months.

The As Sortes is fresh, clean and complex and it is very different from other white wines from the Valdeorras. In the nose we smell notes of yellow fruit, citrus and herbs accentuated by creamy notes and just a hint of smoke. The taste is medium-bodied with very good acidity, full and spicy but fresh and smooth at the same time. The aftertaste is somewhat salty and mineral and remains long in the mouth. A maximum of 15,000 bottles of the As Sortes are produced and is highly recommended for those who are a bit tired of Chardonnay. The wine has a nice drinking window until at least 2030+.