Álvaro Palacios: "The dream I still have to live is to see my daughter Lola making whatever wines she wants."

Vilanova i la GeltrúI interview winemaker Álvaro Palacios at the Marejol restaurant in Vilanova i la Geltrú on a Friday night. A few hours later, he'll be having lunch with people who want to share his wines at an unforgettable dinner, both for the food and the wines served. Álvaro speaks in both Spanish and Catalan. He's lived in Gratallops for many years, and he knows the language and likes it. He says he has employees at the winery who have built human towers (castells), and he's interested in the Vilanova castellers group, the Bordegassos.

He arrived for the interview with his wife, Cristina, and together they showed me photos of their daughter, Federica. They are proud of their daughter, Lola, who has studied and worked in oenology all over the world, and of their granddaughter, who is just four months old. Since talking to Álvaro is a passion, one day isn't enough for us, so the next day, Saturday, we continue the conversation at the bar in the Vilanova Central Market.

There was a time when Priorat was reflected in Bordeaux; now it's reflected in Burgundy. Could this explain the evolution of the qualified designation of origin?

— Priorat has been looking to Burgundy for a long time. Bordeaux has suffered a lot, and is working to regain its placeI feel sorry for everything they're going through. When I started in this world, I did it in Bordeaux. I did an internship with the Jean-Pierre Moueix family, who make Petrus, which was the legendary wine of the time. It still is. Over time, Domaine de Romannée-Conti, from Burgundy, surpassed it, and if we had to name the icon of the wine world in recent years, we'd point to Romanée-Conti. Just think, there was a time when the great guru Robert Parker wouldn't taste Burgundy wines because he found them light, lacking in power.

Why do you think there has been that change?

— Because people have discovered Burgundy wines, which are light, and they've enjoyed them. I always say that the pyramids of Egypt are afraid of the aging potential of Bordeaux wines. In contrast, in Burgundy, they achieve their magic and charm between seven and fifteen years.

Our wines have been guilty of trying to please Robert Parker, and we have made structured wines with a lot of oak.

— Yes, a very American taste took hold worldwide. Hence the great success of the Ribera del Duero DO, apart from its proximity to Madrid, which means customers can land in Madrid and be there within an hour. The fact is, this American taste, established globally, is what made us look towards Bordeaux, because we all wanted to sell wine.

Are we ignoring Parker now?

— No, no, no. It's not like that. Parker ended up having many tasters. In Priorat we have Luis Gutiérrez, with great sensitivity. What's happening now is that if you don't get 100 points in the Parker guide, you're nobody.

But the prescribing guide has changed my previous perception of...

— Now they have a taster in Burgundy, William Kelly, who has an impressive sensitivity. He's an intellectual with an amazing mind and palate. Yes, everything has evolved, because the Parker guide brought renewed appreciation to the Northern Rhône, which had been forgotten.

I'm picking up on a previous topic. You say that Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is the current icon of the wine world. The winery managed to raise the profile of all Burgundy wines after their arrival. Did the same thing happen with you in Priorat?

— The first thing I have to say is that Priorat has been dedicated to viticulture for centuries. Priorat is a powerful, earthy region, repopulated by French Carthusian monks who made wine. The Priorat soil is what makes the wines so good: they have a mineral component, excellent acidity, and all of this gives the wines a surprising energy. From there, you can stray from the path and incorporate new trends. But if you understand that Priorat already existed, that it was a place where vineyards were planted on hillsides, that every inch of the slope was planted—as old photographs from 1931 and 1942 attest, when everything was planted—then you understand the nature of the land and you make wines where typicity is paramount. Priorat is the fruit of all the generations that came before us, of broken backs and twisted ankles, who worked it. It's very gratifying that people have stopped leaving to live in the city.

Why is he grateful?

— Because the countryside gives you so much life, it makes you feel who you are, it keeps you grounded. The countryside makes you humble. And humility is the secret to knowledge. The most intelligent people I've ever met are very humble.

All of this happened in Priorat. You've always explained how you came to be there. Let's remember it.

— There came a day when he arrived René Barbier and José Luis PerezSara Pérez's father. And René called me because he and my brother Toño—we're nine siblings, but two have already passed away—had studied together at the University of Bordeaux and knew each other. I always say that I recognize René as my mentor, as my father was. He was the one who introduced me to Petrus for my internship. Did you know that my father spoke Catalan because he spent a few years in Barcelona during the war? Later, at his winery in Alfaro, La Rioja, many Catalans would stop by, and he would speak to them in Catalan.

Do you live between La Rioja and Priorat?

— Yes, when my father died, I took over the Rioja winery. That was in 2000. But since 1989, I've been in Gratallops, in Priorat. I didn't like Rioja in the 1980s because, to be anyone, you had to produce 400,000 cases. Otherwise, nothing. Producing 400,000 cases means filling 4,800,000 bottles. So, my wife Cristina and I started traveling, looking for wine regions. And René knew we were looking for a region, so he called me to come to Priorat. We arrived in August 1989.

And you wanted to fulfill your dream in Priorat.

— I wanted to make great wines, because my dream was to be able to sit alongside the great wine producers of France. This has been my dream.

Did you do it?

— I am involved in clubs and associations, in the International Wine Academy, where I meet producers from all wine regions of France and from all over the old world of great wine.

If you've achieved your dream, what's left for you to do?

— Continue. Continue making the wine that reaches the very soul. These vineyards I've managed to buy, working them, bottling the wine—all of this is a divine gift, a gift from the gods. To channel everything I feel into the wine, to transcend it, so that it brings pleasure and inspires. Wine is the embodiment of true intellectual eloquence.

In your Priorat story, there's the auction in January 1999 at Christie's in New York. How did you manage to get your wines into such an inaccessible auction?

For importers and a good orientation of La Ermita wine in the high-end wine market in the United States. In addition, it was fortunate that it coincided with journalist Carles Porta's proposal to make a documentary about Priorat (The power of wine) in the program 30 Minutes February 1999. From the camera, there was Jordi Domènec, from Falset, uncle of Marta from Hostal SportWe all went to New York to film the auction at Christie's; it was an unforgettable trip.

It's been widely rumored that you were behind the final call that led to the wine purchase. La Ermita, 1995 vintage, sold for $4,200 (over €3,600).

— I was just standing at the back of the room, listening in astonishment to what was happening.

Alongside the high-priced wines, you can also try Camins del Priorat, which costs 20 euros. Or Montesa, in La Rioja, also very affordable.

— Hopefully, it can maintain wines like Terrazas and Camins del Priorat, which sustain the wine industry.

How many bottles do you make of Caminos del Priorat and Les Terrasses?

— From Caminos del Priorat, 200,000. From Las Terrazas, 90,000. That's why both of them allow the wine-growing fabric I'm talking about, because they are many kilos of grapes.

In Priorat and throughout Catalonia, and the world, everyone respects you.

— I have been lucky to live this life.

It is said that with our Catalan varieties, the wines will not age well.

— It's happening in Burgundy too. They have wines that are aged for twenty-five years or much longer; the important thing is to keep them at a temperature of no more than twelve degrees.

Álvaro, you told me you've achieved your dream. Don't you have another one to achieve?

— The dream I still have to live is to see my daughter Lola making whatever wines she wants.

In your Priorat winery?

— Wherever she wants, because she's educated and has studied and worked all over the world. She can do whatever she wants, and she should do it.