Pétalos del Bierzo Descendientes de J. Palacios 2021

Kürzlich gab es einiges zu feiern im Hause Alvaro Palacios. Der 60. Geburtstag und das 25-jährige Jubiläum des Weinguts Descendientes de J. Palacios sind Zeugnis einer unglaublichen Erfolgsgeschichte der iberischen Halbinsel. Südlich des Dorfes Corullon in Galizien hat Alvaro Palacios dieses Weingut 1999 mit seinem Neffen Ricardo Perez Palacios aus der Taufe gehoben. Ein atemberaubende Kellerei in den Fels gehauen, ermöglicht einen faszinierenden Weitblick. Die Kellerei liegt zu 60% unter Erde und wird umgeben von 35ha Weinbergen in der Steillage! Bewirtschaftet in kleinen Terrassen und Parzellen um diese nutzbar zu machen, wird hier vom ersten Tag biodynamisch gearbeitet.

So wie Alvaro im Priorat den Garnacha Anfang der 90er Jahre hoffähig gemacht hat, ist ihm ähnliches im Bierzo mit dem Mencia gelungen und an seinen Weinen führt kein Weg vorbei! Als reinsortiger Mencia von 40-90 jährigen Rebsorten in mühevoller Arbeit von Hand gelesen und 7 Monate im französischen Barrique gereift, kommt hier ein Spitzenwein ins Glas!

Dicht rubinrot im Glas mit einer trinkanimierenden Nase von frisch gepflückten, roten Früchten wie Johannisbeeren, Waldbeeren und Schwarzkirschen, unterlegt mit feinen Anklängen von Zigarrenkiste und Nougat. Am Gaumen ungewöhnlich dicht und anschmiegsam für Mencia kommt der Wein mit einer fragilen Primärfrucht ins Glas. Nicht so protzig und laut schreiend wie die ersten Jahrgänge von Ermita & Co. sind die Weine von Alvaro heute wesentlich feingliedriger und finessenreicher als früher. So auch der Petalos, der für uns zu den absoluten Lieblingen aus dem Bierzo zählt.

"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. I tasted the bottled 2021s and the 2022s from barrel. 2021 was, according to Ricardo Pérez Palacios, the most challenging year ever, a vintage when Mencía wouldn't ripen! From very early on, Moncerbal shone and felt to be among the finest vintages for this paraje. 2021 was an atypical year, cooler but with a warm and dry end of the season. They harvested some grapes at the end of August, and then they had to stop because the grapes wouldn't ripen! So, Pétalos has only 13.5% alcohol. Some wines have a reductive character; it was a cooler and dry year, and the wines show that character, continental and cold, despite the heat in July and August. The wines are juicy and aromatic, a lot fresher than they anticipated. The wines have contained alcohol (all around 13.5%) and a narrower profile. It should be a long-lived vintage, perhaps not as juicy as the 2018s but with very good balance and freshness. Now from bottle and with the perspective of time, the wines are evolving nicely, perhaps not reaching the heights of 2018, but with elegance and grace, slowly. Starting in 2021, all the wines except Pétalos are certified organic.

2022 was a very challenging year, but surprisingly, the wines are more balanced and better than what they expected. The alcohol is lower than expected, the vines got blocked, it was very warm and dry, 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 to the allowed 10% to 12%, when they normally use between 6% and 8%. The prices for the 2022s had not yet been set at the time of tasting. So far, 2023 looks like a very good and cool year but with a massive mildew attack, even more in lower parts of Bierzo in the valley floor than in the higher-altitude zones like the slopes of Corullón."
93+/100 Punkte - Trinken: 2023-2029