Alvaro Palacios : L'Ermita 2023

Tasting characteristics and advice for L'Ermita 2023 by Alvaro Palacios

Tasting

Appearance
The wine shows a deep red color with garnet highlights.

Nose
The bouquet reveals remarkable aromatic complexity, with notes of ripe red and black fruits, accompanied by mineral nuances characteristic of Priorat’s slate soils.

Palate
On the palate, this wine displays exceptional concentration, with silky tannins and a balanced structure. The finish is remarkably long, carried by the terroir’s minerality.

Food and wine pairing

This wine pairs beautifully with grilled red meats, game birds, or aged hard cheeses.

Serving and cellaring

L'Ermita 2023 can be enjoyed after 10 years of bottle aging to reveal its full potential. Serve at 16–18°C (60–64°F) and decant one hour before serving.

An iconic Priorat wine from century-old vines

The estate

In 1989, Alvaro Palacios founded the eponymous estate in Priorat, Catalonia. From a family of winemakers in Rioja and trained in Bordeaux at Château Pétrus, Alvaro Palacios remains the owner and head of the estate today. A pioneer of Priorat’s renaissance, he primarily cultivates Grenache and Cariñena on steep terraced black slate soils, practicing ecological viticulture with the help of mules. His L'Ermita cuvée, from century-old vines, is one of the world’s cult wines and has revolutionized the image of Spanish wines.

The vineyard

The L'Ermita vineyard covers 4 hectares in the village of Gratallops in the heart of Priorat. Located between 350 and 430 meters above sea level on very steep slopes facing north and east, it lies on stratified siliceous slate soils of Paleozoic origin. These exceptional terroirs, bush-trained according to Priorat tradition, are home to century-old vines worked with mules in accordance with ecological farming.

Grape varieties

This Catalonia wine is a blend of 84% Grenache, 13% Cariñena, 2% Picapoll and 1% other grape varieties (Grenache Blanc, Macabeo).