L'Ermita 2022L'Ermita 2022

L'Ermita 2022 is one of Spain's most prestigious, iconic and sought-after reds. Made by acclaimed winemaker Álvaro Palacios in the prestigious Priorat region (Catalonia), this emblematic blend reflects the utmost purity and unique character of its old-vine terroir.

The Wine AdvocateRP 98Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

The 2022 L'Ermita wasn't yet bottled when I tasted it in January 2024. Grapes were selected from 2.28 hectares, out of a total of 4.7 hectares planted in 1909, 1939 and 1996, to make this red classified as Gran Vinya Classificada, the top level of the Priorat appellation's quality hierarchy.

It's made from a blend of 92% Garnacha, 7% Cariñena and 1% local white grapes — Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo and Pedro Ximénez. It fermented partly with whole bunches and indigenous yeasts in wooden vats, with a 23-day maceration, followed by ageing in large oval French oak foudres, planned to last 14 months.

It has 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.49 and 4.87 g/L acidity. This is always the estate's most complete wine; it's reserved, somewhat closed and shy, revealing itself in an insinuating, subtle and nuanced way. On the palate it has a seamless, solid texture, with very fine tannins and remarkable balance. About 5,000 bottles were due to be bottled in March 2024.

Álvaro Palacios has long been one of Priorat's leading quality references. Not only does he make some of the appellation's most prestigious wines, he's also one of the region's largest producers. He currently has 29 hectares of vines in the village of Gratallops and another 2.5 hectares in Bellmunt del Priorat, producing about 372,000 bottles per vintage.

Catalonia and Priorat have recently suffered from drought. Priorat has always been quite dry, but this is now even more pronounced, with some particularly dramatic years. 2020 saw more than 800 litres of rain, with plenty of mildew, something rare there. 2021 was a more or less normal year, 2022 was very dry and 2023 was extremely dry.

I've now tasted the bottled 2021s, from what many consider the last "normal" year, and the wines are as good as you'd expect. I'd already published notes on the young unbottled 2021s in June 2022, but only now had the chance to taste the bottled wines. We also tasted the unbottled 2022s and the very young 2023s.

Palacios describes 2022 as "the year of three heatwaves" in Priorat. During the winter, only 16 litres of rain fell at L'Ermita and no more than 10 litres at Finca Dofí and La Baixada. March and April were more or less normal, with 56 and 67 litres respectively, and normal temperatures.

From May, however, there was a big change. During flowering that year, temperatures reached an abnormal 35ºC, which gave excellent fruit set but led the plants to start protecting themselves from the heat and lack of water.

The summer was infernal: three heatwaves above 40ºC were partly eased by 42 litres of rain in July. They believe that the short-pruned gobelet vines were key to softening the effects of the heat, and they produced 20% more grapes than in an average year.

The vines shut down and ripening was limited, while acidity was retained. Harvest began a week earlier than usual and the grapes had paler colour and lower sugar.

The wines are surprisingly fresh for a year like this. The L'Ermita grapes had less colour intensity, the crop was abundant and the wine is quite pale. In general, all the 2022s are relatively pale in colour.

2022 still benefited from water reserves from the rain and snow of 2021. 2023 suffered much more, as it was equally dry and hot, but 2022 had already been dry, so the plants had no reserves. Rain was expected that never came.

2023 was the driest year in recent times, with only 250 litres of rain recorded in Gratallops between November 2022 and October 2023 — the period used to measure a vintage's rainfall.

So, for the first time ever, they decided to irrigate the vines, focusing mainly on the rockiest plots and the highest points, where the need was greatest, as some vines were at risk of dying. However, water is scarce there and the whole operation is labour-intensive and costly.

The grapes stayed small and concentrated, but the wines show unusual freshness and elegance. They're still very young, but may turn out better than the 2022s. The L'Ermita harvest took place between 5 and 11 October.

As for 2021, I'd previously described the year, which Álvaro Palacios called "a year of concentration and class".

The year began with a huge snowstorm — Filomena — in January 2021, with 50 centimetres of snow, adding to rainfall throughout the year. Despite some swings, the weather stayed cooler than usual. The summer was genuinely mild and ripening was slow.

There was some rain at the end of August, which complicated matters because of some botrytis, but the main worry was the grapes' low potential alcohol. The grapes simply weren't ripening, and the Priorat appellation requires at least 13.5% alcohol in red wines.

The 2021 L'Ermita has the lowest alcohol ever. The wines are elegant and fresh. They were bottled almost a year before the tasting and are truly impressive, perhaps the most elegant vintage to date.

The year ended with 449 litres of rain, and the L'Ermita grapes were picked on 13 October.

2021 is a very homogeneous vintage and the wines showed very well, with purity and elegance. It's a very consistent range; I tasted the wines on three separate occasions, including a final blind tasting to confirm my impressions.

Published: 16 May 2024