Cataluña’s Priorat Wine Region (Spain): A Visit to La Conreria D'Scala Dei Winery (Part 6)

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: © Christopher Pappas

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Cataluña’s Priorat Wine Region (Spain): Region revitalization and quality recognition (Part 2)

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.

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

Cataluña’s Priorat Wine Region (Spain): Location and history of the region (Part 1)

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.

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