Descendientes de Jose Palacios : La Faraona 2022

This wine offers captivating aromas of subtle rust, complemented by a seductive floral character and notes of red cherries. On the palate it’s medium- to full-bodied, featuring chewy yet refined tannins. This is really well constructed and delineated, making it truly fascinating. Sourced from a 0.55-hectare old head-trained vineyard planted at 900 meters in El Ferro in Corullon. While it is currently drinkable, it will undoubtedly benefit from a couple of years of cellaring.

The bottled 2022 La Faraona, from the 0.5 hectares of 82-year-old vines at 800 to 860 meters above sea level they own in the "paraje" of El Fierro in Corullón, is a lot less explosive and showy than the barrel sample I tasted almost 12 months ago. In fact, the wine feels more backward, closed and austere than any of the 2022s. It has more of everything: it's very spicy and peppery, with plenty of tannins and grip. This is going to require more time in bottle. It shows some notes of sweet spices that should integrate with a little more time. Patience... It matured in foudre for eight months. 2,050 bottles, 82 magnums, 16 double magnums and seven Jeroboams produced. It was bottled in November 2023.