2020 Alvaro Palacios "Finca Dofi" Priorat, Spain
ABOUT THIS WINE
Álvaro’s original vineyard, Finca Dofí, is today made primarily from Garnacha, with less than 20% Samsó (Carignane) and roughly 2% white varieties. Aged in large French foudre, Dofí combines power and richness with great breed and finesse. This is a vivacious wine with red fruit and lovely aromas of velvety red roses. Vividly fresh palate, with wild herbs overlaying the resounding dark fruits. A long firm finish, brisk and determined, with a slight stony echo. A clue to the freshness is the 4% of Picapoll, the local white grape, in the blend for the first time.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
Alvaro Palacios is one of nine children born into a respected Rioja wine producer Palacios Remondo. He decided to study enology in Bordeaux and after graduation worked at Petrus. He eventually returned to Spain where he worked for a period as a barrel salesman getting the opportunity to travel throughout Spain’s wine regions.
During his travels he fell in love with many growing regions with vast histories in wine and places with a spiritual connection. He eventually settled on the Priorat as the place to start. This is a region that has a wine history dating back to the 12th century when the Carthusian monks set up terraces painstakingly in this very rugged terrain.
In 1989, Alvaro as a member of the “Gang of Five” made his first wine and that group of 5 producers put the Priorat on the international wine world map. Alvaro acquired his first vineyard in 1990 and named it Finca Dofi. In 1993, he located and purchased his crown jewel a northeast facing steep vineyard on schist planted between 1900 and 1940. Because the top of the vineyard has an ancient hermitage he named this vineyard "L’Ermita".
From the very beginning, Alvaro was strict about his viticultural practices following organic methods and using mules. Over time as he learned more and more about the region, its geography and history he began to trust in the wisdom on the monks and their methods and the varieties they planted. The heritage of these clones of Garnacha, Carinyena and some white grapes mixed in became a critical element in expressing this terroir. While power is a part of the Priorat…so too is a sense of elegance or finesse.