INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 DESCENDIENTES DE J. PALACIOS PETALOS DE BIERZO (Wine Advocate 93+points) $26.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

Anyone that has enjoyed a glass of wine from the Mencia grape in Spain over the last few decades owes at least a nod if not a full debt of gratitude to the Descendientes de J. Palacios winery. Founder Alvaro Palacios was first recognized in the early 1990s as part of the group that reintroduced high quality wines from Priorat, as well as the first proponent of Biodynamic viticulture in Spain. By the end of the 90s Alvaro looked to become a pioneer in another part of the country by teaming with his nephew Ricardo Perez to elevate the wines of the Bierzo region. At the most Northwestern corner of Old Castile on the border of Galicia, Bierzo was largely forgotten in the wine world, as well as the native Mencia grape both here and in the eastern Galician regions. The Descendientes project revitalized the best old vineyards in Bierzo, enough so that they were quickly able to introduce this value oriented multi-vineyard 'Petalos' bottling, sourced from as many as 180 individual growers. Polished and fairly modern in character, but still capable of showing the freshness and deep perfume character that long drew comparisons of Mencia to Cabernet Franc. Peppery plum and darker fruits, velvety and plush on the palate with very little oak showing through even in its youth (stronger oak being a common trait in the earlier versions), allowing some of the minerality through that's borne from the schist heavy soils in the best older plots. A very trend-setting wine that should expose many to a wine they never knew they wanted until they tried it!

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