Álvaro Palacios, Camins del Priorat, Spain, 2020
Regular price
$27.95
Sale price
$30.00
Unit price per
About the Producer
If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of
“The New Spain,” it’s Alvaro Palacios. His L’Ermita is widely considered—along with Peter Sisseck’s Dominio de Pingus—to be the most important new Spanish wine of the modern era.
One of nine children born to the owners of Rioja’s respected Palacios Remondo, Alvaro studied enology in Bordeaux, while working under Jean-Pierre Moueix at Ch. 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, 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.
Origin
Priorat DOCa, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain
Grape/ Blend
55% Garnacha, 15% Syrah, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot and 8% Cariñena
Wine Details
Alvaro had never wanted to be known solely for expensive “trophy” wines, and with Camins, he found the opportunity to create something special. Drawing on his wealth of vineyard sources, Alvaro is aiming to produce a wine that is affordably priced, but which also stays true to his vision of Priorat—powerful but elegant, approachable but restrained.
ORGANIC - Practicing
VINEYARD - A combination of estate vineyards and purchased grapes.
SOIL - Schist.
VITICULTURE - all the growers that Alvaro works with are responsible.
VINIFICATION - The grapes are destemmed and softly crushed. 30 day maceration. Fermentation is in stainless steel, cement and large open top wooden vats. Remontages and punching down.
AGING - 4-6 months in used barrels and wooden vats
PRODUCTION - 20,000 cases
Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Alvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat is powerful but elegant, approachable but restrained.
Product size: 750ml