2023 Descendientes de J. Palacios Corullon Bierzo

(97 Points) The village 2023 Corullón was produced with a selection of 90 plots from the 200+ that they own in the village. It drove me crazy when I tasted it unbottled last year, and it has delivered what it promised. It had an élevage of 9.7 months in barrels, bocoyes and foudres and finished at 13% alcohol with a pH of 3.74. It has a stony, quite Moncerbal-ish (according to Ricardo), serious, austere and a little reductive character, with a flinty and elegant reduction that I love. The vines have been worked organically and biodynamically since they started in 1999, and they achieved organic certification in 2018. The vines are very balanced, and they have learned to manage the warm years much better than in the past (in 2017, they were a lot less ready than today). 2023 was still a warmish year (or at least it's not a textbook Atlantic year), even if the wines, like this Corullón, have a profile that makes you think of a classical year in Bierzo from 20 years ago. It makes me think of the 2001 that I've always liked very much, among my favorite years ever, and also 2021. This is super elegant and fine-boned, one of the finest vintages to date. It's not very fruit-driven and is a little spicy, with weight but ethereal... Robert Parker's Wine Advocate