Half bottle of The Society's Rioja Crianza 2020

Bodegas Palacio is located in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, at the bottom of the road leading up to Laguardia, a spectacular fortified hilltop village set against the backdrop of the Sierra Cantabria. The original stone-built bodega, now a small hotel, was first superseded by a rather four-square winery, but was replaced with a new, modern winery in 2014.

Palacio was founded in 1894 by Don Cosme de Palacio, an entrepreneur from Bilbao, one of the pioneers of winemaking in the region who made many positive changes, including the introduction of ageing in oak barrels. After a period under French ownership in the 1980s, during which Bordeaux guru Michel Rolland consulted here, Palacio was acquired in the 1990s by Hijos de Antonio Barcelo, one of Spain’s largest winemaking conglomerates, itself part of the giant Acciona group. Today the business is back in the hands of the Entrecanales Domecq family and has been renamed Entrecanales Domecq e Hijos.

This is an unusual enterprise in many respects. It buys in most of its fruit from a long-established network of contract growers, effectively controlling 255ha of vineyards, all in the Alavesa. It concentrates almost exclusively on tempranillo and viura, though in the new alta expresión white, Cosme 1894, there is a touch of malvasia. The winery has a 13,000 barrel capacity and exports a third of its production. A number of distinctly different bottlings reflect the bodega’s historical French bias, including the high-definition prestige cuvée, Cosme de Palacio developed by Rolland. More true to regional style is Glorioso, though its maturation – six months each in French and American oak – is hardly typical. This is a winery which does its own thing, to be sure, and does it well, if the medal tally from international fairs and shows is anything to go by.

Bearing little resemblance to any of these in style – Glorioso is perhaps the closest – is The Socety’s Rioja , which is also made here., The head of winemaking, forty-something Roberto Rodriguez [Martinez] has worked here since the tender age of 18: his deep understanding both of his craft and of the plots at the bodega’s disposal enable him to preselect, in anticipation of the buyer’s final blend, a range of appropriate component wines that he knows will both appeal to members and maintain the consistency and quality of this best-seller.

A last word about Cosme Palacio 1894, Palacio’s newest prestige project, named in honour of Palacio’s founder and year of establishment, and developed with input from consultant winemaker Sam Harrop MW. The white is a remarkable viura-based blend, with a little malvasia and garnacha blanca, from very old, low-yielding vines grown at up to 800m, The red is 90% tempranillo with 10% graciano. The inaugural 2007 vintage was released in 2010 and has already won critical acclaim.