Bierzo 'Petalos'; Descendientes de Jose Palacios 2023 (750ml)

The 2023 Petalos is a smooth, supple, easy-to-drink Mencia made in a refined and elegant style with integrated acidity. Long and lengthy on the palate, this is the wine that set the producers on their mission to show what Bierzo could do. Dusty and earthy in cacao powder, it’s a complete, complex red from different villages in and around Corullon and Villafranca del Bierzo planted in clay, iron-rich, and sandy soils. Along with the majority of Mencia, it has Alicante Bouschet, Gran Negro, Pan y Carne, Negreda, and other reds, as well as whites such as Jerez, Valenciana, Malvasia, and Godello, all from old bush vines. Delicious. Drink now through 2033. Founded in 1999 by Alvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Perez Palacios, this producer is all about showing off the bedrock, metamorphic, and slate soils in Bierzo, using it as a canvas for the different profiles of Mencia. They farm vineyards that are 130 years old and at high elevation, many interplanted with whites like Palomino. (Jeb Dunnuck, January 2026)

This has dark cherries, underbrush, dried flowers and a bright edge on the nose. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with firm, focused tannins. It’s polished and angular, almost skeletal in structure. About 85% mencia with small amounts of other red and white varieties co-planted in the vineyard. Drink or hold. (James Suckling, July 2025)

The 2023 Pétalos has around 20% grapes from Corullón and the rest bought from around 100 families across Bierzo, approximately 91% Mencía, 8% whites and 1% other reds that fermented in open-top oak and stainless steel vats with indigenous yeast. Malolactic fermentation took a couple of months in oak and stainless steel, and the wine matured in barriques and bocoyes for 10 months. It comes in at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.74. It has a serious nose that combines berry fruit with herbs and a licorice twist, and it is a little tighter and more herbal, denoting more sensation of freshness in the wine even if the year was also warmish. But the peaks of heat did not reach the highs they did in 2022. It makes you think of the Bierzo wines from yesteryear, with the rain during the harvest. It's elegant but there's weight. Despite the price level, this is a wine that aged beautifully in bottle, something you don't expect in an entry-level wine. Final production figures were as expected, 297,867 bottles. The wine was bottled between January and April 2025. This keeps its position as one of the best values in Spain. (Wine Advocate, July 2025)