2018 Alvaro Palacios L'Ermita Priorat

(99 Points) The flagship 2018 L'Ermita is already classified as Gran Vinya Classificada, the new category of Grand Cru vineyards from the Priorat appellation of origin. Like the 2017, the blend here is mostly Garnacha with about 20% Cariñena (the highest for this wine) and 2% of white grapes that fermented with indigenous yeasts in oak vats with a maceration of 56 days and matured in oak barrels of different sizes for 14 months. The grapes were picked quite late but on the same date as the previous year, the 17th of October, because the vineyard is so regular. The wine is aromatic, intense and elegant, with a lifted nose, a high-pitched note of violet pastille, more refined than the Aubaguetes and Baixada. It is classical and proportioned, with contained and complex aromas and flavors and lots of energy, light in its feel but with inner power and strength. As with most great wines, it should develop nicely and for a long time in bottle but will drink well throughout its life. Grand vin, yes. 2,440 bottles were filled in April 2020.

Álvaro Palacios is on a roll with the 2018s, which are impressive across the range, not only in Priorat but in Bierzo and Rioja too. In Priorat, he has 47 hectares of vineyards, 42 of them in the village of Gratallops. Like what happened with Rioja, they saw a return to more normal conditions with the 2018 vintage, more classic weather. Palacios calls it a "reunion" with snow, which he says always seems to bring something magic. There was more rain in the spring and the dry, Mediterranean summer, with a special moment during the harvest when heavy rains appeared, so he decided to wait and give time for the grapes to soak it up; the alcoholic degree went down and the wines also have more acidity. 2018 has something of 2010, 2012 and 2016 but with more finesse, 2018 being a more powerful but more elegant version of 2016, which are the two most elegant vintages of recent times for Palacios. There is a little more Cariñena in most of the wines from 2018. Also, there is a new wine in 2018, La Baixada. 2019 is a unique year, highly concentrated, like a warm and dry version of the already unique 2013. Annual production averages 415,000 bottles.