2014 Álvaro Palacios Finca Dofi
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Tasting notes
Dark, bright-rimmed ruby color. Displays a strikingly complex array of fresh dark fruits, pungent flowers and exotic spices on the nose, with a smoky mineral flourish emerging as the wine opens up. Deeply concentrated and sweet, offering surprisingly energetic boysenberry, cherry-cola and violet pastille flavors that are underscored by a suave mineral and baking spice note. Obviously rich but this sexy wine comes off as surprisingly elegant, with fine-grained tannins framing an extremely long, penetrating finish.
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
A blend of Garnatxa (Grenache) and Carinyena (Carignan) from different plots of the winery. Vines are 11 to 30 years old, exposures vary according to the vineyard and elevation ranges between 250 m to 350 m. Soils are slate with a loamy texture. 560 mm annual rainfall in 2014. Yield limited to 15.9 hl/ha. Destemmed grapes were crushed before fermentation in wooden vats. 45 days' maceration prior to malolactic in foudres. Tasted blind. Refreshing fresh fruit, showing purity and floral notes. The 2014 Dofí is all about subtlety and delicacy. Significantly different from older vintages. It is profound yet refreshing. Light and very captivating. One of the most sensitive expressions of Álvaro Palacios. (FC)
Closed nose, medicinal palate, crunchy tannin, high acid. Doesn't give much away, considering the price tag. All muscle. (RH)
Lurid ruby. An explosively perfumed, mineral-tinged bouquet displays fresh boysenberry, cherry, licorice pastille and sandalwood scents, and a suave spicecake nuance gains power with air. Stains the palate with sappy red and blue fruit, spicecake and candied rose flavors that show impressive clarity and back-end lift. Silky, slow-building tannins add gentle grip to the finish, which hangs on with superb, floral- and mineral-driven tenacity.