2019 Louro do Bolo
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I had already tasted the 2019 Louro, but I tasted it again next to the other wines from 2019 and the whole 2020 vintage for context. It has to be the finest Louro to date, from one of the finest vintages for Palacios. It fermented in 3,500-liter oak foudres, where the wine matured with lees for four months. It's not a shy white at 14% alcohol, but the low pH (3.19) and high acidity (6.75 grams of tartaric acid per liter) mean a lot of freshness and therefore good balance. This always has a small percentage of Treixadura, around 4% this year, and in 2019, Treixadura reached 14% alcohol. Treixadura is a very aromatic and balsamic grape, and that small percentage is clearly noticeable in the aromatics, which gives Louro a very different profile from AS Sortes, more herbal and balsamic. The wine shows the freshness from the year and a salty finish coupled with the electricity from the granite. Delicious. It's evolving very slowly. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled during April and May 2020.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
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Full bottle 1,325 g. This is the cuvée known as Louro on the front label and Louro do Bolo on the back label. It's made from small parcels of Godello with an average age of 25 years, grown at over 600 m. These parcels are located in the municipality of O Bolo and planted on sandy granitic soils and sandy soils with clay deposits. These sandy soils limit vine vigour and the high elevation ensures marked diurnal variation and a long growing season. The grapes were pressed and the must was fermented in 35-hl French oak foudres. After fermentation the wine was aged on lees for four months prior to bottling. TA 6.4 g/l, RS 1.4 g/l. Brilliant straw colour. Intense, dry, concentrated, sophisticated. Just the job for those who seek a reliable, sensibly priced alternative to fine white burgundy. Confident and long. Honestly, there is just nothing to criticise about this wine … you may be amazed to read. GV (JR)