Alvaro Palacios

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Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Gratallops, Priorat
People: Alvaro Palacios, Owner & Winemaker
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic

Items

Alvaro Palacios (375 ml) 2021 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa Login WS 95 WA 96+ <1 Case
Alvaro Palacios 2022 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa Login WA (95-97) Please inquire
Alvaro Palacios 2022 'Camins del Priorat' Priorat DOCa Login WS 92 In Stock
Alvaro Palacios 2021 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa Login WS 93 WA (94-96) In Stock

Alvaro Palacios is one of the stalwarts of the new wave of Spanish winemakers. One of nine children born to the owners of Rioja’s respected Palacios Remondo, Alvaro studied oenology in Bordeaux, while working under Jean-Pierre Moueix at Château Pétrus. He credits his tenure at Pétrus for much of his winemaking philosophy and for showing him “the importance of great wines.”

Alvaro could have returned to the security of his family’s domaine. But instead, he was drawn to the remote and seductive Priorat, 60 miles from Barcelona, which had been one of Spain’s important pre-Phylloxera wine regions. With its unique terroir of steep hills and terraces Alvaro believed that here he could make a wine that evoked both Pétrus and Grange.

He 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 (L'Ermita), that sits atop the hill. In 1995, the flow of critical praise for Alvaro’s L’Ermita began, and it hasn’t stopped. But while L’Ermita has received most of the attention, Alvaro produces several other wines compelling in their own rights.

Media Links
Wine Advocate: The Álvaro Palacios 2020 Portfolio
Food & Wine: Reimagining Rioja with Spain's Most Famous Winemaker
Masters of Wine: Alvaro Palacios wines Winemakers' Winemaker Award 2016
Wine Spectator: Featured Winemaker, Alvaro Palacios
Decanter.com: Alvaro Palacios, Spanish Wanderer

Reviews

  • Alvaro Palacios 2022 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: (95-97) (5/16/2024)

    The 2022 Finca Dofí was produced with 88% Garnacha, 9% Cariñena, 2% Picapoll and 1% white grapes from a 12.5-hectare slope planted 18 to 38 years ago. It fermented with part of full clusters in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and had a maceration of 32 days. It matured in oval oak foudres and large French oak barrels for a period of 14 months. It has 14.4% alcohol and a pH of 3.46 and 4.8 grams of acidity. It has a little more color and ripeness, and it's quite spicy, with notes of licorice and an earthy twist. Palacios told me Picapoll has provided very good acidity and low alcohol; some years they used up to 6% of it (they started grafting it some 12 years ago from the old plants from his old winemaker, Joan Asens).

  • Alvaro Palacios 2022 'Camins del Priorat' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 92 (8/31/2024)

    This elegant red shows lovely balance and accessibility, offering fine-grained tannins enmeshed with flavors of ripe black raspberry, plum, crushed pine and milled pepper, plus a lively touch of mandarin orange peel. Lingering and lightly chewy on the finish. Drink now through 2032.

  • Alvaro Palacios (375 ml) 2021 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 95 (8/31/2024)
    A silky weightlessness and an overall finesse belies the pinpoint focus and tension in this vibrant red. A frame of taut, fine-grained tannins and bright acidity drive the vervy energy while providing a well-meshed, sculpted frame, with flavors of crushed raspberry, Earl Grey tea leaf and tar, plus hints of rose hip, vanilla and graphite that echo through the long finish. Garnacha and Samsó. Best from 2026 through 2040. 235 cases imported.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2021 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (8/31/2024)
    Defined by creamy tannins, this harmonious medium- to full-bodied red offers an expressive range of roasted plum, black raspberry and fig cake notes. Lively on the palate, with aromatic accents of mountain herbs, licorice, white pepper and vanilla lingering on the chewy finish. Drink now through 2036
  • Alvaro Palacios (375 ml) 2021 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 96+ (5/16/2024)
    It's bright and subtle, with great freshness and elegance, a new face of Dofí, multilayered and harmonious, fine-boned and with very elegant tannins. The strength here is the palate, which is seamless and with more depth.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2021 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: (94-96) (9/30/2022)
    The sample of the 2021 Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes was truly impressive, a blend of 70% Garnacha and 30% Cariñena. It's a lively and vibrant Priorat with lower alcohol and higher acidity and more freshness, pointing at a great vintage in the making. This could very well be the finest vintage of Terrasses, a wine that Álvaro Palacios defined as a year of concentration and class. The wine is clean and pure, with great precision. It matured in barrel and cask for the past seven months, and the wine will continue its élevage for one more year.