Alvaro Palacios, Quinon Valmira, Rioja 2022 - 75cl

Alvaro Palacios made his name in Priorat and later revived his family's Rioja estate, Palacios Remondo, in the east of the region. Quinon de Valmira is the peak of that work: a single-vineyard Garnacha off the slopes of Monte Yerga in Rioja Oriental, planted on chalky, sloping ground that gives the wine its stony backbone. It is roughly 85 percent Garnacha with a little of the region's other reds, aged around twelve months in large French oak foudres so the wood stays in the background. This is one of Rioja's most sought-after and most expensive reds, and it wears that status quietly.

The 2022 is pale ruby with youthful purple tints. The nose is herbal and lifted, elderflower and sour cherry over mint and chamomile, with only a faint cedar note behind, and a dark-cherry, blood-orange edge underneath. The palate is dry and cleansing, built on a chalky texture and very fine, faintly dusty tannins, floral and open with ripe, juicy red fruit. It closes long, dry and stony, with a savoury, almost Worcestershire-sauce twist. There is real elegance and mineral cut here rather than power. Approachable young, it will develop for a decade or more.

How to Serve

Serve at 16C in a large Burgundy-style glass. A gentle 30-minute decant opens the florals; a young bottle takes air well.

Where to Drink It

Noble Rot, Soho - a list that takes Spanish fine wine seriously.
Scott's, Mayfair - the setting for a bottle of this standing.
Wiltons, Jermyn Street - old-guard dining that suits the price of admission.

Food Pairings

Roast rack of lamb with herbs is where I would take it, the wine's chalk and mint framing the meat rather than fighting it.