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2021 Descendientes de Jose Palacios "Pétalos" Bierzo Product Zoom

2021 Descendientes de Jose Palacios "Pétalos" Bierzo

SKU #1474979 93 points James Suckling

Outer quote mark Tangy notes of white pepper, wild herbs and red berries. Hints of agave, too. Elegant and delineated on the palate with a medium body, where you find a fine wrap of chalky tannins to the nimble, elegant red berry fruit. Inner quote mark (5/2023)

93 points Wine Advocate

Outer quote mark 2021 is clearly the finest vintage of the trio of 2020, 2021 and 2022, and the bottled 2021 Pétalos delivers what the unbottled samples promised: a wine with lower alcohol than ever (13.5%), lighter, a little narrower but with the juiciness of Mencía that seems to come back after some time in bottle. It has lots of notes of aromatic herbs, with some similar aromas to the La Faraona. It's quite expressive and showy, very pleasant and easy to drink, very gourmand, with a velvety mouthfeel and very fine tannins. 320,000 bottles and 2,567 magnums produced. It was bottled between November 2022 and March 2023. Approachable now, very hedonistic. (LG) Inner quote mark (8/2023)

92 points Wine Spectator

Outer quote mark A bright, harmonious red, with savory notes of mineral and cigar box on the nose, transitioning on the silky, medium-bodied palate to accent flavors of crushed black raspberry, black olive and milled pepper. Reveals light, fine tannins on the finish. (AN) Inner quote mark (7/2023)

91 points Decanter

Outer quote mark Youthful with hints of sappy plum on the nose. Dense, succulent cherry fruit with hints of herbaceousness. Lip-smacking acidity and polished tannins on the finish. (Panel Tasting) Inner quote mark (3/2023)

K&L Notes

Descendientes de Jose Palacios is a joint venture with Alvaro Palacios, the famed Priorat producer, and his nephew Ricardo Sanchez. It started in the late 1990’s after they were convinced of Bierzo’s potential with its old vines and its steep, stony schist slopes. They are based around the small village of Corullon on the Western side of the appellation. All the viticulture is done biodynamically, Ricardo is Spain’s foremost expert on the subject. Petalos is their everyday Bierzo, it is sourced from over 180 small parcels with vines that age from 40 to 90 years. Harvest is done by hand; fermentation is done with native yeast in large oak and stainless-steel fermenters. It is then aged for a few weeks in new French oak but then is moved into used barrels for about a year. This is 95% Mencia with the balance in local red and white varietals. This wine was crafted for immediate appeal, it displays the aromatic complexity of Mencia while the medium bodied palate is textured and restrained. Elegant and approachable, it speaks of its isolated mountain origins without any rusticity.


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Price: $19.99
JS: 93
RP: 93
WS: 92
DC: 91

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Product Reviews:
By: Craig Morris | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 8/30/2023 | Send Email
Mencia is not a super common grape, only coming from a few places in Spain and Portugal. This wine, from Bierzo, Spain, is 95% Mencia, so if you're new to the grape then give this a try! The nose has an aroma of red fruit with a bouquet of oak and spices. On the palate the wine is full of tart cherries. This is a zippy wine for a medium bodied red. There's also lots of white pepper and minerality. And lastly there are some very soft and silky tannins. This a fun wine worth checking out!

By: Carlo Delgado | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 8/30/2023 | Send Email
Descendientes de J. Palacios is a project by the descendants (Álvaro and Ricardo) of the Palacios family that focuses on the region of Bierzo. This Mencía showcases intriguing notes of pomegranate, black plums, leather, pickled red pepper, dried rosemary, dried sage, freshly cracked black pepper, and potting soil. On the palate, expressive, yet tamed black and red berries, an array of savory dried herbs, fresh note of menthol on the spicy finish. This is the perfect bottle of Mencía for anyone who wants to explore the category as it showcases the varietal's spicy, earthy, slightly viscous, distinctive qualities. A great wine to have with a charcuterie board.

By: Kirk Walker | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 8/29/2023 | Send Email
Bierzo has always been one of my favorite regions in Spain. I love Mencia, the main red varietal planted there. There really is nothing else like it in the world. I love that it comes from an almost forgotten corner of Spain, the place where Castilla y León meets Galicia. It is in isolated mountain valleys where the Romans mined for gold and the Cistercian monks chose to isolate themselves and make wines. It is a region with steep hillside vineyards, with old vines. But what I love the most about the region and its wines are the aromatics. It is savory. The first thing that jumps out at you is the fruit, but it is not something that is easy to put your finger on berries, pluots, cherries and plums. The more you dig into the fruit, the further away it moves, and what starts to come into focus are wild mountain herbs and flowers, mixed with sun warmed leaves, bark, moss, stones, and soil. There is so much more to this wine than fruit, but it never vanishes, the fruit is the medium for those other aromas. I cannot get enough of it, I could almost be content just smelling it, almost. For as much as I love the nose, the palate of this wine is awesome. The aromas and the flavors are in perfect sync. There is a modest amount of tannin, it is polished giving the wine just enough umph. As they fade, they merge into the fresh acidity giving the wine a dynamic energy and then a lingering stony minerality. The fruit and the savory flavors are balanced but lean a little more to the fruit, this is not a wild rustic wine. The is good depth and persistence to it, more than the price point would suggest. It speaks of wild and untamed landscapes but there is a ripe, clean, and polished quality to this wine that makes it very accessible.

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