Alvaro Palacios Les Aubaguetes Bellmunt del Priorat 2017
Suggested Food Pairings:
Alvaro Palacios is a wine producer most famous for its Garnacha-based wines from Priorat. Established in 1990 by Alvaro Palacios himself, the winery has been forefront of Priorat's rise to fame as one of Spain's most prestigious wine regions.
After spending time working at Petrus in Pomerol, he bought his own vineyard in the then obscure region of Priorat, where the steep, slate-based hillsides covered in gnarled bush vines had been forgotten about in the second half of the 20th Century. Palacios soon grew his estate and now owns several vineyards in the area, often considered in the same league as Dominio de Pingus or Vega Sicilia.
A formidable wine from the legendary Alvaro Palacios, this Grenache/ Carignan blend comes from an old north-facing vineyard planted on blueish llicorella soils, it is surrounded by holm oaks, pine trees and French lavender plants. The force of the Mediterranean and the cool northerly breeze find here a remarkable balance. The prodigious maturity of this enclave is what drives us to make a new wine: fleshy, wholesome, joyous, and opulent.
Tasting Notes
Purple and luminous. Ripe and silky on the palate with excellent structure of fruit, acid and tannins. Note of balsamic layered with pepper, cassis, blackberry and blueberry fruit. This wine is liquid elegance.
Food Pairing
If you must, red meats and game.
Awards
2016 Robert Parker 94+ Points.
Grape Variety: Grenache, Carignan
Country: Priorat - Spain
