Description:
Álvaro Palacios describes his precious and precious L'Ermita wine as a wine for intimacy, for which words are useless, only emotion. L'Ermita caresses all our senses with an indescribable texture and a force enveloped by a moving finesse; really, exciting.
Summary made from Álvaro Palacios' assessment of the 2015 vintage
The 2015 harvest has been one of the most productive for Álvaro Palacios in Priorat. A specific snowfall in winter, not too much rain and high temperatures, the highest since there are records in the region.
The vintage began with autumn rains that continued until well into November and, after that, a mild winter with mild temperatures. It was not until February when the temperatures showed a substantial drop, with an absolute minimum of -4.7º C, and a snowfall left a layer of 10 cm in the Priorat vineyards, a blessed protective mantle that covers the winter rest of the plant and it favors that the wines that will be born from it have a special charm and kindness.
The arrival of March was also due to rainfall and humidity. Budding took place at the end of that month and, after a dry April, with the hot days of May, flowering arrived. June was unstable, with rains and even some stone in l'Ermita that injured a tenth of the berries. Then, a heat wave that would reach 42ºC in early July. Some rainfall at the end of the same month gave way to a dry and hot August, with some rains in the last days of the month and in September.
These rains at the end of summer raised concerns about the appearance of botrytis and caused general nervousness and impatience, but with the arrival of stability in the last part of September, the grapes were able to continue their ripening in full health. The harvest took place from mid-September to November 1 in a healthy environment, with cool nights and days of light and dry air.
A vintage that has produced silky and long wines, fluid and fatty on the palate, with a more pink color than usual and an intense juiciness. Wines full of joyful energy and magical charm. We will only have to wait a while to be able to better assess the potential of this vintage, the acidity of the wines at this time is disconcerting.