2000 Alvaro Palacios L'Ermita Velles Vinyes
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Mostly Grenache blended with some old vine Carignan (and I think some Cabernet Sauvignon), the 2000 L’Ermita is a beauty that’s still youthful. Deep ruby/plum-colored, with a smoking nose of pencil lead, ripe black cherries, blackberries, and crushed rock, it hits the palate with a full-bodied, powerful, yet pure and beautifully balanced profile. This is a fabulously pure, even elegant Grenache that still has sweet tannins and a blockbuster finish. Even at age 19 it still has another decade of longevity.
Critic scores
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Bright medium ruby. An essence of berries on the nose; like a liqueur, with an almost medicinal suggestion of sheer concentration. Superripe and incredibly lush; as thick as this is, there's no heaviness thanks to its penetrating spiciness and solid backbone. Wonderfully perfumed in the mouth. Urgent finishing fruit currently hides the lush tannins. A wine of extraordinary length.