Priorat: definitely worth a pin on your wine map
In which we take a quick tour through the history of Priorat and taste three wines from the region.
A landscape view of vineyards in the Priorat region in Tarragona, Spain
It being Christmas I found myself at one of the first of several festive house parties the other day, and to take it up a level, our host had organised a small tasting (or cata as we say here in Spain) of Priorat wines. It wasn’t a big or formal tasting, but the idea was to give people something to mull over as they got slowly sloshed. And very generously, he allowed me to be one of the presenters!
So, as 15 or so people crammed into our host’s kitchen, balancing red wine glasses in one hand and bowls of peppery gumbo in the other, the two of us talked through three wines we had picked from the region.
For those who don’t know Priorat, it’s a small wine-producing region in Catalunya, in the north east of Spain. One of 11 Denominaciones de Origen that you’ll find in Catalunya, it’s actually one of just two wine-growing regions in Spain with DO-plus status. Its official title is Denominació d’Origen Qualificada (DOQ), which means it has stricter rules than a standard DO.
The small DOQ of Priorat sits in the southeast corner of Catalunya
Priorat's winemaking history dates back to Roman times but the story truly begins at the end of the 12th century. Carthusian monks built the Cartoixa Scala Dei monastery and planted vines. The name Priorat means ‘lands of the Priory’. For some time it had a healthy winemaking sector, very much centred around the monastery. But a series of government initiatives in the early 19th century led to the monastery’s lands being divided up into private small holdings.
This was fine from a social perspective, but it meant that when those pesky phylloxera pests (try saying that after a few glasses) ravaged the region towards the end of the century, individual farmers were unable to take the collective action needed to protect their vines and swathes of vineyards were lost to the disease.
For several decades, Priorat went into agricultural and economic decline – which wasn’t helped by the impact of the Civil War - and it wasn’t until the 1980s that winemaking in the region got back on its feet. That it did so is thanks to the foresight of René Barbier, who bought his first vineyard in the region in 1979 and soon attracted a group of friends and collaborators who would become known as the Gang of Five - Álvaro Palacios, Josep Lluís Pérez, Daphne Glorian, and Carles Pastrana.
They started experimenting with traditional winemaking techniques, focusing on indigenous grape varieties like Garnacha and Carignan. Their first wines were essentially cooperative wines, made amongst themselves and then sold under different labels. But as time went on they began producing wines of exceptional quality, which attracted international attention and critical acclaim.
In particular, Palacios' L'Ermita, a wine made from old Garnacha vines, became a cult classic and is often considered one of the greatest Spanish wines ever produced. Whilst Barbier's Clos Mogador also gained widespread recognition and is still one of Priorat’s big hitters.
It wasn’t easy. Unlike the wide-open expanses of somewhere like Castilla La Mancha, Priorat is tricky terrain for winemakers. Its landscape encompasses mountains, ridges, hillsides, and steep slopes meaning that harvesting is almost always done by hand or with the help of a trusty mule, and vineyards need a lot of maintenance to keep them growing. It means that growing grapes here is time consuming, labour intensive, and as a result more expensive than other areas. Which is part of the reason why wines from here can be so pricey.
And then there’s the land. The region is famous for its llicorella soil, which consists of black slate and quartz. It’s unique to Priorat and it forces grapes to dig deep for nutrients. That’s good for producing high-quality grapes and also keeps yields low – which tends to go hand in hand with higher-quality fruit. But it also means production volumes tend to be smaller, making Priorat wines harder to get your hands on, and again – pushes the price up.
There are also those who say this unique soil gives the wines from the region a distinctive mineral character. Now I’m not going to get into an argument about whether soil types are actually reflected in the flavours of wine, but Priorat wines do certainly seem to have a kind of ‘slaty-ness’ to them that many people swear blind is due to the llicorella. If there are any chemical biologists with a degree in geology out there, I’ll leave it to you to weigh in on the subject. Meanwhile, on with the wines…
Now, I said that low-volume production tends to push the price up, and I do mean ‘up’. L’Ermita retails at around €1,500 a bottle depending on the vintage. But even at the bottom of the scale, you won’t find too many Priorat wines on sale for less than €15 a bottle – even here in Spain. Still, we did some digging and managed to get our hands on three relatively affordable reds to present to our eager audience.
The first of these was Nita by Meritxell Pallejà (the website is in Catalan, so take your phrasebook with you). Meritxell is a respected winemaker in the region and spent several years working alongside Alvaro Palacios himself. So, we were expecting good things from Nita. And we weren’t disappointed.
It’s a blend of four grapes. The Priorat classics - Garnacha and Cariñena – make up the bulk of the wine, but they’re blended with about 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and a dash of Syrah. All fermentation is carried out in steel tanks and the wine is left to round off for a year in the bottle before being released onto the market.
The result is a young and fresh wine that is still true to its Priorat roots. On the nose, you get lovely red fruits, a scent of black cherries, and maybe a hint of white pepper. And in the mouth those fruit flavours continue, wrapped in a smooth, soft sensation that really pleases the taste buds. It’s a very drinkable red wine and at around €15 a bottle, is one of the best entry points I know for those who want to get into Priorat without getting a second mortgage.
Next up was L’Inconscient made by cousins Adrià and Marc Pérez (the name of the winery is Les Cousins). Adria is the son of Josep Lluis Perez of the aforementioned Gang of Five, so again, this is a wine with pedigree. But the two are gunning for a younger market and claim to be making Priorat wines for a new generation. That may be so, but to be honest, this wine came across as the most traditional of the three.
Again, it’s a blend of Cariñena Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah – but this time there’s also a touch of Merlot thrown into the mix. And it’s had about 12 months of barrel ageing - interestingly in 7,000 litre oak barrels. Yes, you heard that right: 7,000 litres! Bear in mind that the standard barrel size for ageing wine is 225 litres. So, there’s quite a difference. And the reason is that the larger the barrel, the less direct contact there is between the wood and the wine. So, a bigger barrel should give a softer, more subtle ageing to the wine.
I say “should” but here it was a bit too obvious. It may be that after drinking the fresh and fruity Nita, we noticed the wood on this one more. But for me, it was a touch on the tannic side and whilst the fruit and the body were both there, the wood just slightly crowded those lovely flavours out. Perhaps with a couple more years in the bottle, those rough edges will get smoothed out and the flavours will blend more seamlessly. But for drinking right now this one left me a little unmoved.
That said, if you like fuller-bodied wines with a good bit of oak, then this is certainly worth a try—and at just over €13 a bottle, it’s also an accessible entry point into Priorat.
Now, I said we chose three wines from the region, but we cheated slightly with the last one. We opted for a Montsant instead of a Priorat. I’ll leave the details of Montsant to another blog but in short, it’s a DO that practically encircles Priorat – the egg white to the Priorat yolk as some winefolk elegantly put it – and has a similar variety of terrain, and offers wines with a similar profile (although some would say they are less minerally and slightly more fruit forward).
We opted for Suc de Sauló from Celler Comunica, where winemakers Pep Aguilar and Patric Morillo are making unashamedly fresh, drinkable red wines – and this one’s an excellent example. Of the three this was the most classic blend, being made of just Cariñena and Garnacha (Garnacha Peluda to be specific). But it’s fermented and then aged for nearly two years in steel tanks rather than wood. Those two years give the wine a chance to soften and round out, whilst using stainless steel minimises the impact of the winery and lets the grapes speak for themselves.
And they tell a good story. On the nose, you get plenty of fruit, mingled with spicy balsamic notes, and in the mouth, it’s a deliciously fresh wine with a little more bite than the other two and a lovely mineral sensation. It's beautifully balanced and at just 13.5% ABV (a full percentage point less than the others), this is a delightful, drinkable, everyday red that will appeal to a wide range of wine drinkers.
Suc de Sauló retails at about €16 a bottle, so it’s a tad more expensive than the two Priorats. But in general, Montsant will offer more affordable wines than its neighbour.
So next time you’re in your local wine shop, see if they stock a few Priorats, and if not ask for a Montsant. This is an exceptional little corner of Catalunya which is starting to get the attention it deserves and is well worth pinning on your wine map.
Cheers!
Glad you two are back.I enjoyed your Simply Spanish posts.