Palacios ‘has made Spain’s best white’

Rafael Palacios may have achieved his aim of producing Spain’s best white wine after RobertParker.com declared his Sorte O Soro 2014 “one of the best white wines of modern Spanish wine history”.

Rafa Palacios said in 2015 that he was on a mission to make the best white wine in Spain

Luis Gutierrez, Spanish wine taster for RobertParker.com, awarded the Sorte O Soro 2014 97 points, saying that it was “among the best white wines ever produced in Spain, with the exception of old Sherries and the traditional whites from Rioja”, adding that he “simply cannot think of a better white”.

The wine, a single-varietal Godello from a single 41-year-old plot in DO Valdeorras, is known for its “superb elegance in the palate”, “gobsmacking acidity” and “astonishing balance”, Gutierrez commented.

Rafael Palacios, the brother of 2016’s Winemaker’s Winemaker of the Year Alvaro Palacios, specialises in single-varietal Godellos in DO Valdeorras

The RobertParker.com accolade could be seen as the fulfilment of Palacios’s expressed ambition to produce the best white wine in Spain.

As reported in the drinks business in July 2015, the winemaker said he was on a mission to make wine that would change perceptions of the potential of the country’s whites.

Sorte O Soro 2014

Palacios explained: “My aim is to make the best white wines in Spain. Anne-Claude Leflaive once told me my single-vineyard Godello tasted like her Puligny-Montrachet, but I haven’t set out to make Burgundy – I want to make distinctly Spanish wines.

“I’m striving to make the best expression possible of Godello. Unfortunately, a lot of Spanish people don’t believe in the potential of our country’s white wines.”

On awarding the Sorte O Soro 97 points, Gutierrez said: “It is ethereal but at the same time pungent – the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove –with the electric minerality of granite”. He added that though he had already been impressed by previous vintages, “2014 is even better” and that “Rafael Palacios has something special in his hands”.

Sorte O Soro 2014 is a single-varietal Godello whose name references the 41-year-ld plot on which the grapes that made it are grown. The plot is located in the O Bolo municipality at an altitude of 720m.

The plot has a south-west aspect and, north of the Bibei Valley, is refreshed by a constant breeze throughout the year, a statement said. Its granitic soil, made up of fine sands and quartz schist, gives the wine a distinct saline character.

The vines are cultivated manually, and pruning and harvest are carried out according to the biodynamic calendar.