Álvaro Palacios is one of the most seminal representative of the New Spain. Through discovering and reviving old vine sites, he has spent the last 30 years bringing not one but two Spanish wine regions back from the brink of oblivion. His family roots are in Rioja, where he might have chosen to continue making wine in the same way and palce as his family had been doing for generations. But young Álvaro had other ideas. After studying oenology in Bordeaux and working at Chateau Pétrus and in California, he bought his first vineyard in Priorat in 1990, when he perceived the potential of the old-vine mountain Garnacha and Samsó (Carignan). Gratallops is his very fine village red. Finca Dofí is very serious, delicate and complex but packing a powerful punch on the finish. Les Aubaguetes comes from a tiny parcel of old vines planted in the early twentieth century. And he charges a fortune for his top cuvée L`Ermita, which comes from a steep, small plot below the hermitage of Our Lady of Consolation. Flush with the success of his Priorat project, he teamed up with his nephew Ricardo to make wine in Bierzo at the Descendientes de J.Palacios label, proving the greatness of Mencía. And he has even, finally, returned to his roots and is making some wine through the Palacios Remondo label in Rioja. (NT 30/07/25)