Technical Details
Estate
If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain,” it is winemaker Alvaro Palacios. Born into a wine family in Rioja, he now makes wine in three different appellations: Priorat, Bierzo, and his hometown of Alfaro in Rioja. Alvaro’s flagship Priorat wine, L’Ermita, is one of the most coveted wines in all of Spain. Following his great successes in Priorat and Bierzo during the 1990s, and the death of his father in 2000, Alvaro Palacios took the helm of Palacios Remondo, his family’s property and winery in Rioja Baja.
History
The Palacios Remondo winery history stretches back five generations when the D.O.C. Rioja was
first gaining notoriety as one of the premier winemaking regions of the world.
Jose Palacios Remondo, father of renowned winemaker Alvaro Palacios, reestablished the estate in 1945.
Alvaro Palacios, born at his family's winery in Alfaro, became one of Spain's winemaking pioneers for his
successes in Priorat and Bierzo. In 2000, upon his father's death, Alvaro assumed responsibility for Palacios Remondo,
and committed to taking the estate's qualiry to new heights.
Under his inspired leadership, Palacios Remondo is now a rising star of Rioja.
Tasting notes
The estate's flagship wine, Propiedad, is made from
old-vine Garnacha that grows in five unique high-elevation vineyards located on the rocky
hillsides of Rioja Oriental. With notes of orange peel, red currants, nectarines and
black cherries on the nose and palate, winemaker Alvaro Palacios describes this wine as being
fleshy and fluid with a soft aftertaste that invokes a hill covered with chamomile and rosemary
flowers as its origin. Containing well-integrated tannins and a long finish, this wine is meant to
drink now or age up to ten years. Only 5,850 9-liter cases of this wine were produced. 100% Garnacha
Terroir
Located on the slope of the Yerga mountain, at an altitude of 2,100 feet, the Palacios Remondo
vineyards are grown at some of the highest points of Eastern Rioja. The old Garnacha vines that
are used for making this wine are 25-90-years-old and are located across five unique vineyards
that are represented by five gold stars on the wine's new label. The unique soil is comprised of
sediments that stem from the Quaternary Era, consisting of volcanic ophite and sandstone pebbles,
quartz and white carbonates. Very low in organic material, with excellent drainage and a moderated
basic pH, the soil type has been known for producing high quality wines for hundreds of years.
The vines are narrowly spaced, head pruned, never irrigated and only produce around 1 Kg of
fruit per vine each year. Alvaro Palacios ensured that only the highest quality fruit was picked
during harvest, whichtook place between September 20th and October 20th.
Vinification
Hand-picked, old-vine Garnacha clusters were selected, first in the field and again on a sorting
table at the winery, before being de stemmed and put separately into 5,000 liter oak tanks for
an alcoholic and malolactic fermentation using native yeasts. After a long maceration of 28
days, an initial blend was made and the wine was aged for 14 months in 50% new and 50% one year-old
French oak barrels. The wine was then left unclarified and unfiltered before bottling.
Vintage
2015 has been characterized by winemaker Alvaro Palacios as being a year of incredible grace and
charm. Overall an extremely dry vintage, only 216 liters of rain fell during the entire year.
While the vintage was full of natural sunlight, temperatures were actually cooler than in
previous years and the majority of the clusters only began to ripen when a few hot days broke
out among the greater number of mild days and cool nights. Alvaro says that this extended
maturation led to wines that have "great structural support, are fresh and aromatic, with lively
acid and a long finish." Vibrant and versatile are words that he uses to describe the 2015 Propiedad.
