The 2018 Alvaro Palacios Camins del Priorat is the best vintage of this wine I’ve ever tasted. It is a wine that will give you an immediate understanding of why Priorat is one of Spain’s most important viticultural zones.
And with a 94 point rating from Suckling and coming to you at less than $30, this is one of the great values of the region.
2018 Alavaro Palacios Camins del Priorat
94 points James Suckling, 91 points Wine Advocate
This vintage is sold out. To order the new vintage, stop by the store or click here to order in our online store.
If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain,” it’s Alvaro Palacios. One of nine children born to the owners of Rioja’s respected Palacios Remondo, Alvaro studied enology in Bordeaux, while working under Jean-Pierre Moueix at Chateau Pétrus. He credits his tenure at Pétrus for much of his winemaking philosophy and for showing him “the importance of great wines.”
And Alvaro could have easily returned to the security of his family’s domaine, but his adventurous spirit led him to Priorat in the 1980’s. Located 60 miles from Barcelona, Priorat had been one of Spain’s important pre-Phylloxera wine regions. And with its unique terroir of steep hills, rocky/slatey soils, and terraced vineyards, Alvaro believed he could make wines that rivaled the best of Europe. He was right!
Today, his L’Ermita and Finca Dofi single vineyard Priorats are considered two of Spain’s finest red wines. I’m sure they’re great, but at $3,000+ and $100 per bottle respectively, these are not “Tuesday night wines.” But his Camins del Priorat, produced with grapes from 100+ plots scattered throughout the region represents the overall character of Priorat. And in Vintage 2018, it represents it very well.
Like most Priorat reds, this one is a blend that relies heavily upon Grenache, Carignan and Syrah, the grapes best suited to this rugged terrain. Fermented in a combination of stainless steel and oak barrels, it enjoys a brief maturation in barrique. What I love about this year’s release is that it’s immediately accessible. There wonderful purity of fruit, there’s the classic spice and minerality that Priorat is known for, and the texture is downright luscious. Very satisfying wine!
The critics agree with me on this one. Suckling said it was a “layered and very dense Priorat with crushed-raspberry and slate character, as well as black tea.” And Luis Gutierrez of the Wine Advocate chimed in calling it “nicely textured, happy and fresh.”
I’ve got just 7 cases available and this one already has a devoted following. I suspect it will be gone in no time. Cheers to happy drinking and eating in Asheville!
This vintage is sold out. To order the new vintage, stop by the store or click here to order in our online store.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville