The Priory

Priorat (Priorat) is a small dynamically developing Spanish wine region, whose rich, full-bodied red wines rapidly gained him fame all over the past few decades. Located in Catalonia, in the North-East of the country.

The typical red wine from Priorat made from Garnacha and Carignan from old vines and has aromas of licorice, tar and drunken cherries.

For the white wines of the region allowed four varieties: Garnacha Blanca, macabeo, Pedro ximénez and Chenin Blanc.

Red wine Priorat is exceptional for three main points.

This is one of the very few upscale wines in the world, which are based on a variety Grenache (Garnacha). In this series with it is adjacent only to the French Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the Rhone Valley and top of the range California Sine Qua Non.

Only this region and Rioja was awarded the honor of wearing the status of DOC – the top official of the Spanish wine classification.

In record time the Priory was able to take off from the status of unknown on the world market of the region before falling into one of the most expensive wines of the world.

Hot and dry vineyards of Spain is known for its low yield, and the Priory on their performance stands out even against this background: the average yield of wine per hectare is only 5 hectoliters. For comparison, the average for Spain is 25 HL / ha and for vineyards, cold and wet Germany – 80 HL / ha.

As you know, productivity is directly linked to quality: the lower it is, the higher the quality of the wine. From super low yields in the Priory there are three main reasons: climate, poor soil and age of vines.

The official wine region of Priorat, surrounded on all sides by other DO – Montsant – extends to 11 counties inland from Tarragona.

It is noteworthy that the climate here is sharply continental, despite the relative proximity to the Mediterranean. The summers are long, hot and dry, and annual rainfall – an average of 500mm – similar to that reported sultry region of Montilla-Moriles in Andalusia. A specific combination of geographical factors makes the area one of the warmest and driest in the whole of Spain.

For wine Priorat crucial role played by the local soil. The dominant type here is licorella (Catalan. llicorella, i.e. slate) – poor soil, consisting of decayed slate and quartz.

The sharply increased popularity of the region in recent times overshadowed the fact that the Priory has, in fact, a rich wine history. Even in the 12th century the monks of the Carthusians founded a monastery here Priorato dei Scala Dei and planted vineyards. The ruins of this monastery preserved to our days, and the bottom-lying hillsides and still covered with old vines.

Most of the wines of Priorat is aged in oak for at least 12 months. The official regulations DO Priorat provides three level guidance of wine, depending on the exposure:

Crianza – a year in oak plus one year in the bottle before release

Reserva – a year in oak plus two years in bottle

Gran Reserva – two years in oak plus three in the bottle.

However, in practice, few wineries use this archaic markings on aging.

In addition to the traditional Garnacha and Carignan (carinena), Priorat some winemakers use in their red wines with international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

Source: wine-searcher.com