Wine Advisor
Descendientes de Jose Palacios, Moncerbal 2001
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Limestone, chalk, and slate compose the vineyards from which the 2001 Moncerbal (185 cases) emerges. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple color, great finesse, and a striking note of minerality along with touches of blueberry, licorice, and earth. Medium-bodied, with crisp acidity and sweet tannin, it should drink well for 10-12 years. Importer: The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
About the Producer
Descendientes de José Palacios (DJP) is one of three estates of the family of Álvaro Palacios. The 'Descendientes' are Álvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Perez Palacios, both of whom grew up in the Palacios family home in Alfaro, Rioja. Both are descendents of Álvaro's father, José Palacios, who died in 2000, just as the first Bierzo wines were being prepared and for whom the Bierzo project was then named. DJP commenced in 1999, when the young Ricardo was studying permaculture in Leon, subsequent to his viticultural studies in Bordeaux. Ricardo came across some very old plantings of Mencía high on the mountain slopes above the village of Corullón, and recognised these as heritage material of great potential and importance, just as Álvaro has done a decade earlier with the remnant old autochthonous Garnatxas of Priorat. Álvaro was summoned to inspect and an immediate decision was made to invest and investigate. Ever since, Ricardo and Álvaro have been purchasing and renovating old vineyards, massale propogating heritage genetic material throughout their holdings, all the while refining how to grow and vinify Mencía.
