Winemaker Notes
From Alvaro’s original vineyard, Finca Dofí is a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet, and Syrah. Like L’Ermita, Dofí combines power and richness with great breed and finesse. In most Priorat tastings that do not include L’Ermita, Dofí is the clear winner.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The origin of everything here and the first single-vineyard red, the 2018 Finca Dofí excels in 2018. Those 10 hectares planted 20 years ago in the village of Gratallops are mostly Garnacha, but the wine also has some 8% Cariñena and 2% white grapes. They all fermented after being destemmed and lightly crushed in oak vats with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in large oak barrels (bocoyes and foudres) for 16 months. This is the refined version of the Gratallops (the vineyard is in the village!) but with an extra degree of depth and complexity, especially nuance and elegance, showcasing the captivating finesse and harmony of the vintage, which is a little in the style of the 2016 with more energy. I see that these 2018s are quite transparent and show the style of the zone, the iron soils, the dusty roads and the warmth of the soils; it's round and lush, spherical but with a spike of freshness. The élevage has been polished so as to render it almost invisible. This is drinkable now, and I think it's also going to age nicely in bottle and drink nicely throughout its life.
Rating: 96+ -
James Suckling
Dark-berry, walnut and tile character throughout. Medium to full body with a creamy texture and a flavorful finish. Very fine tannins. Caresses your palate. Subtle is the word.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Tiny and entirely composed of craggy, jagged and deeply terraced vineyards, Priorat is a Catalan wine-producing region that was virtually abandoned until the early 1990s. This Spanish wine's renaissance came with the arrival of one man, René Barbier, who recognized the region’s forgotten potential. He banded with five friends to create five “Clos” in the village of Gratallops. Their aim was to revive some of Priorat’s ancient Carignan vines, as well as plant new—mainly French—varieties. These winemakers were technically skilled, well-trained and locally inspired; not surprisingly their results were a far cry from the few rustic and overly fermented wines already produced.
This movement escalated Priorat’s popularity for a few reasons. Its new wines were modern and made with well-recognized varieties, namely old Carignan and Grenache blended with Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. When the demand arrived, scarcity commanded higher prices and as the region discovered its new acclaim, investors came running from near and far. Within ten years, the area under vine practically doubled.
Priorat’s steep slopes of licorella (brown and black slate) and quartzite soils, protection from the cold winds of the Siera de Monstant and a lack of water, leading to incredibly low vine yields, all work together to make the region’s wines unique. While similar blends could and are produced elsewhere, the mineral essence and unprecedented concentration of a Priorat wine is unmistakable.