Alvaro Palacios - Camins del Priorat 2024
Price: $35.99
| Producer | Alvaro Palacios |
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| Country | Spain |
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| Region | Catalunya |
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| Varietal | Grenache Blend |
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| Vintage | 2024 |
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| Sku | 11633 |
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| Size | 750ml |
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Yes, that Alvaro Palacios, who found fame, and fortune, in the 1990s as one of the pioneers in Priorat. His famed l’Ermita sells for more than $1,200 per bottle! Yes, $1,200 per bottle! His other wines sell for $300, $100, $80… Yeah… I think he knows what he is doing. Which is why this is such a treat – world-class Priorat from the master himself, at a more than reasonable price tag.
What I find compelling about this wine is how wonderfully seductive it is, yet when you delve into it, it reveals layers and layers of complexity. It starts with an explosion of aromas - spring flowers, lavender, and black raspberries - that give way to a dense mouthful of fruit. Cherries, raspberries, blackberries and currants... Now here's where it gets interesting, because despite the richness of fruit, the wine never seems "fruity." The fruit is balanced by savory tannins and Priorat's classic minerality, along with a hint of anise and smoke. There's enough fruit to pair with things like burgers, lamb kebobs, Hunan beef and the like, but also enough class and substance to hook up with more distinctive fare like leg of lamb or braised oxtail.
Wine Spectator: 93 Points
Warm mulberry, plum and lingonberry fruit flavors are fragrant with cinnamon and dried lavender and sage, plus sweet paprika, graphite, mineral and cocoa powder accents. The expressive profile is aligned with fine, chalky tannins and bright, palate-cleansing acidity. Stylish and appealing, with good length through the finish. Garnacha, Samsó, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
James Suckling: 91 Points
Aromas of black olives and rich dark cherries with brambly and meaty undertones. Fruity and juicy, with a solid fruit core on the mid-palate, which is fleshy, medium-bodied and nicely chewy. A dark, solid, fruity wine.
Wine Advocate: 91 Points
The bottled 2024 Camins del Priorat is a regional blend produced with a slightly different blend each year, depending on the character of the year. In the less warm 2024, the blend was 40% Garnacha, 20% Cariñena, 20% Syrah (much higher in Syrah), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot (lower in the Bordeaux varieties), and the rest is a blend of Garnacha Blanca, Picapoll Blanc and Pedro Ximenez from 90 plots in nine villages from Priorat. The idea is to remove the French varieties in 2026. It fermented with part of full clusters and indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, oak and concrete, with 28 days of maceration, and matured in barriques and oak vats for eight months. It has a nose of ripe berry fruit, herbs and spices, with hints of honey and pollen.
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