If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of "The New Spain," it is Alvaro Palacios. His L'Ermita is widely considered—along with Peter Sisseck's Dominio de Pingus—to be the most important new Spanish wine of modern times. Alvaro Palacios comes from a prestigious wine family, from La Rioja. He could have secured an excellent position at the family winery, the world-famous Palacios Remondo. But he chose a different path. He studied enology in Bordeaux and had the enviable position of working under Pomerol superstar Châteaus Pétrus, winemaker Jean Pierre Moueix. Upon returning to Spain, he established his own winery in 1989 in the Mediterranean wine region of Priorat, south of Barcelona in Tarragona.
Priorat is one of Spain's most remarkable wine regions, with an extraordinary leap in wine quality, reputation, and price over the past decade. This small appellation, with 1,700 hectares of vineyards and just over 60 bodegas, is located west of the Tarragona province in Catalonia. Les Terrasses is made from Garnache and Samso grapes from their own organically farmed vineyards and purchased grapes from plots with an average age of 60 years. Harvesting is manual, and yields are very low: 10-15 hl/ha.
Vinification takes place in cement cuvées and large wooden vats. Maturation lasts twelve months in French oak barrels, twenty percent of which are new. This gives the aroma abundant notes of raspberries, cherries, and plums, as well as coffee, spices, and wet earth. A scent you can savor for hours! The palate is full-bodied and rounded with distinct tannins and a long finish.
