Alvaro Palacios

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Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Gratallops
People: Alvaro Palacios, Owner & Winemaker
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic

Items

Alvaro Palacios 2023 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa Login WA 96 WS 96 Please inquire
Alvaro Palacios 2024 'Camins del Priorat' Priorat DOCa Login WS 93 WA 91 In Stock
Alvaro Palacios 2022 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa Login WS 93 WA 93-95 In Stock

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

Alvaro could have 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. With its unique terroir of steep hills and terraces Alvaro believed that here he could make a wine that evoked both Pétrus and Grange.

He acquired his first vineyard, Finca Dofí, in 1990. Then, in 1993, he located what is now regarded as the crown jewel property in Priorat, a precipitous, northeast-facing Garnacha vineyard on well-drained schist that had been planted between 1900 and 1940. Alvaro named it for a small chapel, or hermitage (L'Ermita), that sits atop the hill. In 1995, the flow of critical praise for Alvaro’s L’Ermita began, and it hasn’t stopped. But while L’Ermita has received most of the attention, Alvaro produces several other wines compelling in their own rights.

Media Links
Wine Advocate: The Álvaro Palacios 2020 Portfolio
Food & Wine: Reimagining Rioja with Spain's Most Famous Winemaker
Masters of Wine: Alvaro Palacios wines Winemakers' Winemaker Award 2016
Wine Spectator: Featured Winemaker, Alvaro Palacios
Decanter.com: Alvaro Palacios, Spanish Wanderer

Reviews

  • Alvaro Palacios 2024 'Camins del Priorat' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (5/6/2026)
    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. Drink now through 2036.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2024 'Camins del Priorat' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 91 (5/14/2026)
    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. It develops notes of balsamic and dry hay with time in the glass. This is a little more international; it's the least Priorat of the portfolio. It has 14.1% alcohol, a pH of 3.52 and 5.12 grams of acidity. It's juicy and velvety, with very fine tannins and a sleek texture. 177,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2025.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2022 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (10/31/2025)
    This sleek, well-balanced red leads with a savory touch of mountain herbs, a subtle accent for flavors of ripe mulberry and black raspberry, backed by hints of iron, paprika, vanilla and white pepper. A firm frame of plush-textured tannins provide definition through the lingering finish. Garnacha and Samsó. Drink now through 2037. 10,000 cases made.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2022 'Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes' Priorat DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93-95 (5/16/2024)
    I tasted this still-unbottled regional red in January 2024. The 2022 Les Terrasses Velles Vinyes has grapes from 53 vineyards in seven villages, and in 2022, it was 60% Garnacha, 39% Cariñena and 1% white grapes, higher in Cariñena than in recent years in this extremely warm and dry year. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in oak vats with part of full clusters, had a 41-day maceration and should spend some 12 months in French barriques and larger barrels. It's fully ripe at 14.5% alcohol while keeping a pH of 3.55 and 5.05 grams of acidity (measured in tartaric acid per liter of wine), parameters of very good freshness. This is always a little earthier and with a beautiful touch of rusticity showing the character of Priorat. It's ripe without excess; all the 2022s show surprisingly fresh for such a warm and dry year. They expected to fill 113,000 bottles around March 2024.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2023 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 96 (5/1/2025)
    The 2023 Finca Dofí was still not bottled, like a few of the 2023s. It comes from the 12.5-hectare vineyard that names the wine, which extends across three different parajes, or lieu-dits, from Gratallops. The vines were planted 20 years ago on slopes and terraces, and in 2023, it delivered 95% Garnacha and 5% Cariñena that fermented with part of uncrushed grapes in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and had a 36-day maceration. It matured in oval oak foudres and large barrels for 15 months. When I tasted it last year, it surprised me because of it's floral and perfumed profile. It continues the same, a character that has grown in the last few years, floral, aromatic and elegant, very clean and precise. 28,000 bottles produced.
  • Alvaro Palacios 2023 Priorat, Finca Dofi, DOCa
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 96 (5/6/2026)
    This fresh, graceful red dances across the palate, effortlessly integrating fine, sandy tannins with an enticing array of pureed black raspberry, red licorice, crushed gravel, and fragrant mountain herb and floral notes. Long and supple, with a lasting, well-spiced finish. Very classy. Garnacha and Samsó. Drink now through 2043. 2,100 cases made.