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96POINTS
18½/20
Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofi 2015
Priorato, Catalunya (Catalonia Cataluña), SpainFinca Dofi is a new vineyard on an old land. Alvaro planted it about the same time he purchased L’Ermita back at the end of the 80’s, on brown slate. The ancient slopes called for "ancestral methods" and high density so Palacios planted 7,200 vines per hectare. It’s all dry-farmed and bush-trained and now can only be cultivated by horse. The average yield is an astounding 18 hl/ha while the current grape mix is 95 percent garnacha with 4 percent cariñena and one percent indigenous white grapes. All is destemmed, crushed and fermented naturally in oak vats before spending 14 months in oak before bottling. Like Ermita, the nose is alive and intense, again with those exotic orange peel notes. And again, it’s the silky refined textures of the wine that pull you into the glass to discover a slurry of red and black fruits including blackberries, pomegranate, strawberries and a savoury, liquorice, chalky, stony finish. Álvaro Palacios’ three wineries reside in the historical Spanish wine regions of Rioja, Priorat and Bierzo. Each property features a unique geography and climate that reflects the centuries-old culture of the vineyard, revealing what Alvaro likes to call “mystical traits from the past.” The vineyards are situated near monasteries, chapels and pilgrimage routes linking them to a spirituality of the past. It’s imperative to Alvaro that his wines be transparent, as in able to transmit the historical and cultural pulse of the region as well as the ever-important altitudes, orientations, the rocks, the steep slopes and the light. In short, the living elements and integral identity of each wine’s origin.Tasted: 22 March 2018Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| BC | $110.00 | 750ml | private wine shops |
| QC | $113.00 | 750ml | |
| US | $60.00 | 750ml | estimated retail |
| ON | $103.00 | 750ml | LCBO |
Blend: Garnacha - Syrah - Cabernet Sauvignon - MerlotCSPC: 318469UPC: 8429073010112
