The 2011 Finca Dofi represents a huge jump in quality for this wine. They have been re-grafting all the Cabernet Sauvignon to Garnacha (they’ve been doing that for six years) and Dofi has mostly fruit from north-facing plots which give it a special freshness, pure red fruit and blood orange, peach, subtle herbs and aniseed with an impressive elegance and balance, round and velvety tannins, without the chunkiness that Cabernet and Syrah give in Priorat, very long and persistent in the finish. I tasted it next to the 2010 Finca Dofi and you could feel the chunkiness of the Cabernet tannins in the wine, while 2011 had a rounder, softer and silkier texture. This is a superb Dofi, much more elegant and subtle than any vintage I remember, a quantum leap from past vintages. Bravo! It was only bottled in June and you can still feel a whiff of oak but it’s very drinkable and should also age for a few years. Drink 2014-2021. I’ve known Alvaro Palacios for a long time, and I’ve been drinking and following his wines since the beginning. He is, of course, one of the main culprits for the revival of Priorat (among other things). He, and I’d say the whole region, has been defining the identity of his wines and I believe he’s finally there. I remember in the old times, he used to tell me, “Priorat really starts in 1994.” Then a couple of years later I’d bump into him somewhere, and he’d tell me, “the story of Priorat REALLY starts in 1996,” and so on and so forth. He was looking for the true character of his wines and the region. And I believe he found it much later, when he realized he should focus on the local grape varieties to produce his wines, especially Garnacha. Since 2006 he hasn’t used any Cabernet Sauvignon for L’Ermita and he started re-grafting the Cabernet vines to Garnacha. He did the same in the family vineyards of Palacios Remondo in Rioja, really focusing on Garnacha. And finally in 2011 all his wines, except the entry level Camins del Priorat, a young, fresh, modern and more international style of wine, are produced exclusively with Garnacha and Carinena, with local grapes. They are re-grafting Cabernet to Garnacha in Priorat and in Alfaro, La Rioja, in the family vineyards of Palacios Remondo, they are also re-grafting Tempranillo to Garnacha. “But not because I am a Garnacha fan, it’s simply because it is the most appropriate variety for the warm climate of Alfaro, where the Tempranillo gets cooked,” Palacios said. “I’m just going back to what my father did when he started there, planting Garnacha. It’s similar in Priorat: Porrera and Poboleda are good for Carinena, but I think Garnacha does better in Gratallops.” He just finished harvesting when I met with him to taste the wines. 2013 is the latest harvest ever, they harvested L’Ermita on November 5, and they removed all the raisin by hand from the tiny bunches before the grapes were ready for fermentation. In 2013, this magical north-facing vineyard yielded one fifth of its average production. In 1996, he planted 1.5 additional hectares of L’Ermita (which will make a total of three hectares) so in the future there might be a little more wine from the vineyard but 2013 will be a very short vintage. The young vines are blended into Gratallops for now. I’m also looking forward to tasting the 2012s when bottled, as Alvaro is already talking about the best vintage in his 24 years in Priorat. It’s a bit of a paradox, and I’ve already seen it in other regions in Spain: the year was extremely dry and warm, but it got to a point where the plants got blocked and didn’t produce any more sugar or consumed acidity. Importer: Mannie Berk, The Rare Wine Company, Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484

The 2011 Finca Dofi is a blend of 95% Garnacha and 5% Syrah. It has another exuberant bouquet, like the older sister of the 2011 Gallotrops, endowed with beautifully defined floral aromas. There are hints of broom and fennel infusing the scintillating red fruit and a sorbet-like freshness. The palate is medium-bodied with a vibrant peppery entry, fanning across the mouth with succulent red currant and wild strawberry fruit. The acidity maintains superb balance, countering the 14.8% alcohol with ease. There is a firm underlying structure that is only exposed towards the long persistent, mineral-rich finish. Wonderful. Drink 2016-2030+ Visiting Alvaro Palacios was a must during my trip to Priorat, the dynamo and tour de force that has propelled Priorat to the forefront of the Spanish wine scene. The modern architecture of his hilltop winery lies in stark contrast to the nearby village Gratallops, where houses huddle as if sheltering from a raincloud that will never come. Indeed, as we parked the car, the village’s P.A. system was announcing that there would be no running water for the next two hours, indicating how precious a commodity water is. People suffer as well as vines. Since his debut in 1989, Alvaro’s wines have built a formidable reputation with prices to match. Fortunately, he pays as much attention to quality at the lower end of his range: a bottle bearing his name must meet his exacting standards. I listened as Alavaro expounded the greatness of Garnacha, convinced that the identity of Priorat lies in this grape variety and Carinena, rather than Cabernet Sauvignon. A man of his word, he is therefore reducing the percentage of Cabernet in his flagship L’Ermita and it would not surprise me if it is phased out entirely in the future. Personally, I think an already great wine is greater for it. He also rhapsodized about his nascent 2010s, which he feels are not as “heavy” as his 2009s and constitute “very enchanting wines,” something I completely agree with. Most of these wines were tasted in Priorat, augmented by one or two tastings held in London. Importer: Mannie Berk, The Rare Wine Company, Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484; and www.bbr.com in the UK.