Photograph: Jason Lowe

Being made Decanter Man of the Year was a real surprise. I am so emotional, so proud. In the end though I believe I am just the link to this award, which is about honouring Spain and what it has achieved over the last decade through so many great wines.

My brief ‘history’ belongs to an important wine country that has slept for almost two centuries. In the 20^th century especially, Spain was isolated by political circumstances and our agriculture was in decline – even though the wine industry was rising up, the agriculture sector was not paying attention.

France changed my life in terms of my understanding of wine. I studied at university there and also practised at Pétrus during the 1985 vintage. Wine is all about the vineyard in France, yet at that time Spanish wine was about being great producers of large volumes, being good blenders. We had forgotten about viticulture. In the end France became my inspiration, the light that illuminated my passion.

Top-grade wines come from the whim of nature. That is what makes a vineyard great.

There is a lot of work still to be done in the international market, but it understands there are many new wine regions in Spain. It has opened the door to places that just a few moments ago were unknown outside our country.

I have always believed that spirituality in wine comes from the Old World, from the affinity of the vines to the history. Spain is in the Old World, but it still needs a lot of experience in the market. A bottle of wine needs 20 years to demonstrate what it’s going to offer when you pay those prices.

Terroir can be learned. I have friends who were not born into families established in the industry, but they are super-talented winemakers.

Elite Spanish wines need to have more village appellations. Not long ago you could find bottles of Rioja from 1945, 1950, 1964 where you could identify the specific villages in all of them, but by the 1970s our maximum category of quality in Spain had become regional.

L’Ermita is a vineyard that, when you visit it, it has already captivated you. It is so pretty, and it’s beautifully located too. In Priorat to have the finest wines, the vines have to be in the shade facing north, and east to the sea to protect it during July and August when it is hot. L’Ermita has all these things. I started vinifying different wines there and I saw the quality of this wine: fresh, vital, agile and mysterious.

It is thanks to my nephew Ricardo Perez that we are also in Bierzo. He was coming back from Galicia and he stopped off there and told me there were some amazing vineyards. Even before we went to Priorat, I had Bierzo in my head. I could have gone to many other regions where it would have been easier to make money, but I chose the obscure ones which no one else seemed to have any belief in. It comes down to this concept of faith. Then we found La Faraona, which is just one of those vineyards… one half-hectare of glory planted with Mencía.

Look out for part two of our interview with Álvaro Palacios tomorrow, and in the meantime find out more about his wines on our website.