Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
 | | 03/16/2004 12:32 AM |
| From NJ Poker Night 3/14/04.
'01 Descendientes de J. Palacios Corullon San Martin Bierzo - 87 pts. Biggest disappointment of the night. I thought this wine would show better. Shy nose of black cherry. Good persistent flavors of raspberry and some tarragon. Fair length. This bottle was very tight and didn't open up dispite a 2 hr. decant. I did go back to it after 4 hours and still it was unyielding.
100% Mencia grape. This wine probably needs time. It was hard as a rock.
jb | | | |
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jaimetown
DC area
Wine Labeler
Posts:3504
| | 03/16/2004 8:01 PM |
| | I'm sorry this did not work out for you, jb. Have you had other premier Bierzos recently and are they shutting down? I've been meaning to open a bottle of Paixar 2001, but am not sure what food to cook to match it. | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 03/17/2004 11:34 AM |
| The only other Bierzo's I have had are Tilenus (not as good as Palacios) and some less expesive ones. The Palacios is the best I've had. I guess my disappointment stems from the fact that this wine was no better than the regular Bierzo and the regular Corullan was better than this at 1/2 the price. I understand Jones is very high on the Pharoah and the Moncerbal, so maybe those single vins show better young.
jb | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 03/18/2004 9:58 AM |
| If any of you out there has tried Bembibre 2001 and liked it (it's a half-priced version of Paixar) just wait for the stunning "P3" from the same producer (more expensive also) or the exquisite 2002 Bembibre. Here it fetches merely 23€...  | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 03/18/2004 12:06 PM |
| Wow, somebody named a wine after me. I'll have to keep a look out for that. (my last name is bembry)
Gastro, have you tried any of the single vin Bierzo's from Descendientes?
jb | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 03/22/2004 11:48 AM |
| Nay, and at their prices I don't think I will. Apparently Palacios's new distributors in Tenerife are running the Bierzo bottlings too so maybe when I get back to Tenerife for Easter I'll have a chance to see the lot. I've seen the old-time dearie Corullón go down to thirtyodd euros (now that it's no longer the superstar), and the generic Palacios Bierzo has disappeared. But it'll be hard to shell out Tenerife prices for the already expensive single vineyard labels...  | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 04/01/2004 9:52 AM |
| Just saw San Martín in Salamanca for 58E last week. Passed.
VERY sad story: apparently the old generic 22E "Bierzo" (1999 & 2000) is no longer made, now relabeled "Corullón" (2001 & passim). That means the old 22E label has disappeared and been replaced by a 35E GENERIC Corullón, whereas the old 60E Corullón is now split among the different single vineyards.
The Salamanca retailer was pulling his hair out at the sight of two different Corullons on his shelves. The good one at twice the price of the generic one, wondering what to do: whether to tell the truth and admit the winery policy is short of deceiving, or never sell the 2000... | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 04/01/2004 11:19 AM |
| Interesting, Gastro. We carry the regular Bierzo in our store and it has been selling very well. I am assuming that this change in name is taking place for the '02 vintage, correct? Our '01 regular Bierzo doesn't say Corullon.
jb | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/01/2004 5:23 PM |
| Quote:
whereas the old 60E Corullón is now split among the different single vineyards.
This statement is deceiving. The single vineyard The Pharoah was never part of the Corullon cuvee (Palacios did not own the vineyard until the 2001 vintage). Further while the three other single vineyards used to be part of the Corullon blend and are now separate they did not make up the majority of the Corullon blend. The three single vineyards in question total less than 500 cases while the Corullon production is substantially more. The remaining wines that made up the Corullon blend are still part of the Corullon blend. This is not a case of a winery simply relabeling one cuvee as another. Rather, the winery has decided to focus on producing Bierzo wine solely from vineyards in or near Corullon and then labelling the wine as such. I for one applaud Palacios efforts to create wines of the highest possible quality despite the increase in price. The region has sufferred for far too long by not having top line wines to drive interest in the area. | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 04/02/2004 8:38 AM |
| Well, that's darned good news, and sorry if I threw a false (negative) impression. Reading back I could sound as resented as the "Can't afford it-must be bad" school, but the retailer's story (and he's got much to lose with it) coincided with internet forum gossip here in Spain, so I thought it confirmed the split. Of course we peasants (and I mean it: the back labels are as informative as those from Priorat, and I realize this is a generalization too...) never got to know the Corullón blend at all... Which is not to say that the winery needn't have been far more explicit about the move. There are lots of envious producers who foster an image of arrogance in Palacios's activities, but he does very little to fix this.
BTW I'm surprised to hear there was a generic Bierzo 2001... Maybe just for the export market? | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 04/02/2004 1:55 PM |
| | My understanding is the same as yours Gastro - the basic Bierzo cuvee was discontinued starting in the 2001 vintage. Course, JB has a 2001 Palacios Bierzo on his shelf so that can't be right. | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4876
| | 04/02/2004 3:39 PM |
| Yes, regular Bierzo. No Corullon designation.
jb | | | |
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ChangeMe
Grape Fermenter
Posts:442
| | 04/04/2004 11:57 AM |
| Pharoah availability and prices at Vila Viniteca:
DESCENDIENTES J. PALACIOS LA FARAONA 2001 BIERZO TINTO Per bottle 142,00E Total Available 6 from 15/04/2004
DESCENDIENTES J. PALACIOS LA FARAONA 2001 (MÁGNUM) BIERZO TINTO
Per bottle 315,00E Total Available 1 from 15/04/2004
I wouldn't be surprised if these came BACK from the U.S. to Barcelona | | | |
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