Alavaro Palacios in one of his vineyards. Picture credit: Rare Wine Company.

A number of years ago, I read an article about a “new old” wine region in Spain called Bierzo, located north of Portugal along the route of El Camino de Santiago, Christianity’s most famous pilgrimage. I wish I could remember which article it was, though the general essence has remained deeply ingrained in my mind. First, the signature red grape there is called mencía. Second, the vines, most of which grow on very steep hillsides, can be a century old. Third, Bierzo as a region and mencía as a grape had both been forgotten by the wine world for decades until the 1990s. And forth, this was a shame because both had a lot to offer wine lovers.

That was enough to motivate me to seek out Bierzo mencía. I found my way to a bottle by a producer named Descendientes de José Palacios called Pétalos, which is a field blend from the western part of the region that costs around $25. I recognized the name Palacios as one widely credited for helping Priorat rise to its current status as a unique wine region of high quality. Further, its winemaker, Alvaro Palacios, comes from Rioja’s esteemed Bodegas Palacios Remondo family. The Pétalos seemed like a good entry to Bierzo.

Man, was it good. While not particularly heavy, it had daunting depth at its pricepoint and a combination of flavors and aromas I had not experienced: spicy red fruit, loads of purply florals, wet underbrush, licorice and a mild pepper finish. Further, the structure was mesmerizing. It had significant tannin, but that tannin was so finely grained and consistent that it didn’t obstruct any other element of the wine, including the precise acid. Most Spanish wine is known, among other things, for its boldness. With perhaps the exception of Rioja, Bierzo offers an elegant, feminine alternative to the country’s more famous regions.

The winery. Picture credit: Rubén Bescos.

If the Pétalos was Palacios’s entry point, I figured their more pricy bottles could be downright magical, and decided to purchase two bottles of the 2012 Descendientes de José Palacios Bierzo Villa de Corullón, the next step up in the Palacios line that costs around $45. Corullón is the village that Palacios chose as the epicenter of their effort in Bierzo. The most desirable vineyards and parcels go into more expensive single vineyard bottles, whereas the Villa de Corullón is a blend of three vineyards (with vines ranging from 60 to 100 years old). From what I had read, the Villa de Corullón was built for short to mid-term aging, and so I decided to open my first bottle five years after its vintage.

One of the reasons I like to purchase multiples of a wine I intend to age is to see how it develops over time. I consumed the first bottle in July of 2017, and had the second just last week (August 29, 2018). If I had any doubt of my approach, the difference that just a year made with this wine affirmed the rationale. While there were consistencies, there were also dramatic differences.

From July 2017: Holy florals, Batman! The nose is a flower store, a bit of everything, with crushed strawberries, cranberries, Sweet Tarts and tar. The body is medium in weight with juicy acidity. The fruit is a bit darker here, with overripe strawberries, cherries and boysenberries. There’s lovely violets and rose, along with creamsicle, although over time the flowers fade as cola and chocolate emerge. I really like this, and will be very interested to follow it over the next five-ish years.

And from August 2018: Such a gorgeous, elegant wine at a great stage on its life. The balance is impeccable. It’s identity just screams “pastel.” The nose and palate supremely balance florals and dark earthy notes: pink, purple and yellow flowers; wet top soil; graphite; and darkly tanned tobacco leaf. It also features mountain strawberry, blood orange, dark cherry and pomegranate seed. The fine grained tannins add pleasure to the mouthfeel, and the acid is in perfect balance. A truly impressive wine. Decent for an hour now, and consume over the next three years.

The Villa de Corullón label. Picture credit: Wine.com.

Both were beautiful wines, though my preference went to the longer-aged bottle (I gave the younger bottle 93 points, and the older 95). I’ve spent considerable time thinking about what a comparable wine from elsewhere might be, and continue to come up empty. I’ve rarely found a wine like the Corullón that excels on all fronts: aroma, structure, balance, mouthfeel and flavor. It achieves the rare quality that is the benchmark I have for my favorite wines: the sum of the parts surpasses the quality their individual qualities.

Try this wine because: (1) it’s profile is highly unusual, if not definitionally unique (one of a kind), (2) it’s very reasonably priced for its quality, and (3) there is good availability of past vintages, which makes drinking it in its prime now a real possibility.

Where to buy:

Thankfully, this is not the hardest wine to find. The current release is 2015, but wine-searcher.com has store listings for eleven vintages. Two stores – Pluckemin Inn Wines in Bedminster, New Jersey and Wine & Liquor Warehouse in Canton, Connecticut – still have the 2012, which I profiled in this piece, available at great prices. The stores below, which represent a greater geographic dispersion, have the 2015 vintage. And, as always, you go to wine-searcher.com and enter your zip code and a radius to find the closest store. Click on this link to do that.

Central/Upstate New York: Saratoga Wine Exchange, 43 Round Lake Road Ste. 3, Ballston Lake NY 12019. 1 (518)-899-9463.

Mountain View, California: Artisan Wine Depot, 2482 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View California 94040. 1 (650) 917-8080.

Arlington, Virginia: Total Wine, 800 N. Glebe Rd, Arlington VA  22203. 1 (703) 516-2810

San Francisco, California: Flatiron Wine & Spirits, 2 New Montgomery St, San Francisco. California 94105. 415-780-1405.

Orlando, Florida: Total Wine, 4625 Millenia Plaza Way, Orlando Florida, 32839. (407) 352-6330.

Chicago area, Illinois: Vin Chicago, three locations (Highland Park, Chicago and Barrington)