Palacios Remondo - La Vendimia 2020 | Monsieur Touton Selection

Description

La Vendimia, meaning “the harvest,” represents the quality potential of a Spanish jóven, wines that have been aged for less than six months in oak barrels. Made by famed Spanish winemaker, Alvaro Palacios, La Vendimia is a blend of Spain’s two original star varieties: Tempranillo and Garnacha.

Tasting notes

La Vendimia displays notes of ripe red and yellow cherries both in the nose and on the palate. Juicy orchard fruit are blended seamlessly with silky undertones of soft minerality, culminating in a long, refreshing finish. Meant to drink now through the next three years, this enjoyable wine can also be served slightly chilled. 50% Garnacha & 50% Tempranillo

Estate

If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain,” it is winemaker Alvaro Palacios. Born into a wine family in Rioja, he now makes wine in three different appellations: Priorat, Bierzo, and his hometown of Alfaro in Rioja. Alvaro’s flagship Priorat wine, L’Ermita, is one of the most coveted wines in all of Spain. Following his great successes in Priorat and Bierzo during the 1990s, and the death of his father in 2000, Alvaro Palacios took the helm of Palacios Remondo, his family’s property and winery in Rioja Baja.

History

The Palacios Remondo winery history stretches back five generations when the D.O.C. Rioja was first gaining notoriety as one of the premier winemaking regions of the world. José Palacios Remondo, father of renowned winemaker Alvaro Palacios, reestablished the estate in 1945. Alvaro Palacios, born at his family’s winery in Alfaro, became one of Spain’s winemaking pioneers for his successes in Priorat and Bierzo and was recently voted Decanter Magazine’s Man of the Year (March, 2015). In 2000, upon his father’s death, Alvaro assumed responsibility for Palacios Remondo, and committed to taking the estate’s quality to new heights. Under his inspired leadership, Palacios Remondo is now a rising star of Rioja.

Techincal data

Age of vines: From 10 to 40 years old vines.
Planting density of vines: 1,213 and 1,618 vines per Acre
Viticulture: Vineyard registered as organic viticulture.
Pruning style: Double cordon Royat and bush wines.
Irrigation: No.
Green harvesting: Yes.
Harvesting: By hand, strict selection.
Maceration: 20 days.
Malolactic fermentation: Stainless steel vats.
Ageing: 4 months in barrel.

Vineyard

Located on the slope of the Yerga mountain, at an altitude of 1,800 feet, the Palacios Remondo vineyards are grown at some of the highest points within all of Rioja. The winery’s estate-owned 10- to 40-year-old vines have been grown organically since 2003, where not a single chemical fertilizer or pesticide has been used for close to fifteen years. Their incredibly rocky soil is comprised of sediments that stem from the Quaternary Era, consisting of iron-rich clay and a rock-strewn calcareous subsoil that is covered in small stones, with excellent drainage. Very low in organic material and with a moderated basic pH, the soil type is perfect for growing high quality fruit. All vines are narrowly spaced, pruned under a double cordon royat style, and never irrigated. By green harvesting and dropping significant fruit, Palacios Remondo ensured that only the highest quality fruit was picked during harvest, which took place between the 26th of September and the 29th of October.

Vinification

The Garnacha and Tempranillo grapes were harvested by hand and then selected first in the field and again on a sorting table at the winery, before being put into stainless steel tanks for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Following a 20-day maceration with daily soft pump-overs, a portion of finished, first-press wine was aged for 4 months in used French oak tanks and the rest in French (80%) and American (20%) 225L oak barrels, before being fined and filtered before bottling.

Spain Rioja