Rafael Palacios

It takes tremendous conviction and creativity to come from one of Spain’s most respected wine-making families, leave the familiar (and extremely prosperous) Palacios terroir in La Rioja, and stake new roots in a tortured landscape, with a near-extinct grape.

And yet, Rafael saw the potential in the Godello grape and the Valdeorras D.O. of Galicia.

Choosing vineyards at the highest altitudes in limestone and schist soils, many of the hard to reach vines are over a hundred years old. With minimalist, organic farming practices and hand harvesting, the distinctly mountainous, mineral-driven wines have the structure and precision of the best Puligny-Montrachet.