Vikas Sharma

After my “less-than” enjoyable experience with a local wine (for which I was having some high hopes), I leaned into a favourite country of mine, Spain.

I’ve had this bottle hanging around for a little bit and I wanted to treat myself this past weekend.

During the years in which I visited Spain often, in the mid-to-late aughts, I just started to try wines from the Priorat region, which has only been on the map, per se, for a few decades.

The region is relatively small, and is a sub-region of Cataluña. The topography is quite intense, with a lot of mountains and difficult terrain to manage.

Based on some of the articles that I’ve read on Álvaro Palacios, himself, he’s partly responsible for the rise of popularity of the region’s wines; having gone there about 30 years ago (while in his mid-20’s) to join famed Spanish winemaker René Barbier Ferrer to make the region’s mark on the world’s stage.

As well, Álvaro comes from a long line of vintners. His father owned Palacios Remondo (in Rioja), whose wines I’ve had and enjoyed quite a bit.

The town in which Álvaro Palacios exists is home to literally a couple hundred people, while there are over 20 cellars in the town.

On with the show:

Wine: Álvaro Palacios Finca Dofí

Region/Appellation: Priorat (Gratallops)

Grape(s): 96%Garnacha, and 4% Cariñena

Vintage: 2012

Style: Red

Price: $82 (about $107 if you wanted to pick up a bottle now)

The Visual: Oily viscosity in the glass – medium-minus intensity in colour, which was ruby with a clear rim.

The Aroma: I found the aroma to be powerful-minus, with a tasty impression. The nose contained notes of Black Pepper, Dark Berries, Leather, a bit of Clove, and Christmas Cake.

The Flavour: Medium in intensity, and medium in body, with supple tannins, and flavours of Plum, a bit of Earth, slight Briny (but in a pleasant way) and a bit of Spice and Cocoa on the finish.

Alcohol: Medium-plus at 14.5%.

Balance: The flavours were very well balanced and had a nice, long finish.

Other notes: I really enjoyed this wine. I found it to be complex, delicious, and smooth. It’s a home run in my books.

Food pairing: We enjoyed this wine with some forest mushrooms, orecchiette, and homemade sugo.

Final Comments: This is the type of wine that you could on its own with a bunch of friends at the end of an evening (as long as folks were sober enough to enjoy it).

Cheers – Salud – Salute – Živeli – Prost – Na Zdrowie – Skål – Santé