The 2020 Pétalos is made from 60 year-old Mencia vines that are farmed biodynamically in the Bierzo region in north-western Spain. It is the latest triumph from Alvaro Palacios, completing his triptych of Spanish vineyards (the others, of course, are in Rioja and Priorat). The intriguing Mencia grape is an early ripener, but, with old vine pedigree has a wonderful depth of colour.
In the glass Pétalos leads with lashings of complex florals: field herb, dried sage, red lavender, violet, pepper tree and rose. There’s fresh clay dirt and lissom red plum and sour cherry fruits: earthy and bright, it sums Mencia and Bierzo perfectly. The palate has nicely moderated fruit plushness in a choc-blackberry register. Petalos is soft, open, round, pretty and fresh with nice slick-but-earthy tannins and smoky minerals.