2017 Alvaro Palacios Gratallops

The red Gratallops is a "vi vila" (a village wine) which is a special category in the Priorat appellation (such as the Clos Mogador Gratallops). The Alvaro Palacios is a blend of about 80% Grenache and the rest Carignan. All lots used are listed on the label: Ermites, La Capella, Torrent, Coll del Corral, Socarrats, L'Hort de L'Olivar, La Font Nova, Carrerada, Coll de Falset, Obagues and Manyetes. The lots are very spread out in the inhospitable Priorat. The fermentation takes place in small wooden barrels. The wine is then aged for 18 months in French oak barrels. The wine is very elegant and aromatic with ripe fruit and spicy notes and a subtle mineral sensation. The good acidity balances perfectly with the firm tannins and this brings the Gratallops into balance and it is therefore not surprising that this wine has received 94 Parker points and 95/100 James Suckling.

According to Parker, the 2017 " This has to be among the best Gratallops to date "

Alvaro Palacios is barely 40 when he seems to have accomplished everything. Coming from a family of winegrowers – owners of the Bodegas Palacios Ramondo – he learned the trade in his early twenties with Christian Moueix in the castles of Petrus and Trotanoy. He then followed the Catalan René Barbier in Priorato. Strongly impressed by old lands and their qualitative potential, he decides to develop his own vineyard in this God-forsaken hole, 135 km south-west of Barcelona. In Palacios' own words, the common belief is that "the yield is too low, the land is unworkable and requires enormous manual labor" and that the chances of profitability are slim. The sequel shows the skeptics were wrong.

The first millésime, the Ermita 1993, was immediately mentioned in the club of the "superstars" of Spanish wines. Consisting of 80 to 90% Grenache Vieilles Vignes balanced by Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan Vieiles Vignes, this cuvée has provoked exceptional reactions in Spain but also around the world. Dominating the hilltop village of Gratallops, Alvaro Palacios' state-of-the-art business is testament to his decisive influence and ongoing efforts to revolutionize the Spanish wine industry.

Alvaro Palacios, the architect of the success of the Ermita, sums up with conviction: "The philosophy behind the vinification is that one can express the character of the terroir with the greatest transparency and the greatest purity"
A unique system of alignment of the tendrils, waisted in height, allows to work this steep, terraced vineyard with the help of mules. The grapes are picked by hand. The maceration lasts 25 days and the fermentation takes place in casks with "remounting" * Since 1999 fermentation has taken place in wooden barrels. The clearance is by protein without filtration. The wine is then aged for 16 to 18 months in new French oak barrels.

* "remontage is pumping the fermenting juice back up, on top of the solid mass (Chapeau de Marc), this in order to obtain a better extraction, among other things."