DESCENDIENTES DE J. PALACIOS – Villa de Corullon 2018

Wine Description

Aroma	After herbs with floral notes of violet, cistus, resin, fern, cinnamon and citrus, all very subtle and harmonious.
Color	Dark, intense cherry red.
Palate	Notes of slate, herbs, cinnamon and citrus. Complex, balanced and very fresh.
Overall result	Pure aromas with well-integrated acidity. Very fresh, delicate, citrusy, subtle and velvety.
Match with	Veal, lamb, game dishes and poultry.
Alcohol	14 vol%

Terroir

Region	D.O. Bierzo
Vintage	2018
Grape Varieties	Mencia, 4% Moncerbal
Soil	Slate (llicorell) qiuarzite, sandstone, clay.
Height	Approx. 450 - 1000 m above sea level
Climate	Continental with strong Atlantic influence
Harvest	Traditional cultivation method

 

Awards

Robert Parker	96/100
Guia Penin	94/100
Suckling	94/100

 

Criticism

"The 2018 Corullón site wine has the new category Vino de Villa (site wine!) for the first time. It comes from around 90 plots of the estate's own vineyards. In the cooler and more Atlantic year of 2018, there was more rain than in the previous two vintages and a lower average temperature, which they believe was excellent for their wines ("a modern version of 2001," Ricardo Pérez Palacios told me). The proportion of white grapes is about 8% and the wine was fermented in oak barrels with negative pressure. The ageing was done in a combination of barriques, bocoyes and foudres, oak barrels of different sizes, and lasted just under 11 months. This is the modern version of 2001 and 2012, and in 2018 includes the Moncerbal portion (almost 40%) that was not included in the 2017 (due to hail, the 2017 Moncerbal bottling was not produced), so it returns to the classic style. There is a great balance here, great purity, with the essence of the slate; here we switch from the fruit of the pétalos to the herbs. But there are also complexities and nuances: violets, cistus, sap, resin, fern, cinnamon and citrus, all very subtle and harmonious. The aromas are similarly pure, and even though these wines are never high in acidity, they are very fresh, delicate, citrusy, subtle and velvety. It is sooo easy to drink that it could be dangerous.... They produced 23,034 bottles and other formats, half bottles, magnums, double magnums and jeroboams. It was bottled in January 2020."