Descendientes de Jose Palacios

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Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Corullon
People: Alvaro Palacios & Ricardo Perez, Owners & Winemakers
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic

Items

Descendientes de Jose Palacios 2024 'Corullon' Vino de Villa, Bierzo DO Login WA 95-98 WA 97+ In Stock
Descendientes de Jose Palacios 2023 'Petalos' Mencia, Bierzo DO Login AG 92 WA 93+ WS 93 In Stock

Álvaro Palacios was already a celebrated producer of Priorat when he teamed up with his nephew, Ricardo Perez, a Bordeaux trained enologist, to fulfill his early passion for making great old vine wine from the Mencia grape. In the estate vineyards around the town of Corullón, Alvaro and Ricardo believe they have found a unique combination of soils, old vines, and a distinctive variety that will yield their own grands crus. Beginning with 2001, the estate began to make their case with individual vineyard bottlings with an emphasis on biodynamic viticulture. The winery is dedicated to Alvaro's father, and Ricardo's grandfather, who passed away in early 2000.

Seven wines are made. The first, Pétalos del Bierzo, is assembled from old hillside and hilltop vines from across Bierzo's western edge. The wine is vinified for immediate appeal, but it retains the estate's signature finesse and restraint. Corullón is an assemblage from old-vine parcels in and around this town. Its combination of generosity and precision makes a case not only for Corullón's special status, but also the superiority of Alvaro's and Ricardo's winemaking. Robert Parker, Jr. said Corullón "may be the finest wine of the appellation." There are, in addition, five extraordinary single vineyard wines made: San Martin, Fontelas, Moncerbal, Las Lamas and La Faraona. Each is a distinctive expression of a remarkable and compelling terroir.

Media Links
Wine Advocate: The Álvaro Palacios 2020 Portfolio
Wine Spectator: Featured Winemaker, Alvaro Palacios
Decanter.com: Alvaro Palacios, Spanish Wanderer
The Drinks Business: Palacios to Release 'Game Changing' Rioja
Yumivino: Q&A with Ricardo Perez Palacios

Reviews

  • Desc. de Palacios 2023 'Petalos' Mencia, Bierzo DO
    Vinous
    Rating: 92 (9/1/2025)
    The 2023 Pétalos is a Mencia from Bierzo that blends fruit from both the lowlands and the slopes of Corullón in equal parts. Focused and precise, it offers hints of violet, wild herbs and fresh plum with touches of cherry and pomegranate. This is medium-bodied, juicy and supple, with delicate freshness and grippy tannins. Compared to the 2022, it feels more resolved and less compact, yet retains its talc-like texture and a faint pink note.
  • Desc. de Palacios 2023 'Petalos' Mencia, Bierzo DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93+ (7/10/2025)
    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.
  • Desc. de Palacios 2024 'Corullon' Vino de Villa, Bierzo DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 95-98 (7/10/2025)
    The very young barrel sample of the 2024 Corullón, their village wine from a puzzle of 90 small plots on slate and quartz soils, is approximately 93% Mencía, 5% Jerez (the white Palomino) and 1% each Alicante Bouschet and Estaladiña, but the final blend is still pending. It fermented with a maceration time of 41 days in oak vats with punching down and is currently aging in barrel. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.83. This is a patchwork from many different components; therefore, they have more room for blending and discarding. For example, the rains during the harvest affected it less than in the single vineyard or paraje wines. This is quite fruit-driven, in 2024 there were fewer white grapes. This is always a very complete wine, and in the last few years, they have tried showing more the effect of the vintage, fine-tuning the work in the vineyard more than in the winery. It's very tasty, and the tannins are very fine.
  • Desc. de Palacios 2023 'Petalos' Mencia, Bierzo DO
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (10/15/2026)

    A suave red, offering depth and focus, with flavors of crushed mulberry and blackberry fruit, black olive, mountain herbs, pepper and paprika. Yet this is harmonious throughout, integrating supple, fine-grained tannins and plum skin-infused acidity. A minerally underpinning of smoke and crushed gravel emerges to drive the refined finish. Drink now through 2036.

  • Desc. de Palacios 2024 'Corullon' Vino de Villa, Bierzo DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 97+ (10/8/2026)
    The 2024 Corullón when just poured reminds me of a Northern Rhône Syrah with its notes of olives, and with time in the glass, it develops an acute note of licorice, showing the many sides of Mencía. It comes from a puzzle of 90 small plots on slate and quartz soils and is approximately 93% Mencía, 5% Jerez (the white Palomino) and 1% each Alicante Bouschet and Estaladiña. It fermented with a maceration time of 41 days in oak vats with punching down and is currently aging in barrel. 2024 is a year when they harvested at different times than usual, but the result is superb. Each year is different, especially now. They pick the grapes when they start tasting of wine rather than looking at parameters of tannins. They were puzzled during the fermentations, but the result has been fantastic. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.83. This is a patchwork from many different components, and therefore, they have more room for blending and discarding. For example, the rains during the harvest affected this wine less than the single-vineyard or paraje wines. It's also aromatic and floral, elegant, fine and super balanced, with a silky mouthfeel. This is also one of the fines vintages for Corullón, which is still a bargain for the price. 23,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2026.