Alvaro Palacios

The 2015 Finca Dofi also has a wonderful fragrance but is a very different expression to the Gratallops. Macerated red fruit dominates here bringing a richness and a luscious quality to the wine. The mouthfeel is concentrated and sensual yet the wine is still incredibly fresh with classic Priorat notes of nectarine, pomegranate and grapefruit peel adding a lively vibrancy. The brown slate of Finca Dofi makes it the warmest site of the single vineyard wines, and it really is rather gorgeous.
Catriona Felstead MW, Spanish Buyer

Alvaro Palacios is one of the world’s great winemakers, crowned both 2015 Decanter Man of the Year & Winemaker’s Winemaker by the Institute of Masters of Wine most recently. Alvaro spent 2 years at Petrus before setting up on his own in Priorat in 1989, his wines are now consistently excellent and in the past few years have found a further level of refinement and elegance, they have found yet another gear.

Deep and ancient soils now with the percentage of Garnacha increased to 80%. Dark, linear, extremely fresh and finely structured. Velvety and yet with ethereal charm and real presence.

Alvaro is a staunch defender of Garnacha, for him the archetypical and original Mediterranean variety, only replaced by Cariñena after the Civil War because the latter was seen as higher-yielding. Garnacha he describes as La Reina, the queen of all varieties, generous, soft and benevolent and, of course, completely devoid of caprice.  Clonal selection and deeply rooted old vines underwrite the quality here...mules till the soil as they always have done, and the high mineral content of the sub-soils ( zinc, aluminium and iron) lends definition and purity to the grapes, bolstered by high levels of citric acidity.

Attention to detail is evidenced in the winery too; Alvaro has built an underground barrel cellar which allows maturation in the most natural conditions possible. His philosophy of oak aging has evolved and he now uses larger barrels, his 2000 litre foudres similar in dimension and purpose to those of the other great Grenache citadel; Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Less oak influence translates into more expression of terroir, suitably deferential to the monastic heritage.
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer)

2012 was a relatively dry vintage, with drought threatening at some points. The blend here is 96% Garnacha and 4% Samso; Garnacha is described as La Reina, the queen of all varieties, generous, soft and benevolent and, of course, completely devoid of caprice. Mules till the soil here as they always have done, and the high mineral content of the sub-soils (zinc, aluminium and iron) lends definition and purity to the grapes. The wine is rich and velvety and yet with ethereal charm and, to use a phrase which Alavro would like, has real presence.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Álvaro Palacios, whose family owns the prestigious Rioja Bodega, Palacios Remondo, spent two years at Château Pétrus before setting up on his own in Priorat in 1989. From the very beginning, he set out to produce world-class wines by using fruit from extremely low-yielding old vines and by applying ultramodern winemaking techniques. The cream of the crop is the single vineyard wine L'Ermita, which was first produced in 1993. Arguably the most individual red wine in Spain, it is certainly now the most expensive.