La Faraona 2022
DO Bierzo, Descendientes de J. Palacios, 750 ml
Wine Majesty
- Álvaro Palacios and Ricardo’s flagship wine from Bierzo – a complex, vibrant and majestic wine of exceptional quality.
- Deeply mineral, fresh and herbally spicy, with alluring fruit and tremendous length.
- Pair with prime beef, saddle of venison or fillet Wellington – also an impressive wine for savouring.
Description
The flagship wine from Álvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo in Bierzo. The La Faraona vineyard, with its ancient bush vines, rises to an altitude of 950 metres and produces an exceptional wine on mineral-rich schist soils – complex, vibrant and majestic. Deeply mineral, fresh and characterised by delicate herbal notes, underpinned by the beguiling fruit of the Mencía grape. Ultra-fine tannins and an enormous aromatic length complete the multi-layered overall picture. A wine of impressive depth – created for special moments. Perfect with fine cuts of beef such as fillet or entrecôte, saddle of venison or fillet Wellington, ideally with a mushroom filling. Equally an impressive wine for meditation.
Attributes
| Grape variety: | Mencia, Weisse Autochthone |
| Producer: | Descendientes de J. Palacios, S.L. |
| Origin: | Spain / Castilla y León / Bierzo |
| Other vintages: | 2021 2020 2019 |
| Label: | Vegan |
| Ripening potential: | 4 to 30 years |
| Drinking temperature: | 14 to 18 °C |
| Food Pairing: | Châteaubriand, Filet Wellington, Roast saddle of venison, Wild fowl |
| Vinification: | partly destemmed, fermentation with grapes' own yeast, fermentation in wooden barrel |
| Harvest: | hand-picking, strict selection |
| Maturation: | in new barriques |
| Bottling: | no filtration |
| Maturation duration: | 12 months |
| Volume: | 14.0 % |
| Note: | Contains sulphites |
Descendientes de J. Palacios, S.L.
Welcome to Spain’s most famous unknown wine region: Bierzo! Even winemaker Ricardo Pérez Palacios, today one of the appellation’s most prominent ambassadors, did not really have the region on his radar – until he heard that Émile Peynaud, the French wine legend and father of modern oenology, once said that «Bierzo is the most French-like of all Spanish wine regions.»
An oenological Eldorado hidden in north-western Spain, destined to produce great wines. Ricardo was born in Rioja, and his uncle is Spain’s wine superstar Álvaro Palacios. Like him, he studied in Bordeaux and, like him, returned with the vision of crafting outstanding wines from unique vineyard sites.
The Bierzo wine region lies in the green north of Spain, on the border between Castilla y León and Galicia. Its humid climate, with frequent fog and rainfall, provides ideal conditions for the Mencía grape variety, whose origins remain not fully understood to this day. The oldest vines and the greatest genetic diversity of this variety are found in Bierzo.
Mencia
Mysterious origin, today widespread
Mencia is a red, Spanish variety currently cultivated on an area of around 10,000 hectares. The origin of Mencia has not been definitively determined. It was long surmised that this vine was a mutation of the French Cabernet Franc, which came via the Way of St. James to Bordeaux. Nowadays, it is assumed that the Mencia cultivar is descended from an autochthonous native variety. Mencia is widespread throughout Galicia and Castile, and is confined almost exclusively to northwestern Spain.
Red wine derived from Mencia grapes is usually rather pale, intense in the nose, and smooth and fresh in the mouth.
Bierzo
Bierzo: to the top with the Mencia variety
At the beginning of the 90s, the Bierzo region, which is crossed by the Camino de Santiago, was barely known in the international wine scene. It was only when new residents and investors began to bottles top crus from selected slopes, which perfectly united finesse and force, that interest in this region and its primary variety grew. This variety, Mencia, is considered one of the highest quality red wine varieties in the Iberian Peninsula.
Castilla y León
Castile and León: Increasing diversity
Only 30 years ago, the autonomous region of Castile and León was an almost blank spot on the European wine list. This has changed immensely thanks to three grape varieties. The Tempranillo variety yields feisty, strong wines in Ribera del Duero and Toro. And Bierzo, the small wine area in the region's northwest, has experienced an impressive ascent, thanks to the character-laden Mencia variety. Finally, the fresh and fruity Verdelho pressings from Rueda have become the most successful Spanish white wines.
Spain
Spain – Variety and perfection
“Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember...,” begins Don Quixote's odyssey.
The most famous part is definitely when Don Quixote thinks windmills are his enemy and wants to fight them – until they nearly kill him. It’s possible there was a bit too much of the La Mancha wine at play. Spanish vines fight for their survival in rugged landscapes, battling fierce drought and rough soils. But they fight well.
