2023 Louro do Bolo
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Tasting notes
With another year in bottle, the 2023 Louro Do Bolo displays more floral, herbal, salinity qualities than the more newly released 2024, and less upfront fruit. A tight, focused palate of tension and energy underscores the vintage’s fresh, age-worthy acidity and structure. This is a gastronomic wine that’s mineral and saline, well-integrated, and long-lived. Drink now through 2035. The youngest brother of Alvaro Palacios, one of the pioneers of modern Priorat, and uncle of Ricardo Perez Palacios of Descendientes de J. Palacios in nearby Bierzo, Rafael Palacios came to Valdeorras in 2004 and started buying neglected vineyards planted to forgotten native Godello in low-yielding soils at the highest elevations. The winemaking here is modern, with a nod to tradition, using horse and mule in the highest vineyards.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Includes a small fraction of Treixadura. Fermented in 3,500-litre foudres (1 to 15 years old), and aged for 4 months without bâtonnage. Displays a distinct saline edge, with creaminess more pronounced than the 2024 vintage. A wine of opulence and generous mid palate, yet it unfolds with elegance and precision. Strikes a fine balance between Godello’s varietal character and the freshness and salinity brought by altitude. Precision winemaking. (FC)
The young, balsamic and still faintly medicinal entry-level white 2023 Louro is dense, ripe and powerful at 13.9% alcohol, pungent and intense with a bitter twist in the finish. It's very tasty, almost salty, with cleanliness and precision, combining power with freshness and elegance. This is quite impressive and a preview of the rest of the 2023s to come. 215,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2024.