Alvaro Palacios : Finca Dofi 2024

Characteristics and tasting tips for Finca Dofí 2024 Alvaro Palacios

Tasting

Colour

The wine shows a deep garnet colour with violet highlights that reflect its youth.

Nose

The nose opens with delicate notes of violet, supported by a subtle presence of black fruits such as blackberry and plum. The aromatic profile is both floral and indulgent.

Palate

On the palate, the wine is medium- to full-bodied, carried by fine, polished tannins. The minerality typical of llicorella soils comes through as crushed stone and graphite, adding a mouth-watering freshness. The long, elegant finish extends this mineral impression with fine persistence.

Food and wine pairing

This wine is an ideal partner for roasted or grilled meats such as lamb, beef or game, whose richness it enhances with its freshness and length. It also pairs very well with Mediterranean cuisine enlivened by aromatic herbs, garlic and olive oil. Vegetarian dishes based on pulses, such as a chickpea and root vegetable stew, also find a fine echo in its mineral structure.

Serving and cellaring

Finca Dofí 2024 is best stored at a temperature no higher than 12°C. Its optimal drinking window opens after around ten years of bottle ageing, from approximately 2034. Its high ageing potential will allow it to continue evolving favourably beyond that.

The floral and mineral expression of Priorat by Álvaro Palacios

The estate

Founded in 1989 by Álvaro Palacios, the eponymous house has become a benchmark of the DOQ Priorat in Catalonia. Based in Gratallops, the brand embodies the renaissance of the appellation through respectful viticulture and an uncompromising focus on terroir. Álvaro Palacios still heads the estate today, supported by a technical team dedicated to preserving the identity of the schist soils. Renowned for single-vineyard wines such as Finca Dofí and L'Ermita, the estate has built an international reputation on its loyalty to indigenous grape varieties and its pure expression of llicorella.

The vineyard

Finca Dofí 2024 comes from the Camp d'en Piqué, La Baixada and Coll de Falset plots. Together they cover 12.5 hectares in the heart of the village of Gratallops, in the DOQ Priorat. The 20- to 40-year-old vines are planted on steep terraces at altitudes of between 250 and 350 metres, facing north-east/south-west and east. They are rooted in llicorella soils, a Palaeozoic laminated siliceous slate rich in iron and manganese hydroxides and shot through with granite veins. The vines are farmed under certified organic viticulture using traditional Priorat methods. They are trained as staked bush vines and double-cordon pruned, and the soils are worked with a crawler tractor and by mule. There is no irrigation or green harvesting, and yields are kept to a controlled 19.2 hl/hectare.

The vintage

The estate rated the 2024 vintage as "very good". Harvesting took place from 3 September to 7 October. The Mediterranean climate, tempered by a strong maritime influence, favoured gradual ripening of the grapes. Each plot was harvested by hand with rigorous selection, ensuring the optimal expression of the Gratallops terroir.

Winemaking and ageing

To make Finca Dofí 2024, the grapes, partly whole-bunch and partly destemmed, are fermented in wooden vats with indigenous yeasts and regular punching down. Malolactic fermentation takes place spontaneously in wooden casks. The wine is then aged for 13 months in oval foudres and French oak bocoyes. It is bottled without fining, cold stabilisation or filtration to preserve the purity of the fruit and the expression of the terroir.

Grape variety

Finca Dofí 2024 is made from 100% Garnacha, the emblematic grape of Priorat, which here expresses the full aromatic and mineral richness of the llicorella soils.