The Priorat DOQ
Priorat is a tiny Denominació d'Origen Qualificada (DOQ) in the province of Tarragone, region of Catalonia, northeast Spain. The district’s vineyards date to 1194, when members of the Carthusian Order, searching for a new home, established the Scala Dei monastery (Charterhouse) high on a peak in what became known as the Serra de Montsant- the Holy Mountains. The prior of Scala Dei ruled over the seven villages in the area as a feudal lord, giving the region its name of Priorat.
The
Priorat DOQ
The ruins of the Scala Dei monastery, La Morera del Montsant
Our wineries
The Charterhouse was abandoned in 1835 when the lands were expropriated by the state and distributed to local farmers. Grapegrowing remained an important part of the local economy until the Phylloxera epidemic decimated the vineyards in the late 19th century, causing a reduction in vineyard area from around 12,000 acres to almost nothing. Created as a DO in 1954, replantings gradually expanded to around 1500 acres by 1980 and almost 5,000 acres by 2018. Since then, due to the efforts of a dedicated few including the famed Rene Barbier, Alvaro Palacios and Carles Pastrana, the wines of Priorat have regained their fame as some of Catalonia’s best reds. In 2003 Priorat was promoted to DOCa (Denominacion de Origen Calificada), which is the highest wine category in Spain. The only other region to have received DOC status is Rioja (1991).
The 11 villages in the DOQ huddle in the valley of the Siurana River and at the base of the Serra do Montsant. Vineyards are planted on terraces ranging from about 300ft to 2100ft elevation. Soils are decomposed slate with fine quartz - the famed glossy black Licorella, which is nutrient-poor and holds almost no water. This keeps the vines stressed and the yields very low.
The climate is continental, with hot summers and icy cold winters, with different slopes exposed to freezing north winds or the warm, moist Mistral from the sea to the east.
The primary grape variety in the area is Garnacha, with lesser planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Syrah and Merlot. The scarce whites are generally produced from Garnacha Blanca.
The Montsant DO
There is a large degree of variation from the small, relatively flat plain to the steep hillsides bordering Priorat proper. The climate is more Mediterranean than Priorat but does still show Continental characteristics of hot dry summers with most of the rainfall coming in Autumn.
Grapes used in DO Montsant are Grenache, Carignan, Tempranillo, Syrah, Cabernet, and Merlot for the reds, and Grenache Blanc and Viura (Maccabeu) for the whites.
our wineries
Licorella soils in Priorat.
The Montsant DO
Montsant is an unusual appellation that forms an almost complete “collar” around Priorat. It captures the remainder of the municipality of Priorat that’s not included in the Priorat DOQ, plus about a dozen other small villages, and was created as a DO in 2002. Vineyards range from 600 to 2100 feet elevation and sit on three main soil types: chalky clay, granitic sand, and slate. The altitude tends to increase towards the Serra de Montalt in the southwest and towards the Serra de Montsant in the northwest.
Terraced vineyards in Montsant