Alvaro Palacios, Quinon Valmira, Rioja 2021 - 75cl
This is Rioja at the very top of the tree - Alvaro Palacios's single-vineyard Garnacha from Quinon de Valmira, a small plot on the slopes of Monte Yerga above the Ebro near Alfaro. Palacios made his name resurrecting old Garnacha in Priorat and Bierzo; here he turns the same eye on a corner of Rioja Oriental most growers had written off, and the results run to £300 and beyond for good reason.
The site does the heavy lifting. High altitude, cool nights and stark white calcium-carbonate soils give a Garnacha that behaves nothing like the region's warm, jammy norm. Palacios farms it with almost Burgundian obsession, chasing transparency rather than power, and the wine carries a pale garnet colour that hints at what's coming.
The 2021 opens floral and high-toned, with white pepper, fine herbs and a curl of woodsmoke over crunchy raspberry and redcurrant. The palate has a Pinot-like clarity: medium-bodied, sleek, red fruit lifted by orange peel and cedar spice, all of it framed by a chalky, stony minerality that runs the length of the wine. The balance is the marvel - ripe yet weightless, closing long and mineral. Gorgeous now with air, and structured to reward a decade or more in the cellar.
How to Serve
Serve at 16°C in a large Burgundy glass. Decant an hour ahead; a wine this fine and this young opens slowly and repays the wait.
Where to Drink It
Scott's, Mayfair - the room, the cellar and the occasion to justify opening it.
Wiltons, Jermyn Street - old-guard dining that treats a bottle like this with due ceremony.
J Sheekey, Covent Garden - proof a great red need not mean red meat.
Food Pairings
Reach for slow-roast Iberico pork shoulder - the sweet, spiced meat meets the wine's chalky lift and neither backs down.
