ALVARO PALACIOS Press

LA RIOJA (Spain) Noviembre 2011

LO MEJOR DEL VINO DE RIOJA By Pablo G. Mancha

ALVARO PALACIOS Press

LA RIOJA (Spain) Noviembre 2011

LO MEJOR DEL VINO DE RIOJA By Pablo G. Mancha

ALVARO PALACIOS Press

LA RIOJA (Spain) Noviembre 2011

LO MEJOR DEL VINO DE RIOJA By Pablo G. Mancha

ALVARO PALACIOS Press

LA RIOJA (Spain) Noviembre 2011

LO MEJOR DEL VINO DE RIOJA By Pablo G. Mancha

Technical sheet:

Magazine LA RIOJA Article THE VERY BEST RIOJA WINES Author PABLO G. MANCHA Publication date NOVEMBER 2011

Translation:

LA RIOJA newspaper The very best Riojan wines Treasures from from the Rioja Baja. Being considered so far as the poorest relative from the region of the sub zone of the Designation of Origin, the Rioja Baja is starting to reveal little by little the secret hidden in a hard but powerful and grateful land, a strict microclimate and decisive and enterprising inhabitants. (photo caption: Yerga from an aerial perspective. This mountain range is one of the most important reserves of vineyards in the Rioja Baja. JUSTO RODRGUEZ) RODRGUEZ RIOJAN GRENACHE Grenache is the variety which has defined the Rioja Baja historically speaking.
PABLO G. MANCHA

the Granaticum could come from Granada, the capital of the Arabian kingdom up to the year 1492, from where such grape was spread by means of the usage of the Mlaga Port as a way out. It is famous for being sensitive to wrong flowering landslide and for being also an especially rustic variety. Experts point out that, if it rains when it blooms, its best results will appear. Wine is a dream lvaro Palacios or the reason for the infinite Grenache.
PABLO G. MANCHA

LOGROO. The Yerga Mountain Range, from Alfaro to Quel, together with Grvalos, Aldeanueva and Autol, is one of the most surprising and unknown areas covered with vineyards within the Designation of Origin. Tempranillo is the widest spread grape variety, however, Grenache is the grape type which best adapts itself to the climatic characteristics of the region. The queen of Mediterranean influence climate, as once defined by one of its greatest ambassadors around the world: the winemaker from Alfaro, lvaro Palacios. Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, in the 1513, used to say that if the Aragons (former primitive name for this grape variety) is grown in flat lands, a dark red wine is obtained, and if it is grown in high and sandy soils, the wine gets clearer then. In the Rioja Baja, only 4000 out of 23251 hectares represent a variety which has been decreasing significantly in the last years as regards cultivation plots. The origin of Grenache is pretty uncertain, and there are some hypotheses, such as that of the German historian Schultz, affirm that

ALFARO. . lvaro Palacios could be said to sing rather than spell what he calls Yerga block. It flows out of his soul through his lips when saying that it is one of the arms of the Moncayo Mount, in the Demanda Mountain Range, of the Iberian System, which is packed with amazing wines, fundamental for our history. But, besides, Yerga hides loads of secrets: here lies an undeniable telluric character, with its unbelievable microclimate; it can even hold some mystical or spiritual reminiscence. It definitely has sedimentation of winemaking culture, which has left us with a catalogue of varieties perfectly adapted to this habitat for generations. This is part of an incalculable heritage because it implies some grape varieties which are perfectly tuned with their environment, in a total harmony since time immemorial. And, according to lvaro, that is the real origin of the queen of these vineyards; the Grenache: From Alfaro up to the Ocn Valley and from Tudelilla until

ALVARO PALACIOS Press

LA RIOJA (Spain) Noviembre 2011

LO MEJOR DEL VINO DE RIOJA By Pablo G. Mancha

other sides and high valleys belonging to the Iberian System, even the Rioja Alta, in Cordovn and the Najerilla river shore, is the owner of as long bouquets as the best champagne in France, affirms a man who is not keen on half-way points. This is the reason why he strives to dignify the wine from a region he does not call Rioja Baja: I prefer the terms Mediterranean Rioja or Rioja Oriental and Rioja luminosa; I hope to return its own rights to this land, he assures outright. However, he finds curious that everyone hides the reality of our land. Every old vineyard in Alfaro which is more than 50 or 60 years old is composed of Grenache with touches of Monastrell and Bobal, apart from viura. Nowadays everybody follows more comfortable trends and plants tempranilo grape in a region whose light and heat make it not apt for such variety. Tempranillo is a variety with a short growing period and fast ripening, getting overcooked with heat and becoming a mere substitute of the fragrant, consistent and stylized tempranillo from Rioja Alta. I do not try to invent anything new; I am just recovering the wise traditional viticulture. Therefore, I stand for Grenache, because it is the best one to transform dryness and torridness into a refreshing and vital fluid. And here, in Yerga, the formula is Grenache in goblet, a tight density and organic frame, and here I have no doubts. For lvaro Palacios a great wine is the magical and indescribable expression of nature. And classical wine is not a product sample, a trademark or a manmade creation; a great classical wine it is just the strict and pure fruit of a privileged place. Furthermore, it must remain in time. With these premises, lvaro assures that 2013 vintage will bring the great Yerga wine: And it is already here, it is the product of this extraordinary place. I have done my best not to ruin it and I know it belongs to this region and cannot be created because it precedes to oneself. Great wines come from a constellation of vineyards which have been unaltered with the passing of time and out of these vineyards, one, two or three places are granted with a special caress by the wind, a special soil temperature or that mineral note that makes a wine better than the rest. The great great Yerga wine is already here, it is the fruit of this extraordinary place Grenache is the best to transform dryness and torridness into a refreshing and vital fluid