Alvaro Palacios, D.O. Priorat
Alvaro Palacios was one of the ‘pioneers’, who vivified and re-interpreted Priorat after the Franco era de-planting. This small group of change-agents planted lots of French varietals in the fertile, alluvial valley soils and some in the mountains too – typically, modern Priorats contain about a third of (mixed) Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah. Now, after 20 years, Alvaro sees it was clearly a mistake, and as his commitment is to the nobility of the local Garnacha he is reverse-engineering the French varietals out of his Priorats as quickly as he can.
Today, with the introduction of his 'Vi de Gratallops' Alvaro’s regional ‘hierarchy’ and expression of Priorat complete (for now). Without doubt he is the finest producer in one of the most unique terroirs of world wine, working with indigenous old strains of Garnacha.
| Wine | Region | RRP | Qty | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Priorat |
$49.00 |
12 |
|
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Darkly spiced, meaty and featuring root vegies, and their ashy-earth. Dark-fruited and leather-edged, with a deep, pure earthiness, nutty tannin, and a delightfully controlled rusticity. Joyous Priorat Garnacha tell-tales of orange juice and ruby grapefruit perkiness are there too, with the cheeriest aftertaste. Garnacha Samsó. |
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Priorat |
$108.00 |
1 |
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Priorat |
$96.00 |
12 |
|
|
Fluent, long, delicate and lovely; steely firmness underpins the fruit, reflecting schisty soil. Ashy, deep and dark with a cherry blossom lift and a dash of orange juice. All indigenous - just Garnacha and Samsó from the Cims or hilltops. |
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Priorat |
$208.00 |
1 |
||
Priorat |
$140.00 |
12 |
|
|
Primrose, red berry jubes, elderberry and flower, dark tea leaf ... it's pretty, soft, velvety, floral, sooty and lifted all at the same time and very composed and complete, just a beautiful, really beautiful-smelling wine. Very subtly pruney-plums lead with snips of spice, floral lift, sooty depth from the Priorat Llicorella schist soils. it's expressive and expansive, fruit merges into savoury, mouth-filling and reaching, while dancy and deft, almost evanescent in its beauty. |
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Priorat |
$186.00 |
6 |
|
|
A gorgeous boof of velvet perfume. Great balance, extreme length. Pomegranate, cherry, floral, rose petal, soot and tons of mineral. Fermented in foudre, 6 months on malo lees and 18 months barrel maturation. |
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Priorat |
$393.00 |
1 |
||
Priorat |
$1715.00 |
1 |
|
|
Deservedly profound ... Soot, pomegranate, black cherry, licorice; elegant, concentrated, precise. Defined layers: fruit pith/lilac florals; mineral/licorice; oak/nutmeg spice; sweet, pippy berry and a fuzz of fruit tannin. |
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Priorat |
$3145.00 |
1 |
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