.. the importance of being great wine!

The heavens above us opened up last night as I arrived at the monthly Spring haz Sprung Wine Club tasting, to go through some of the more maturer vintages of Palacios (both Ricardo P & Álvaro P) and to see how they are fairing now in 2024. But first a little bit of family history to clear things up here: Ricardo Perez’s uncle is Álvaro Palacios.

Descendientes de J.Palacios is named after Jose Palacios. Jose was Álvaro’s father and Ricardo’s Grandfather. Are you still with me?

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

Also just to remind you dear reader, that down here in Malbec-City-Arizona, it is a real treat to taste, drink and enjoy something that comes not only from hi-end & old school winemaking, but also from some proper-sensible ‘Terroir’. Now, with the permission of Santa Rosa (La Tormenta) the order of play went like this:

Remondo Plácet Valtomelloso Blanco 2014. Rioja
Lemon peel, pear & green apple. Hints of ginger and chalky finish, bone-bone dry! 100% Viura. 

Descendientes de J. Palacios Villa de Corullón 2016. Bierzo
Ruby red. Blackberry & green tea. Lovely long cherry finish. 100% Mencia 

Descendientes de J. Palacios Moncerbal 2016. Bierzo
Dark ruby. Hints of star-anise, lavender and a full, long dry raspberry finish. Mencia and a drop of Palomino

Descendientes de J. Palacios Las Lamas 2015. Bierzo
Complex nose of ripe and dark fruits. Dense raspberry and licorice with a long smooth silky tannic finish, not to forget hints of Madeira cake. Outstandingly great wine, my wine of the evening. 100% Mencia  

Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses 2015. Priorat
Cherry, blueberry and a hint of Margaux’ish tobacco. Fine tannins and still youthfully fresh. 50% Garnache and 50% Samsó

Álvaro Palacios Gratallops 2016. Priorat
Cherry and violet nose. Slightly smokey balsamic blueberry. Long and lovely intense finish. 85% Granacha and 15% Samsó

Álvaro Palacios Finca Dofí 2016. Priorat
Dark and complex nose, Vanilla and dark chocolate backed up by sweet raspberry. Floral finish and bold. 95% Garnacha and 5% Samsó

Álvaro Palacios Les Aubaguettes 2016. Priorat
Wild berry nose. Eucalyptus and balsamic blue flowers. Muscular cherry wine with rounded tannins. 74% Garnacha, 25% Carinena and the rest Garnacha blanca and Macabeo

So that’s how it all went, and what is extaordinary is that Álvaro could have so easily 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. Beginning in the 12th Century, Carthusian monks had painstakingly terraced and cultivated this rugged landscape, and Álvaro believed that their ancient wisdom could be tapped to yield wines with the stature of Pétrus and Grange.

Álvaro acquired his first vineyard, Finca Dofí, in 1990. Then, in 1993, he located what is now regarded as the appellation’s crown jewel property, a precipitous, northeast-facing vineyard on well-drained schist that had been planted between 1900 and 1940. Álvaro named it L’Ermita, after a small chapel that sits at the top of the hill.

In 1995, the flow of critical praise for Álvaro’s L’Ermita began, and it hasn’t stopped. Over 30+ years, Álvaro has come to know this land as well as any native. Where his early wines were certainly influenced by his time in France, every subsequent vintage has been made with the goal of giving voice to this very real, Spanish ‘terroir’.

Viticulture was exacting from the beginning, eschewing chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and employing mules to work the steep, terraced sites. But Álvaro also came to trust in the monks’ wisdom, and in the varieties that they had selected over centuries as best adapted to the land. In particular, he recognized that regional Garnacha were the great heritage of this appellation. And, in time, he also came to cherish the small amounts of other varieties, including local white grapes that were interspersed among his vineyards.

Álvaro’s original vineyard, Finca Dofí, is today made primarily from Garnacha, with less than 20% Samsó (Carignan) and roughly 2% white varieties. Aged in large French foudre, Dofí combines power and richness with great breed and finesse.

During his time in Priorat, Álvaro has identified special plots and two of these today yield esteemed microcuvées. One is an incredibly special plot of Garnacha in Bellmunt, called Les Aubaguetes. Álvaro came to believe its centenarian vines were some of the most perfect clonal stock in the region, and he was finally able to purchase it in time for the 2015 harvest. Today, just 1,500 bottles a year emerge from this unique Priorat cru. The second is La Baixada, the north-facing side of the original Dofi vineyard. The site provides fruit for Dofí today, but a ridgeline section of it was so special that Álvaro began bottling it on its own with the 2018 vintage.

Álvaro has been instrumental in introducing the Burgundian ideas of Villages and Cru to Priorat. In 2006, he began to elaborate separately a collection of old vineyards from throughout the township of Gratallops to extend and commercialize this idea. Gratallops is the central village of Priorat, and this bottling today synthesizes both the town’s and the region’s qualities in a single bottling.

While originally conceived of as a table wine, Les Terrasses has slowly evolved into Álvaro’s statement of what makes Priorat special. Drawing on 15+ years of study, Terrasses is sourced from many of the region’s steepest and oldest vineyards, many of them north-facing to avoid the intense afternoon sun. Today, Les Terrasses is today perhaps the single finest introduction to Priorat in the market.

Availabilty in our cellars (September 2024):

Descendientes de J. Palacios Las Lamas 2015. Bierzo
12 bottles @ £75 per bottle Under Bond (available*)

Descendientes de J. Palacios La Faraona 2015. Bierzo
6 bottles @ £798 per bottle Under Bond (available*)

Descendientes de J. Palacios La Faraona 2017. Bierzo
3 bottles @ £978 per bottle Under Bond (available*)

 Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses 2015. Priorat
12 bottles @ £75 per bottle Under Bond (sold out!)

Álvaro Palacios L’Ermita 2015. Priorat
1 bottle @ £1.500 per bottle Under Bond (available*)

As usual, offered subject to remaining unsold, ex London City Bond VT: william@worldwineconsultants.com