# Pétalos (2023)

- **Producer:** Descendientes de J. Palacios
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Mencía
- **Region:** Castilla y León, Spain
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 13.0%
- **Average price:** €19
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 15–17 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** violet, cherry, blueberry, black pepper, herbaceous, cedar

## About this wine

Descendientes de J. Palacios was founded in 1999 in Bierzo by Álvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Pérez Palacios. The winery revolutionized the region by rescuing steep, ancient hillside vineyards planted on slate soils. The name Pétalos (Petals) symbolizes how hundreds of small, scattered old-vine plots across the hillsides of Bierzo come together like delicate flower petals to form a unified, expressive portrait of the entire region.

## Interesting facts

- The name Pétalos refers to how over 300 individual vine parcels assemble like flower petals into one cohesive regional wine.
- Steep hillside vineyards are farmed biodynamically using traditional draught horses instead of machinery.
- Co-founded by renowned winemaker Álvaro Palacios, who helped transform both Priorat and Bierzo into world-class regions.

## Food pairing

The lively acidity and silky yet structured tannins of this Mencía-based red pair excellently with savory meats, cured charcuterie, and earthy dishes. The wine's vibrant red fruit and herbal-balsamic complexity enhance rich pork, lamb, and mushroom preparations without feeling heavy.

## Wine making process

Grapes are manually harvested from steep, old bush-trained vines ranging from 50 to 110 years old. Fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts in open wooden vats and stainless steel tanks with regular punching down and pump-overs during a 30-day maceration. After spontaneous malolactic fermentation, the wine ages for 10 months in French oak barrels, large foudres, and bocoyes before gentle clarification and light filtration prior to bottling.