Winemaker Notes
Petalos del Bierzo is assembled from old hillside and hilltop vines across from Bierzo's western edge. The wine is vinified for immediate appeal, but it retains the estate's signature finesse and restraint.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This polished red shows density and harmony, delivering complex, well-integrated flavors of mineral, wild berry, fresh herbs and smoke. Not showy, but has character. Drink now through 2018. 25,000 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The new releases (all 100% Mencia) include the entry-level 2009 Petalos del Bierzo sourced mainly from leased vineyards with vine age ranging from 40-90 years. It was aged for a few weeks in new French barriques followed by 6-10 months in seasoned barrels. It shows lovely density and purity in an up-front style. Dark black cherries, violets, and Asian spices perch on a medium-bodied frame with well integrated oak and an elegant personality. With excellent volume and length, it is a classy introduction to what can be achieved in the DO of Bierzo.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.