Alvaro Palacios: La Baixada 2018

Parker über: La Baixada

-- Parker: There is a new single-vineyard bottling, the 2018 La Baixada, which will soon be classified as Vinya Classificada. It's a 1.3-hectare plot in the village of Gratallops planted in costers, very steep slopes on the classic degraded slate (llicorella) soils. The vines are 21 years old now and are located at 300 to 340 meters in altitude. The destemmed and lightly crushed grapes fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and had 55 days of maceration. The wine matured in oval French oak foudres for 15 months. I asked Álvaro Palacios what justifies another single-vineyard bottling from Gratallops, very close to Dofí, because to be honest, I see that the wine is very similar to Dofí. He said, 'In fact, Dofí has part of its vines in three different 'parajes' or zones, one of them La Baixada, part of which is now separated and bottled independently. This was planted with a selection of Garnacha from L'Ermita and Aubaguetes, plants that develop very slowly and deliver very loose bunches of concentrated grapes that keep very good acidity.' This is a classic, compact Priorat, with energy and subtleness, with great purity and a bloody, iron-like note. This is a more refined version of Dofí, and it has more finesse than Les Aubaguettes, which is a lot more powerful and more concentrated. 2,800 bottles were filled in April 2020. 96+/100