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2022 La Baixada, Álvaro Palacios, Priorat, Spain
- Red
- Dry
- Medium Bodied
- Grenache
Not ready
(Drink 2031 - 2056)
- Andy Howard MW
- 17.5/20
- Neal Martin
- 91/100
- Luis Gutiérrez
- 96-98/100
- Sarah Jane Evans MW
- 96/100
Product: 20228022868
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Description
Ah, La Baixada: always so different. This is a fundamentally unique terroir wine from a 1.3-hectare plot inside the larger vineyard that goes into Finca Dofí. It couldn’t be more opposed in character to the main Dofí blend, though; this is always so dark and savoury with a rock-like intensity.
The 2022 is incredibly precise, with a focused nose of fresh blackberries, elderberries, and macerated cranberries adding sweetness behind. This wine just amplifies on the palate in an incredible way, yet a ley line of balsamic umami cuts through it all with a spear of precision. A high level of powdery tannins lingers with a fragrant puff of wild herbs on the long, vibrant finish. The austere majesty of this wine is truly mind-blowing.
Catriona Felstead MW, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2022
Alcohol % 14.5%
Maturity Not ready
(2031 - 2056)
Grape List Grenache
Body Medium Bodied
Producer Alvaro Palacios
Critics reviews
Andy Howard MW 17.5/20
Tank sample. 98% Garnacha, 2% Cariñena. From a north-facing block of 1.3 ha within Finca Dofí, planted in 1996. Yield 21.58 hl/ha. 3,465 bottles produced.
Herbal character is more evident than on the Finca Dofí, and intense dark fruit and intriguing lead-pencil/graphite notes come through. It is much less open than Finca Dofí but has such potential for the future.
Drink 2026 - 2038
Neal Martin 91/100
The 2022 La Baixada comes from 1.3 hectares planted with 98% Garnacha and 2% Cariñena.
It is a little more opulent than the Finca Dofi: well-defined, high-toned black cherries, Medjool dates, blackcurrant pastille scents and an underlying tertiary element that emerges with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a more Mediterranean personality than other cuvées, yet it retains admirable balance, just a touch more pliancy and sumptuousness towards the finish. It slips down the throat almost too easily!
Drink 2024 - 2040
Luis Gutiérrez 96-98/100
The vineyard that produces the grapes for the 2022 La Baixada is classified in the Vinya Classificada category of the Priorat appellation. It's 1.3 hectares in the village of Gratallops, mostly Garnacha, with 2% Cariñena on a steep slope. Like the rest of the range, it fermented with some full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vats and had 30 days of maceration.
It completed 13 months in oval oak foudres and was in concrete waiting to be bottled when I tasted it in January 2024. It has 14.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.44 and 4.76 grams acidity. This is super aromatic, floral, open and expressive, with a touch of exotic spices. It's powerful and elegant, with an incisive palate, deep, complex, with fine-grained tannins. Palacios told me this wine was special from day one. This could very well be the highlight of the 2022 vintage.
Drink 2025 - 2034
Sarah Jane Evans MW 96/100
3,465 bottles produced.
The 1.3ha La Baixada vineyard was planted in Gratallops in 1996 and subsequently material from L’Ermita was grafted over. From the same area as Finca Dofí, La Baixada is in the Vinya Classificada category. Very promising: with floral, cherry aromas, developing pure, savoury, almost stony characters in the mouth. The finish is intense, fresh, firm, sapid and concentrated. Clearly Priorat. Vinya Classificada.
Drink 2023 - 2035