2019 Rafael Palacios - As Sortes
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The 2019 As Sortes always wears the subtitle Val do Bibei, which is a specific and different zone of Valdeorras where Palacios has his vineyards. This comes from six small plots or "sortes" planted in the 1970s and 1980s on north-facing terraces at 680 meters in altitude and higher in the village of Santa Cruz do Bolo on poor, low-yielding sandy granite soils worked organically and biodynamically but not certified. The destemmed grapes had a short fermentation in the press, and the juice was put to ferment with indigenous yeasts in 500-liter French oak barrels, where the wine matured with lees for eight months. It's powerful (14% alcohol) and fresh (pH 2.15). It has a captivating and nuanced nose, elegant and subtle, floral and citrus with lots of herbs, faintly balsamic. It has a lively palate with great depth of flavors, perfect ripeness and great harmony. Complex, noble and harmonious, it's a very pretty vintage for this powerful white. 21,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2020.
Punteggi della critica
Jancis Robinson MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Altre recensioni e punteggi
The top wine from this superlative producer. Grapes from six small plots (sortes) planted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the oldest vineyards owned by Rafael Palacios. The vines were planted with a selection of cuttings, taken during Valdeorras's recovery plan of the late 1970s in a successful attempt to revive and retain what were then varieties at risk of extinction. Located in Santa Cruz do Bolo on the north side of the Bibei Valley, the infertile soils here are pure granite and sand at over 680 m. Yields are relatively low but were more generous in 2019 than 2018 or 2017. The grapes are pressed and the must is fermented in 500-litre French oak barrels. The wine then remains in barrel and is aged on lees for eight months prior to bottling. I'm getting just a little bit of oak on the nose – the first time I have noticed this in this wine. It's already quite generous and broachable but has even more depth that the Louro bottling. Very exciting wine made from the great Godello grape. But not such good value as the Lalume from Dominio do Bibei made nearby. (JR)