Alvaro Palacios

Wines of deep tradition

A strong viticultural identity, a clear and pure physical environment, a future of vitality and temperament. Álvaro Palacios arrived in Gratallops in 1989 with a group of local producers to extract the best of the historical equation that characterises this frugal and mystical land.

The tortuous landscape of the Priorat. The vine-covered slopes and the compact, earthy villages hold the memory of a past linked to the Carthusian monks. Under the protection of the crags of the Montsant mountain range, the order founded the monastery of Escaladei in 1194.

From here it developed the culture of the vine for more than six centuries.

This long monastic presence survives in styles and forms of cultivation, allied with a complex orography that facilitates isolation. Thus, on the steep hills with open, basic soils, old Garnacha vines hang from which ancient wisdom is evident.

The secular tillage of the peasants, the commitment of the draught animals, the survival of a strong and vigorous wine-growing character. And the contrastingly Mediterranean climate. With more than 3,000 hours of sunshine and an annual rainfall of less than 380 mm, the proximity of the sea provides the coolness of the garbinada, the easterly breeze.

Garnacha is the most widely planted variety (16 hectares), followed by Cariñena (6.5 hectares), Cabernet Sauvignon (3), Syrah (3.5) and Merlot (1).