Description
Alvaro Palacios, whose family owns the prestigious Rioja Bodega, Palacios Remondo, spent 2 years at Château Pétrus before setting up on his own in Priorat in 1989. From the outset, he set out to produce world-class wines by using fruit from extremely low-yielding old vines and by applying ultra-modern winemaking techniques. He is now considered one of the “rock stars” of modern Spanish wine making best known for his work in revitalising the region of Priorat and his ultra-pricey “Grand Cru”, L’Ermita.
Alvaro Palacios acquired his first vineyard, Finca Dofí, in 1990. Then, in 1993, he located what is now regarded as the crown jewel property in Priorat, a precipitous, northeast-facing Garnacha vineyard on well-drained schist that had been planted between 1900 and 1940. Alvaro named it for a small chapel, or hermitage, that sits atop the hill. In 1995, the flow of critical praise began for Alvaro’s L’Ermita however just as compelling in its own rights is Finca Dofí. Palacios describes Finca Dofi as “like a ball of stone dressed with velvet”.
Alvaro Palacios was one of the ‘pioneers’, who vivified and re-interpreted Priorat after the Franco era de-planting. From the ‘30s, during and after the industrialising era under Franco, Garnacha was largely ignored in Priorat, and the trend in the region was a combination of de-population, as the youth went to the city looking for work, deplanting and/or over-planting with the more reliable workhorse variety Samsó, yielding more wine more easily, strong wine with good colour, but not the nobility possible with the local Garnacha. In 1989 when the likes Alvaro Palacios went into Priorat, there were just 800 ha of vines planted (80% of which was Samsó), compared to the pre-war peak of 17,000 ha, largely Garnacha! Now, after 20 years, Alvaro sees it was clearly a mistake, and as his commitment is to the nobility of the local Garnacha he is reverse-engineering the French varietals (such as Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah) out of his Priorats as quickly as he can. Without doubt he is the finest producer in one of the most unique terroirs of world wine, working with indigenous old strains of Garnacha.
Alvaro was named Decanter Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year 2015 .. what a great honour and I was thrilled to meet him and his wife Christina earlier this year on his first visit to Australia! It was an extraordinary tasting of his new 2012 releases from what he describes as : ”the finest vintage he has ever experienced since arriving in Priorat 1989”.
I understand why the 2012’s across the board are incredible…Wines of delicacy, balance and refinement.
Garncha with 4% Samsó. Sweet blueberry fruit with a chocolate touch is stunningly balsamic. An electric-citric orange zing emerges with time open to air. Very much a wine of the woods, with cherry blossom, smoked bosque boughs and pepperminty herbal essential oils. A wine of great power and terrific line, with chewy-sweet fruit tannins delivering fruit all the way to the end, which is filled with peppermint oil gathering in an OJ-inflected acid buzz. Seamless line, length and balance in this extraordinary offering
94 points, Josh Raynolds, Vinous “Brilliant ruby. Potent red berry liqueur and floral scents are complemented by deeper notes of licorice, cola and licorice, with a mineral nuance adding lift and focus. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated but lively spice-tinged raspberry and bitter cherry flavors and a touch of candied flowers. Silky tannins add shape to the extremely long, fruit-driven finish, which leaves a sexy spicecake note behind. In the context of elite Priorat wines this is a serious value.”
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