Why it matters
The producer
Rafael Palacios began this personal project in O Bolo in 2004, working with Godello, the local white grape, rather than planting a new estate from scratch. He bought old vineyards from elderly growers, and the resulting holding is a patchwork of existing parcels rather than one continuous vineyard. In the bottle, that choice leads to a range built around different vine ages and sites within Valdeorras.
The winery’s listed address is in A Rúa, Ourense, while the vineyards central to the project lie in the Valle del Bibei subzone of O Bolo. The distance between cellar address and vineyard land matters less than the river-valley parcels themselves: Godello from those high, terraced sites is the material behind Louro do Bolo, As Sortes and O Soro.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Bibei parcels sit on the river’s right bank between 620 and 740 metres above sea level. At that elevation, the growing season is shaped by a highland setting rather than by low, warm valley-floor conditions; Godello can keep its acidity as it ripens, which supports dry wines with lift instead of soft, broad weight.
DO Valdeorras is the appellation on the label, while Valle del Bibei and O Bolo name the smaller landscape within it. Rafael Palacios uses that setting through separate parcels, not a single blended estate vineyard. Louro gathers younger-vine sites, As Sortes draws on six older-vine parcels in the northern Bibei Valley, and O Soro takes the focus down to one parcel.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 32 parcels are farmed with traditional methods and ecologically based treatments. On the oldest sortes, biodynamic management is used; O Soro is also worked with horses and by biodynamic and lunar-calendar principles. Animal traction is especially suited to terraced ground because it helps preserve the soil structure that machinery can disturb.
For Louro do Bolo, naturally fermented must goes into 35-hectolitre foudres, then remains on fine lees for four months. The large wooden vessels and lees ageing put texture into a younger-vine Godello without requiring a strongly oaky style: the wine can carry fruit and acidity with more body through the middle of the palate.
Wines to know
The range in view
Louro do Bolo is the younger-vine expression. Natural fermentation in foudres and four months on fine lees give its dry Godello a textural frame, while the wine’s youthful stage can show a light spritz. With bottle age, its profile is expected to move towards waxy and honeyed notes.
As Sortes is the old-vine step, drawn from six northern Bibei Valley parcels. It is presented as a more age-worthy wine than Louro, with the 2024 vintage expected to drink through roughly 2036. Its role is therefore not simply greater weight: it puts old-vine Godello and a defined group of parcels ahead of Louro’s younger-vine blend.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Begin with Louro do Bolo. It is Godello from the younger parcels, naturally fermented in 35-hectolitre foudres and aged four months on fine lees. Drink it young for dry fruit, fresh acidity, a slight spritz and a textured palate; return to it later for waxy, honeyed development. It introduces the grape, the Bibei Valley setting and the cellar method without requiring a single-parcel frame.