Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofi 2021

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 right 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.

Finca Dofi is one of the defining wines from Priorat and the 2021 new vintage is no exception ’21 was a cooler grower season and will end in the top tier of Spain’s vintages along with 2015 and 2001 although some patience needed.

96-98 points Wine Advocate : ” The more backward of the 2021s was the 2021 Finca Dofí, which was very primary and smelled almost like the fermentation vessels, and it took time in the glass to open up. The blend is higher in Garnacha and they couldn’t use the Picapoll, as it didn’t work well that cool year, so it’s 90% Garnacha, 9% Cariñena and 1% white grapes. It achieved 14.5% alcohol but kept better freshness than in 2020, a constant in the 2021 wines. Very promising. (LG) ” Sept 2022
96 points James Suckling: ” Alvaro Palacios is one of the founding fathers of modern era Priorat, and his Finca Dofi is based upon primarily Garnacha and roughly 5% Cariñena. Dofi is an impressive vineyard, with stakes supporting the vines, organic cultivation and a marked slope marking this icocnic Gratallops village site. At less than 10% the price of the much more expensive L’Ermita, this is always a very solid deal in a top quality, collectible Spanish red.” July 2023

RRP $343 Special when you buy 6 or more bottles