This last installment in our series about the Priorat wine region in Spain is about our visit to the Conreria D’Scala Dei Winery last November. The winery takes its name from the nearby monastery where the Carthusian monks planted vineyards and began making wine in the 12th C.

The winery at Conreria D’Scala Dei is much larger than the other wineries we visited (Clos D’Lobac and Mas Doix) and has an annual production of about 68,000 bottles of wine, which is significantly more than the other wineries. On the day of our visit, we ended up doing the tour with a group of about 30 Spaniards who were touring the region. The tour itself was given by the winemaker, a gentleman named Hyuska, who led us through the wine making journey, from when the grapes come in to how the wine is bottled. We were also able to sample the wine at various stages of the process.

Conreria Scala Dei produces a white wine that is made from Garnacha (or Grenache) grapes under the label Les Brugueres, and a red that is a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Cariñena, under the label La Conreria. The other two red wines produced are the award-winning Iugiter and Iugiter Selecció wines. The Iugiter wines are aged in French and American oak casks for 8-14 months, and bottle aged for at least 1 year. The Iugiter Selecció wine is aged in French Allier oak casks for 12-18 months, and bottle aged for at least 2 years.

The tour of the winery ends in a beautiful brick-walled room that houses a number of vaults that contain the private collections of patrons of the winery. Hyuska served us samples of the four different wines produced, and bottles of wines were also available for purchase.

Tours of La Conreria D’Scala Dei are offered from Monday through Saturday and can be booked online at the winery’s website at scaladei.org. The cost of the tour and tasting during our visit was 10 Euros per person.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

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During our recent visit to the Priorat wine region near Barcelona, we had the chance to do a tour and wine tasting at Mas Doix Estate Vineyards. While the current winery was established by the Doix & Llagostera family in 1998, the art of winemaking has been in the Doix family since 1850. The latest generations of the family have reinstated the tradition started by Juan Doix’s grandfather over 160 years ago.

The winery is located in Poboleda, a small town located about 30 km. northwest of Reus. The ride to the town is picturesque, and you pass through the rolling hills and vineyards of Mas Doix and others on your way there. Once we arrived in Poboleda, we were greeted at the winery by Sandra Doix, the great-granddaughter of the vineyard’s founder, and the head winemaker for Mas Doix.

Sandra began the tour by taking us directly to where the Mas Doix journey begins: in the vineyards. As we walked through the meticulously laid-out vines, we learned about the history of the vines and the challenges they face in growing grapes in a region with climates that vary greatly, and where there is hardly any rain at all during the summer months.

We mentioned in a prior posting about the unique soil in this region, known as llicorella in Catalan. Sandra grabbed a handful of the soil and showed us how the handful of what looked like stones could be easily crushed and reduced to mere dust. It is this unique soil that allows for the deepest roots of the vines to get irrigated, even when there is little rainfall.

We got back into Sandra’s SUV and headed back to the winery for the moment we had been waiting…the wine tasting. Rather than provide a tasting from a selection of open bottles, Sandra explained that they want guests to taste an unopened bottle to get the full bouquet and experience of the wine as it opens up, just as you would at home or at a restaurant. Since we were familiar with the Mas Doix label, which is a limited production wine that is made from the oldest vines (between 80 and 105 years old), we opted to taste a bottle of Salanques 2006 so we could try the “second label” from this highly acclaimed winery. They describe this wine as “Balance, intensity and purity. Transmits the authentic character or Priorat”, and in our tasting the wine  certainly lived up to every word of that description, as well as the 92 rating from Wine Spectator.

To arrange a visit to Mas Doix they recommend that you contact them at least four to six weeks in advance. Their contact information, along with the family history of this outstanding winery can be found on their website at masdoix.com.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

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We recently visited the Costers del Siurana winery located in Gratallops. Carles Pastrana and his wife Mariona Jarque established this winery in 1979, and were one of the original five winemakers who were responsible for the revitalization of wine making in this region. Just 10 years after they began producing wine, Clos de l’Obac was recognized in the World Wine Guide as one of the world’s 150 best wines, and today both Clos de l’Obac and Miserere wines are known throughout the world for their high quality.

The winery is accessed off a small road that is located just before you turn into the town of Gratallops. After being greeted by Mariona, we had the honor of touring the winery with Carles Pastrana himself. During the tour you learn about the history of the winery, and the art and the science of producing high quality wines. What you take away most of all is the passion and obsession that the family has for creating their award-winning wines. Theirs is a labor of love, and that is felt in both the tour of the winery, as well as in the wines they produce.

The visit finishes with a wine tasting that is truly a memorable experience. Tasting a selection of wines with Carles and having him share the details of a particular vintage is the icing on the cake for any wine lover.

To arrange a visit to Clos de l’Obac you must send a request via email, which can be found on their website at costersdelsiurana.com. Visits are usually scheduled in the morning and are always personalized and given by a member of the family or the oenologist (who is Mariona’s brother, Joan Jarque). The tour and wine tasting lasts about 95 minutes, and at the end there is a wine tasting of 4 of their wines: Clos de l’Obac, Dolç de l’Obac, Miserere and Kyrie. The fee for the tour and tasting at present time is 25 Euros per person. You can purchase wines directly from the winery to take with you (they offer special carrying cases), or for orders of 12 bottles or more they can ship the order to the US.

If you are like us and fall in love with a particular wine (or wines), we highly recommend that you buy some bottles directly from the winery and either take them home or have them shipped (as we did), as you may not be able to find them later on when you return home. We are glad we did, as we cannot find the same vintages from any local New York City or other distributor. The shipping can take 3-4 weeks (due to regulations governing the export of wines), but you won’t be sorry when the bottles arrive and you have the pleasure of enjoying the fine wines of this winemaker all over again.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

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Getting to the Priorat region from Barcelona is an easy drive, and in less than 2 hours you can find yourself in one of the top wine producing regions in Spain. As you leave the main highway and head west past the town of Reus, you will find yourself on smaller rural roads that will wind through the small towns that are now home to the region’s top wine producers.

The terrain of this region is perhaps the secret to what makes the Priorat wines so unique. The region is mountainous, and the vineyards are planted at altitudes between 600 and 3,300 feet. As you look around, you will see vineyards dotting the steep hillsides in neatly planted terraces. The soil in this area is known as llicorella in Catalan, a mineral-rich soil composed of black slate and quartz. Although the soil looks rocky, if you take a handful of it you can literally crush it with your bare hands and reduce it to a pile of dust. It is this unique characteristic of the soil that provides a natural irrigation system that will distribute even small amounts of rainfall to the deep roots of the vines, and contributes to the body and intensity of the wines produced. They also have a higher alcohol content of between 13.5% – 15.5%, versus 10.5% – 11.5% in wines from the Rioja region.

The climate of the region is also a contributing factor to these robust wines. The area enjoys a good amount of sunshine, but like Napa in California, temperatures in the summer can vary from 110 during the day, to a cool 50 degrees at night. The average rainfall is 24 inches per year, but there is hardly any rain at all during the summer months.

Although there are some white wines produced in the region, 96% of the vineyards are planted with red varieties: Garnacha Tinta (38%), Cariñena (25%), Cabernet Sauvignon (14%), Syrah (11%), and Merlot (6%). The primary variety used in Priorat wines is Garnacha Tinta, although many vineyards produce wines that are a blend of Garnacha and Cariñena.

The rules for aging Priorat wines are as follows:

• Crianza – must remain in oak barrels for 6 months and then 18 months in the bottle
• Reserva – must remain in oak barrels for 12 months and then 24 months in the bottle
• Gran Reserva – must remain in oak barrels for 24 months and then 36 months in the bottle

Look for the next posts in our series focusing on Priorat wines, where we will share with you information from our recent visits to a few of the vineyards in the region.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

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The revitalization of wine production in the Priorat region began in 1979 when René Barbier, whose family hailed from Avignon in France, and Alvaro Palacios, whose family hailed from Spain’s famed Rioja wine region, began buying land and planting new vineyards in the region, which were called clos. Others soon followed, and from 1989-1991 the first 3 vintages were produced by a group of five wineries that pooled their grapes at a shared winery in Gratallops. The wines were sold under five labels: Cos Mogador (Barbier), Clos Dofi – which was later renamed Finca Dofi (Palacios), Clos Erasmus, Clos Martinet, and Clos de l’Obac. From 1992 onwards the winemakers began producing their wines separately, and focused their attention on producing high-quality wines, with good results.

In 2000 the Catalan government raised the region’s designation to Qualified Designation of Origen – DOQ (in Catalán) or DOCa (in Spanish) – which is an elevated status that recognizes the high quality and uniqueness of the wines being produced in the region. The Rioja wine region is the only other region of Spain that is recognized with DOQ/DOCa status.

Today, wines sold under the labels of the pioneers who revitalized Priorat and put this small wine producing region on the world map are winning high scores and praise from critics and consumers alike, and are also commanding high prices. Alvaro Palacios’ L’Ermita 2002 sells for $250 and receives scores of 93, while Celler Mas Doix and Clos Erasmus have also garnered high scores and much acclaim.

Our next post in the series will talk about what makes the Priorat wines so unique, and what types of wines are produced.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

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This is the first in a series of posts about Cataluña’s Priorat wine region. Over the series we will introduce you to this region and wine type, which has been gaining popularity, and then share with you information from our recent visit to a few of the vineyards in the region.

The Priorat wine region is located about 1.5 hours south of Barcelona in the province of Tarragona. It is easily accessed via the motorway AP-7 (toll road) south towards Tarragona. Get off the AP-7 at exit 34 and follow the signs to T-11 towards the town of Reus. Once past Reus look for signs to N-420, which is the smaller, local road that will take you to Falset, which is the capital of the region, and a good place to select as a base for exploring the surrounding villages and wineries.

The wine region received its Denominació d’Origen (DO), which means Designation of Origen, in 1954. But winemaking in the region can be traced back to the 12th C. when the monks from the Carthusian Monastery Scala Dei (Ladder to God) began planting vineyards on the steep terraced hillsides of the region and making wine. The monks ruled over the seven nearby villages for over 600 years, until their land was seized by the state in 1835. The monks fled and the monastery was subsequently ransacked and burned down by the local peasants who revolted against the oppression they had been subjected to by the church. The ruins of the Scala Dei Monastery can still be visited, and this site is a must see for visitors to the region. For more information on the monastery, click here.

Our next post in the series will provide info on how this region was revitalized in 1979 and caught the attention of wine lovers and critics the world over.

Photo credit: © 2012 Christopher Pappas · All rights reserved.

As usual, thanks for reading. Please visit International Lodging Corporation at our home page.