2022 Descendientes de José Palacios Villa de Corullón Bierzo
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Region | |
| Appellation | |
| Winery | Descendientes de J. Palacios |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Grape | |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (14%) |
| Drink window | 2024 - 2030 |
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Description
This has the level of a real Grandcru from Burgundy with a comparable aging potential but only costs a fraction of the hundreds of euros costing Top Burgundies. This top wine is mainly made from Mencia grapes from the own vineyards from the village of Corullón up to 850 meters altitude and is aged on average 17 months in oak. This Corullan has an aroma intensity of ripe fruit, slightly sweet spices fleshy and a complex but fresh bouquet of flowers and berries. In the taste we immediately have the crispy acids perfectly supported by a mouth-filling midriff with mineral dry fruity finale. The tannins are very nicely present and this in optimal condition, juicy and yet with bite. Nicely packed with balanced barrel maturation. 96/100 Parker.
This area belongs geo-politically to Castilla y León, but physically it is the gateway to Galicia. The Castilian plateau here becomes a mountainous landscape that changes into a green oasis and a more temperate climate: less extreme than in Castilla and less rain than in Galicia. Bierzo is the kingdom of the Mencía grape, a noble unknown to many, but one of Spain's most underrated grapes with impressive potential. The vineyards are located at an altitude of between 450 and 1,100 meters, with a considerable difference in altitude, which results in many microclimates and terroirs. The main cities are Ponferrada and Villafrance del Bierzo. The soils are sandy or clayey) rocky in the valley along the river Sil, or consist of limestone and mainly slate in the mountains.
The great impulse to this wine region was mainly given by this project. One of the first biodynamic domains in Spain. It was Alvaro Palacios who recognized the potential of this area to make really great terroir wines. After his odyssey in Priorat, he started this wonderful story together with his young nephews Ricardo. They selected the most difficultly situated vineyards of the entire area: the highest, the most difficult to access and with the lowest yields (because vieilles vignes): these were precisely the vineyards that the villagers were least interested in because they yielded the least.
Specifications
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Castilla y Leon |
| Appellation | Bierzo |
| Winery | Descendientes de J. Palacios |
| Grape | Mencia |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Drinking as of | 2024 |
| Drinking till | 2030 |
| Alcohol % | 14 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Promotion | Tier Price |
| Parker rating | 96 |
| James Suckling rating | 94 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aards, Boers, Complex, Donker fruit, Droog, Tannines, Vol |
| Drink moments | Barbecue, Cadeau!, Lekker luxe, Met vrienden, Open haard, Romantisch |
Professional Reviews
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 96
Reviewed by:
Luis Gutiérrez
Release Price:
$60
Drink Date:
2024 - 2034
The bottled village red 2022 Corullón was produced with grapes from around 90 different plots and had a short élevage of eight months in barrel. It is 93% Mencía, 4% Jerez (Palomino), 2.5% Alicante Bouschet and 0.5% Gran Negro bottled at 13.5% alcohol. It's floral and aromatic, but compared with the more-austere 2023, it comes through as more generous, riper and a little gentler, with more fruit but with elegance and freshness that nobody expected during the torrid summer and harvest. It keeps the freshness and poise, with fine-grained tannins. 25,392 bottles and some smaller and larger formats produced. It was bottled in August and November 2023, as they had to stop for the harvest.
I tasted the bottled 2022s and barrel samples from 2023 from Descendientes de José Palacios in Bierzo. 2022 was a very challenging year, but surprisingly, the wines are more balanced and better than what they expected. The alcohol is lower than anticipated. It was a very warm and dry summer, and the vines got blocked—or, at least, the alcohol didn't go that high. But the acidity started dropping. Yields were high, and the white grapes were very good; they used a lot of white grapes, almost the maximum allowed, 10% to 12%, when they normally use between 6% and 8% to co-ferment with the reds. The wines are a little rounder and more generous than the 2023s (or 2021s), very approachable and juicy.
2023 looked like a very good and cool year early on but with a massive mildew attack, even more in lower parts of Bierzo on the valley floor than in the higher-altitude zones like the slopes of Corullón. It was a very variable season with a warm summer, but not as warm as in other parts of Spain. And 35 liters of constant drizzle during the first two weeks of the harvest gave them a lot of work, and they harvested La Faraona six different times! In 2023, they will bottle another tiny plot separately, Al Chelo.
Is it a coincidence (or could it be destiny?) that the alternative name of Valdafoz in some documents was Al Chelo? Because Chelo was the name of Ricardo's mother, who died from COVID-19. So, the wine was destined to be. It's from a very steep plot, the steepest they have, up to 70% in some parts. 2023 was an even more generous crop than 2022 (the effect of the fertilization with the compost), and they had to green harvest; the wines have better balance, and it doesn't feel like a warm year. It's a vintage that has a tendency toward reduction, not as much as 2020, but still reductive. But it's an elegant, stony reduction. The 2023s could very well be the finest, most elegant and aromatic vintage they have produced to date. More news about them next year. The prices for the 2023s have not yet been set.
Published: Jun 20, 2024
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Descendientes de J. Palacios Bierzo Villa de Corullón 2022
Monday, October 7, 2024
CountrySpain
RegionCastilla y León
Vintage2022
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
94
A difficult vintage has delivered more tannins to the wine, but it is nevertheless fresh and nervy, with grilled grapefruit, white pepper and hibiscus. Structured in terms of the firmness and the quantity of the tannins. It’s very different from the 2021 vintage, which shows nimbleness and agility. Vertical but still quite bright. It needs two more years to come around. Drink from 2026.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
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This has the level of a real Grandcru from Burgundy with a comparable aging potential but only costs a fraction of the hundreds of euros costing Top Burgundies. This top wine is mainly made from Mencia grapes from the own vineyards from the village of Corullón up to 850 meters altitude and is aged on average 17 months in oak. This Corullan has an aroma intensity of ripe fruit, slightly sweet spices fleshy and a complex but fresh bouquet of flowers and berries. In the taste we immediately have the crispy acids perfectly supported by a mouth-filling midriff with mineral dry fruity finale. The tannins are very nicely present and this in optimal condition, juicy and yet with bite. Nicely packed with balanced barrel maturation. 96/100 Parker.
This area belongs geo-politically to Castilla y León, but physically it is the gateway to Galicia. The Castilian plateau here becomes a mountainous landscape that changes into a green oasis and a more temperate climate: less extreme than in Castilla and less rain than in Galicia. Bierzo is the kingdom of the Mencía grape, a noble unknown to many, but one of Spain's most underrated grapes with impressive potential. The vineyards are located at an altitude of between 450 and 1,100 meters, with a considerable difference in altitude, which results in many microclimates and terroirs. The main cities are Ponferrada and Villafrance del Bierzo. The soils are sandy or clayey) rocky in the valley along the river Sil, or consist of limestone and mainly slate in the mountains.
The great impulse to this wine region was mainly given by this project. One of the first biodynamic domains in Spain. It was Alvaro Palacios who recognized the potential of this area to make really great terroir wines. After his odyssey in Priorat, he started this wonderful story together with his young nephews Ricardo. They selected the most difficultly situated vineyards of the entire area: the highest, the most difficult to access and with the lowest yields (because vieilles vignes): these were precisely the vineyards that the villagers were least interested in because they yielded the least.
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Castilla y Leon |
| Appellation | Bierzo |
| Winery | Descendientes de J. Palacios |
| Grape | Mencia |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Drinking as of | 2024 |
| Drinking till | 2030 |
| Alcohol % | 14 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Promotion | Tier Price |
| Parker rating | 96 |
| James Suckling rating | 94 |
| Tasting Profiles | Aards, Boers, Complex, Donker fruit, Droog, Tannines, Vol |
| Drink moments | Barbecue, Cadeau!, Lekker luxe, Met vrienden, Open haard, Romantisch |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 96
Reviewed by:
Luis Gutiérrez
Release Price:
$60
Drink Date:
2024 - 2034
The bottled village red 2022 Corullón was produced with grapes from around 90 different plots and had a short élevage of eight months in barrel. It is 93% Mencía, 4% Jerez (Palomino), 2.5% Alicante Bouschet and 0.5% Gran Negro bottled at 13.5% alcohol. It's floral and aromatic, but compared with the more-austere 2023, it comes through as more generous, riper and a little gentler, with more fruit but with elegance and freshness that nobody expected during the torrid summer and harvest. It keeps the freshness and poise, with fine-grained tannins. 25,392 bottles and some smaller and larger formats produced. It was bottled in August and November 2023, as they had to stop for the harvest.
I tasted the bottled 2022s and barrel samples from 2023 from Descendientes de José Palacios in Bierzo. 2022 was a very challenging year, but surprisingly, the wines are more balanced and better than what they expected. The alcohol is lower than anticipated. It was a very warm and dry summer, and the vines got blocked—or, at least, the alcohol didn't go that high. But the acidity started dropping. Yields were high, and the white grapes were very good; they used a lot of white grapes, almost the maximum allowed, 10% to 12%, when they normally use between 6% and 8% to co-ferment with the reds. The wines are a little rounder and more generous than the 2023s (or 2021s), very approachable and juicy.
2023 looked like a very good and cool year early on but with a massive mildew attack, even more in lower parts of Bierzo on the valley floor than in the higher-altitude zones like the slopes of Corullón. It was a very variable season with a warm summer, but not as warm as in other parts of Spain. And 35 liters of constant drizzle during the first two weeks of the harvest gave them a lot of work, and they harvested La Faraona six different times! In 2023, they will bottle another tiny plot separately, Al Chelo.
Is it a coincidence (or could it be destiny?) that the alternative name of Valdafoz in some documents was Al Chelo? Because Chelo was the name of Ricardo's mother, who died from COVID-19. So, the wine was destined to be. It's from a very steep plot, the steepest they have, up to 70% in some parts. 2023 was an even more generous crop than 2022 (the effect of the fertilization with the compost), and they had to green harvest; the wines have better balance, and it doesn't feel like a warm year. It's a vintage that has a tendency toward reduction, not as much as 2020, but still reductive. But it's an elegant, stony reduction. The 2023s could very well be the finest, most elegant and aromatic vintage they have produced to date. More news about them next year. The prices for the 2023s have not yet been set.
Published: Jun 20, 2024
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
Descendientes de J. Palacios Bierzo Villa de Corullón 2022
Monday, October 7, 2024
CountrySpain
RegionCastilla y León
Vintage2022
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
94
A difficult vintage has delivered more tannins to the wine, but it is nevertheless fresh and nervy, with grilled grapefruit, white pepper and hibiscus. Structured in terms of the firmness and the quantity of the tannins. It’s very different from the 2021 vintage, which shows nimbleness and agility. Vertical but still quite bright. It needs two more years to come around. Drink from 2026.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics