2018 Bodegas Rafael Palacios Val do Bibei As Sortes

The 2018 As Sortes comes from the six oldest small plots of Palacios vineyards, bought between 2004 and 2007, and the vines are worked organically. The vines were planted in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and the soils are granite based and deliver low yields. In 2018, they did a lot of sorting of grapes to remove dry grapes affected by mildew. The clear juice ferments in 500-liter oak barrels, and the wine matured with fine lees in those barrels and also in some foudres for eight months. It has a very Burgundian profile. I must say it's quite different from the majority of whites from Valdeorras; it's super serious and somewhat austere, and subtle, a profile I like very much. Austere, direct and salty/mineral, like liquid granite. It's polished and the oak is nicely integrated. They are working to have less imprint from the oak in the wine by using larger barrels. This is less oaky and leesy, with more precision, clean and pure, in the direction of Roulot, if you want to continue in Burgundy. This could be an updated version of 2011, even though 2011 was riper and this 2018 is fresher. 22,400 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2019.