2023 Alvaro Palacios Alfaro Rioja Quiñón de Valmira

(100 Points) The just-bottled 2023 Quiñón de Valmira was hitting it on all cylinders the morning I tasted it. It was exuberant, aromatic, floral, extroverted and really singing, with incredible harmony for a wine that had been bottled only a couple of weeks before I tried it. It had a shorter maceration, a mere 13 days (compared with the from 45 from the 2022), and also a shorter élevage, 13 months. 2023 continued the dry and warm tendency of 2022 that made them work more and differently in the vineyards to keep the humidity in the soil and have more vegetation, which seems to help the sticks hold up the vines.  Robert Parker Wine Advocate