As Sortes, Rafael Palacios 2019

The 2019 As Sortes always wears the subtitle Val do Bibei, which is a specific and different zone of Valdeorras where Palacios has his vineyards. This comes from six small plots or "sortes" planted in the 1970s and 1980s on north-facing terraces at 680 meters in altitude and higher in the village of Santa Cruz do Bolo on poor, low-yielding sandy granite soils worked organically and biodynamically but not certified. The destemmed grapes had a short fermentation in the press, and the juice was put to ferment with indigenous yeasts in 500-liter French oak barrels, where the wine matured with lees for eight months. It's powerful (14% alcohol) and fresh (pH 2.15). It has a captivating and nuanced nose, elegant and subtle, floral and citrus with lots of herbs, faintly balsamic. It has a lively palate with great depth of flavors, perfect ripeness and great harmony. Complex, noble and harmonious, it's a very pretty vintage for this powerful white. 21,200 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2020. Drink 2022 - 2030.

Sampled from vat, this is one of the best As Sortes I have ever tasted, comparable to the iconic 2011. It's a prodigy of subtlety and elegance. Restrained aromas, with a steely structure like a great Burgundy, but with flinty acidity almost like a Grosse Gewõchs from Rheingau. No oak influence, just an indication that the wine had been aged. Rafael Palacios is refining his work year after year, reaching the magic of the greatest wines. A top wine and one to keep.