2024 Rafael Palacios Louro do Bolo

This wine, named after its grape, is produced almost exclusively in and around Spanish Galicia, primarily in Valdeorras. It boasts a round, full flavor, mild oak notes, soft acidity, a touch of spice, and a pleasant blend of ripe citrus and white fruit. Fresh exotic citrus fruit with hints of Szechuan pepper and flowers. On the palate, we experience well-integrated ripe acidity, a charming roundness, a rich and full mid-palate, with a subtle exotic note in the retro. The whole is enveloped in an unobtrusive coat of cask aging with mineral characteristics. Its affinity for oak makes this wine an excellent alternative for those tired of Chardonnay. Rafael himself, by the way, claims he makes the Spanish Grüner Veltliner!

Valdeorras is one of Spain's smaller and lesser-known wine regions. It's located in Galicia in the northwest of the country, between the more well-known DOs of Rías Baixas and Bierzo. The vineyards for this wine lie at an altitude of 600 to 720 meters and consist primarily of sandy soils. Valdeorras, literally "valley of gold," enjoys a continental climate. Because it's located some 150 kilometers inland, the influence of the Atlantic Ocean is much less than in other parts of Galicia.

Rafael Palacios is the youngest brother of Alvaro Palacios, who became known primarily for his project in the Priorat region. The Palacios family has long owned the renowned Palacios-Remondo bodega in the Rioja town of Alfaro (Rioja Baja), where Alvaro left for Priorat in the late 1980s. Rafa is the youngest of nine siblings and worked as an oenologist at the family estate in Rioja. He focused primarily on perfecting the Plácet white wine, developing a taste for producing top white wines in Spain.
After completing an internship in Valdeorras, Galicia, he was convinced that this was where he would create his great white wine, using Godello, the region's signature white grape. He left everything behind at the end of 2003, and within a few months, he sought out and purchased the oldest Godello vineyards in the highest valley of Valdeorras, the Valle del Bibei. He specifically sought out the highest, most difficult-to-access, and lowest-yielding vineyards, which the villagers were no longer interested in because they required too much work and yielded too little. He quickly succeeded in acquiring 12 hectares, rented a large garage and cellar nearby for vinification, and by 2004 had already produced his first As Sortes. His second wine, the Louro, followed a year later, and since 2011, the base wine, Bolo, has been available.

This wine was an immediate success, and in short order, his wines achieved cult status both domestically and internationally. He now also uses small quantities of Treixadura and is already thinking about how to improve. The construction of the bodega itself is entirely subordinate to acquiring the best vineyards and producing the finest white wine, but by 2011, his plans for this were sufficiently matured. Rafael himself calls Godello the lung of his wines; it's a glyceric varietal with exceptionally few aromas. Nevertheless, this grape is capable of truly top performance at high altitudes, with an unprecedented freshness. Godello naturally has high tartrate acidity, which guarantees good aging over time. Treixadura is similar to Godello but has greater aromatic potential. Rafa now owns 21 hectares, of which almost 20 hectares are Godello and just over 1 hectare Treixadura. He also controls another 8 hectares of Godello. All the plots are farmed organically. He cultivates his best plots: Sorte O Soro, Sorte Antiga and Os Canieros entirely using biodynamic methods.