Last August 2024, Luis Gutierrez tasted our 2022 vintage for Robert Parker, awarding Lumière 2022: 95+ Parker points, being one of the best rated palomino grape white wines in the area. Of it, he said: “It is also the one with the most purity, elegance and subtlety. It has delicate aromas of dried flowers, herbs and spices. It has a vibrant palate with very good intensity, precise, clean and detailed, with a long and persistent finish with the saline character of the soils”.
The rest of our wines were rated above 93 points, making up one of the highest level ranges in the area. Etoile 2022 received a score of 94 Parker points, highlighting its “spicy and smoky touch with some medicinal notes of clove and balsam. It has a more oxidative character; it is also a little darker, more golden, in contrast to the delicacy of the Lumière”.
Elixir 2022 was awarded 93 Parker points, stating: “It has a bright, slightly cloudy colour and a medium-bodied, round, velvety palate, with a finish dominated by notes of orange blossom and a slight bitter touch”.
Univers 2022 also received 93 Parker points, stating: “It has a pale, slightly cloudy colour, a clean, defined nose with herbal and spicy notes, a medicinal touch and a medium-bodied palate with good balance and precise flavours”.
Below we are going to share some scores received previously on our wines to show the evolution we have had:
-Lumière 2018 received 95 Parker points, stating: “I love the finesse and elegance of the 2018 Lumière, a subtle palomino from old vines in the La Platera vineyard in Miraflores Baja. The wine is from a cool, wet year and reached 12.5% alcohol and has a soft acidity, but feels very balanced and full, with more depth, more nuance (aromas and flavours), perhaps from a fuller ripening of the grapes.”.
-ÉLIXIR 2018 received 93 Parker points: “If there is a different wine in the portfolio, it is Elixir 2018, which was made from a blend of Moscatel and Palomino, and Moscatel tends to mark the wines strongly, especially aromatically, with notes of orange blossom and orange peel. interwoven with subtle clove and herbal notes from the Palomino. This was bottled at 12.8% alcohol, and the wine is quite fresh and vibrant and even shows some citrus notes on the palate.”.
-UNIVERS 2018 which received 92 Parker points, stating: “I found finesse and precision in the Univers 2018, which has only 11.5% alcohol and has more freshness and acidity, a paler colour and a more defined profile overall. 2018 was a rainy and cold year, although the summer also had warm (westerly) winds that always mark the year. The wine is varietal and spicy, but the spiciness is softened with some floral and even citrus notes.”.
-ÈTOILE 2018 which received 93 Parker points, stating: “While the nose was quite similar in the Palomino wines (Moscatel is always another story), the finesse and nuance of the Ètoile 2018 was quite noticeable on the palate, where the energy I found must be the combination of the spangled albariza soils. and the depth of the old vines in the Pago Miraflores Alta, where a gentle slope produces subtle and elegant wines”.
-LUMIÉRE 2019 which received 93 Parker points, stating: “There is more ripeness and volume in the 2019 Lumière, and compared to the 2018 I tasted alongside it, the wine suffered in comparison. 2019 was a year of concentration and high ripeness, and the wine reached 13.5% of alcohol (up 1% from 2018), while also having a lower pH and higher acidity, so the wine still comes across as balanced, but the balance point is different. All Palomino wines have a certain varietal character, which seems stronger in the 2019s. Or to put it another way, the 2018s were more transparent with the soils”.
-ELIXIR 2019 which received 92 Parker points, stating: “Elixir 2019 is 100% Moscatel de Chipiona (because 2019 was a very low production year and they didn't have enough Palomino). The wine achieved much more ripeness (14 % versus 12.8 % in 2018), and feels heavier and flatter on the palate. It's all relative, because I was tasting it alongside the 2018, which is much fresher and more vibrant”.
-UNIVERS 2019 which received 91 Parker points, stating: “The Univers 2019 white, a pure palomino from 25 year old vineyards, fermented in stainless steel, and they don't use sherry butts or flor, trying to show naked wines of the variety and soils. This is quite varietal, trying to achieve precision, finesse and cleanliness with little intervention and low sulphur content, and perhaps more difficult in riper years. It still has a moderate 12.5º alcohol despite a very dry year and a summer marked by warm Levante winds, and the wine has a soft mouthfeel with volume and an elegant texture. I think this is the most varietal of the wines (except for the Moscatel!) with an intense spiciness in the form of clove and cumin”.
