Rafael Palacios Louro Do Bolo Godello 2017
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#92 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2019Louro is a blend of Godello with a small amount of Treixadura from parcels located in the villages of Chandoiro, Lentellais, Outardepregos and Santa Cruz. After decades of conventional farming, the organic practices of Rafa have begun to revitalize the soils of these site and Louro is becoming more complex with each vintage. Louro is fermented in French oak foudres and aged on its lees for four months.
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Jeb Dunnuck
In the same style, the 2017 Louro Do Bolo is a blend of 92% Godello and 8% Treixadura from sandy, granitic soils, fermented and aged in larger foudre. Crushed lime, citrus pith, white flowers, and a beautiful salinity all give way to a medium-bodied, racy, vibrant white that makes you salivate. It’s going to be incredibly versatile on the dinner table, and while I’d drink bottles over the coming year or so, I wouldn’t be surprised if this evolves gracefully for longer.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The entry-level 2017 Louro was cropped from an unusual year marked by frost that reduced the crop by some 40%. It's a blend of Godello with around 8% Treixadura with good ripeness, concentration, power and acidity, managing a considerable alcoholic degree with low pH and notable acidity. It fermented in 3,000-liter oak foudres, where it was kept with the fine lees for four months. This is a great wine, perhaps not as long lived as As Sortes, because the vineyards are not as high in altitude and have a little more clay in the soils. It's a little more varietal in character but also marked by the soils, especially on the finish. It's very expressive early on. It's not a banal wine—it's serious, clean, balanced and concentrated, ripe without excess, expressive, aromatic and open. It has intense, pungent flavors with a saline, tasty twist I often find in wines from granite. It combines power with balance. This overdelivers for its price.
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Wine Spectator
Peach, quince and lime flavors mingle with notes of lemon cream, heather and grapefruit in this expressive white. The texture is broad, but crisp acidity keeps this focused.
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2022-
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Rafael Palacios began his wine project in Valdeorras in 2004, purchasing mature vineyards of the indigenous Godello variety from older local growers. His previous experience in the area as a consultant had motivated him to try and recuperate the unique sub-zone of the Bibei Valley in the Municipality of O Bolo.
The extreme topography and the low productivity of the soil had led to the almost complete abandonment of grape production in this tiny but historic county, cultivated traditionally on terraces. The predominance of small plots is the result of inheritances drawn by lot, often out of a hat, called "Sorte" in the Galician language and the inspiration for the name As Sortes.