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La Baixada 2021

La Baixada

2021
Vertiginous Gratallops
95-97
PARKER

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£308.45

/ 0.75 L btl
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Spec sheet

TypeRed wine
Region
Grapes
Producer
AllergensContains sulfites
Alcohol contenti14.5%
Production2,800 - 3,000 bottles

The wine

La Baixada is another wise move from Álvaro Palacios, bottling the yields of exceptional places; in this case, the produce of the La Baixada plot, one of the steepest and most impressive hillsides in the Gratallops district. It’s a red wine of immense purity, offering a little more refinement than Finca Dofí and greater subtlety than Les Aubaguetes. The slate comes through in every sip, providing an intense mineral sensation, tinged with iron.

The fruit of this ‘paraje’ (particular place) had been included in the blend of Finca Dofi, until Álvaro decided to bottle it separately, due to the estate’s very low yields, with loose bunches and thick-skinned small berries. Its first vintage was 2018.

What does this wine taste like?

Of particular note in La Baixada are the blackberries and black cherries, along with a subtle citrusy note. It fills the whole mouth, revealing a perfect balance between fluidity and volume, between powerfulness and delicacy. It’s intense, juicy and very mineral, but it's able to keep its energy under control. Its tight tannins have an impact all over the palate. This is a rounded, direct and very persistent wine, with perfectly integrated oak and very clearly-defined aromas and flavours.

Drinking and storing

It requires a tall glass, with sufficient volume to provide the space all its complexity deserves. It should be served at around 16 ºC.

It has an assured ten years of life ahead, and will reach its peak 5 or 6 years after its vintage date.

Food pairing

Red meats and rice dishes with spices, Mediterranean herbs or mushrooms even, if it’s left for a few years in bottle.

arroces
Rice
carnes-rojas
Red meat

Ratings and awards

202195-97 PK
202095 PK99 SK
201996 PK96 PN96 SK
201896+ PK95 PN95 SK
PK: ParkerPN: PeñínSK: Suckling

Wine critics reviewsReviews by Parker and Parker

The 2019 La Baixada is from the 1.3-hectare vineyard of the same name that is in the process of being classified as "vinya classificada." The wine was produced with Garnacha and 2% white grapes from 21-year-old-vines on steep costers (slopes) of slate (llicorella). The destemmed and lightly crushed grapes fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in a French oval foudre for 14 months. This has a lot in common with Finca Dofí, from a common paraje that is planted with wood from old vines from L'Ermita and Aubagetes that were not clean and delivers very low yields of small berries with thick skin and very loose bunches, a qualitative advantage that made Palacios bottle the wine separately even at the young age of the vines. There is purity here, and the wine is direct and spherical, with round and glossy tannins. The élevage of these 2019s is very subtle and has not marked the wines; there is great purity of aromas and flavors. 2,890 bottles were filled in May 2021.

— Luis Gutiérrez (30/07/2021)Robert Parker Wine Advocate Vintage 2019 - 96 PARKER

The nose of the 2020 La Baixada was spectacular when poured, with notes of orange peel, orange blossom and some spiciness that turned into notes of brioche with time in the glass. It has the exuberance of the young fruit, but it doesn't have the depth and wise character of the old vines like Les Aubaguetes or l'Ermita. 2023 will be the first vintage to be called Vi de Vinya Classificada. It comes from 22-year-old vines and matured in oak for 14 months. 2,080 bottles and 37 magnums were filled in April 2022.

— Luis Gutiérrez (30/06/2022)Robert Parker Wine Advocate Vintage 2020 - 95 PARKER

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Winemaking

La Baixada is made from Garnacha Tinta and a small percentage of white varieties. The destemmed and lightly pressed grapes ferment in oak vats by means of native yeasts. Maceration for 55 days and ageing in large oval French oak vats lasts for 14-15 months.

Vinification materialWood
Ageing periodBetween 14 and 15 months
Type of woodFrench oak

Vineyards

La Baixada

La Baixada is a plot of 1.3 hectares, planted at the end of the 20th Century with Garnacha and also some Cariñena vines and white varieties in the lower areas. It’s located in the town of Gratallops, on llicorella (slate) soils and faces east, lying at an altitude of 300-340 metres.

It was planted with a selection of Garnacha from the L'Ermita and Aubaguetes plots, resulting in plants with a slow development and loose bunches, excellent for preserving the acidity.

It will soon be ranked as a Vinya Classificada, the second category in the hierarchy of quality wines produced in the Priorat QDO.

SoilSlate
YieldsVery low yields
OrientationEast
Surface area1.30 hectares
Altitude340.00 meters

The winery

Álvaro Palacios

Álvaro Palacios

Álvaro Palacios came to the Priorat in 1989, to the town of Gratallops to be precise, following the lead of a group of local producers fully intending to pass on through their wines all the character of this land, full of its own brightness, with the shining Mediterranean sun, the gleaming slate in rocky crags, and brightly-coloured fennel in the olive groves. This is mystic, spiritual country tracing back its past to the Carthusian monks, who worked at cultivating vines...

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