Descendientes de Jose Palacios : Moncerbal 2024

Characteristics and tasting tips for the Moncerbal 2024 by Descendientes de Jose Palacios

Food and wine pairing

This wine pairs beautifully with delicate meats such as grilled lamb and with more characterful poultry such as pigeon or guinea fowl, especially when served with mushrooms or root vegetables. It also complements feathered game served pink, as well as autumnal vegetarian dishes showcasing beetroot, Jerusalem artichokes or salsify. For cheese, it goes well with aged hard cheeses such as Comté, and it can also accompany fine, lightly salted Iberian charcuterie.

Serving and cellaring

This wine should be stored at a maximum temperature of 12°C. Decanting at least one hour before serving is recommended so that it can fully reveal its complexity. The estate suggests an optimal drinking window from the tenth year in bottle onwards, as this wine has considerable ageing potential.

The mineral, refined expression of Bierzo by Descendientes de Jose Palacios

The estate

Founded in 1999 by Álvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Pérez Palacios, Descendientes de Jose Palacios has established itself as a benchmark in the Bierzo region of Castile and León. Now jointly run by these two winemakers, the estate farms around 27 to 30 hectares of old vines on the steep slopes of Corullón, using certified biodynamic methods. As the first Spanish estate to receive the Robert Parker Green Emblem, it embodies precision viticulture based on a plot-by-plot approach close to the Burgundian philosophy, which has played a major role in revealing the potential of Mencía.

The vineyard

The Moncerbal vineyard covers 2.42 hectares of old vines aged 70 to 100 years, located in the municipality of Corullón, in the heart of Bierzo. Facing south-west and perched at altitudes of 610 to 730 metres, the plots lie on Palaeozoic schist from the Lower Cambrian, interspersed with veins of quartzite, sandstone and marbled dolomite, which give the soil great porosity and a pronounced mineral identity. Bush-trained, worked by mule and farmed according to biodynamic principles and certified organic practices, these densely planted vines (7,000 vines per hectare) are never irrigated. The harvest, carried out entirely by hand, undergoes rigorous sorting to preserve the purity of the fruit.

The vintage

The estate rated the 2024 vintage as excellent. The grapes were harvested by hand in several successive passes on 19, 20, 28 and 30 September 2024, in order to select the finest bunches at perfect ripeness. This meticulous harvest resulted in a particularly well-controlled yield of around 24.79 hl/ha, a guarantee of concentration and precision for this Corullón cru.

Winemaking and ageing

The grapes are partially destemmed and then vinified in wooden vats, with regular punching down and exclusively indigenous yeasts. Maceration lasts 46 days, followed by spontaneous malolactic fermentation, also carried out in wooden vats. This Spanish wine is then aged for seven months in a combination of foudres, bocoyes and barriques, without fining, cold stabilisation or filtration, in order to preserve the wine's authenticity and substance as fully as possible.

Grape varieties

This cuvée is made from 94% Mencía, complemented by 3% Alicante Bouschet and other red varieties, as well as 3% white varieties (Jerez), traditionally interplanted in the old vineyards of Corullón.