Descendientes de Jose Palacios : Petalos 2022

A well-balanced red, with coulised black cherry and boysenberry fruit alongside light, supple tannins. Shows pretty notes of dried sage and violet, anise, tar and white pepper. Drink now through 2030. 23,000 cases made.

Notes of black olives, hibiscus, ripe red cherries and some baked berries. Still quite juicy, with fine-boned tannins and a full-bodied palate. Round, structured and long. Drink now.

The 2022 Pétalos is Mencía & others from Bierzo. About 30% of the grapes come from Corullón, with the rest from the valley. In an infusion-like style, the 2022 offers pomegranate, dried flower and violet hints in a reductive context. It finishes compact and slate-textured, with fine fruit flavors. Fresh on the palate, it mirrors its aromatic profile.

The 2022 Pétalos was produced with 85% Mencía, 10% white grapes and 5% other reds from over 90 hectares, 20% owned by them and the rest from 180 families. It fermented with some full clusters in oak and stainless steel vats and matured in barrels of different sizes for 10 months. It's clearly more Mediterranean, with notes of rockrose and other aromatic herbs, juicy and round, more fruit-driven, aromatic, velvety and very pleasant and easy to drink. It has 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.54. It's still not all bottled, as it's done in different lots, for a total of around 270,000 bottles and 3,000 magnums.