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2019 Alvaro Palacios Priorat Les Terrasses

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

June 4, 2023 - $31

Estimate

RATINGS

93Wine Spectator

A juicy red, offering raspberry ganache and red licorice flavors, a fragrant skein of dried sage and milled white pepper and rich hints of smoke and toast. This concentrated, medium- to full-bodied version remains fresh and focused, thanks to the tang of orange peel acidity and fine, taut tannins.

93James Suckling

...fine-grained tannins and mineral, berry and light spice undertones. Medium body. Fruity and focused finish.

REGION

Spain, Cataluna, Priorato

Priorat in southern Catalonia is one of Spain’s newer regions for quality wines. With only about 2,500 vineyard acres, it is not one of Spain’s larger appellations, and its rocky mountains and hillsides make for challenging vineyard management. But grapes have been grown here in the rich, volcanic soil since at least the Middle Ages, when Carthusian monks planted vineyards. Bulk wines were the main focus here until the late 1970s, when pioneering Spanish winemakers Alvaro Palacios and René Barbier replanted vineyards and vastly improved winemaking in the region. Clos Mogador, Clos Erasmus and Finca Dofi were some of the now much-admired wineries started in the later decades of the 20th century. By the 1990s many innovative, quality-focused wineries were started in Priorat, making it one of the hottest winemaking regions in Spain. Priorat was made a DO in 1954 but upgraded to the prestigious Demoninación de Origen Calificada, or DOCa, in 2000. (In Catalan, the regional language, the appellation abbreviation is DOQ.) Full-flavored, full-bodied wines with relatively high alcohol content are characteristic of Priorat, with Garnacha (Grenache) and Carinena (Carignan) being the traditional grapes.