We did the trip through a company called Spanish Trails. We also did a tapas tour through them. I can thoroughly recommend them for anyone heading to Barcelona. They offer city tours, food tours, history tours and day trips. They were terrific. Our guide was Andrew, a Scot who had lived in Barcelona for 8 years. As it turned out, there were just the 3 of us (myself, Dimity and one half of a couple we were travelling with) on the tour, which made it super personal and flexible. I think they do them with a maximum of 6 people.
Andrew picked us up in Barcelona with fresh croissants and an offer of coffee, but we had grabbed something ourselves on the way to the meeting point. We headed out of Barcelona in very dreary weather, unfortunately one of the few wet days we had whilst in Spain. This was to be a great shame because it badly obscured what are apparently amazing views from parts of this wine region, where grapes are grown up to 800m above sea level.
On the way down the highway we pulled into a non-descript rest area, to take a look at this 2000 year old Roman aqueduct. You know, standard highway scenery!
It turned out that as well as being into wine, Andrew was quite the history buff and he was able to fill in the car trip with a great discussion of the history of the region.
Andrew also told us that the winemakers would really enjoy our visit. Wine tourism is not a huge thing in Priorat, and many of the wineries don't take visits. He said it took them a while to convince some of the wineries they visit to accept guests, not because the people weren't keen but they were worried they would be poor hosts. However, it was obvious at the places we went that they were genuinely happy to have interested people visiting, and to share their stories and wine.
We stopped off in a little village square first to get some supplies. You know it is an interesting little village when you have to tilt the side mirrors in to make it through the streets.
We then headed to our first stop, Pasanu. Pasanau is run by Ricardo and Alberto Pasanau (uncle and nephew). Ricardo is old school Priorat, local born and bred unlike many of the winery owners. There vineyards and winery are on the outskirts of a little village which has capacity to take about 300 residents, but has a population of 52. Apparently many families have left the area, with the only real industry being wine making and, to a lesser extent, agricultural activities like almonds.
When we arrived it was raining steadily, but Alberto still asked us if we wanted to talk a walk down and look at one of the vineyards. We took him up on his offer and made a gently sloping walk down to a vineyard about 10 minutes away. The vineyard was one of their 'young' ones, at about 30 years of age. It held some of the first cabernet plantings in the area. Alberto explained about the area, their philosophy, the soil and so on as we walked. We were at about 750m elevation, and earth was basically slate and shale. He said that some of the vines in the area had roots in excess of 100 feet long because of the harsh soil. The vineyard itself was almost exclusively rocky/pebbly top soil. The vines are in the process of being rotated and replaced. He explained that the soil type, climate and so on meant that unlike some of the other grape varieties, they felt the cabernet vines needed replenishment at tis stage.
We had a good chat and also foraged up some wild asparagus. I can only imagine the view from up there would have been breathtaking in good weather, but we could see about 40 feet.
We headed back to the cellar/winery. They produce between 35,000 and 45,000 bottles per year, and do everything on site. They have their own bottling set up, though sometimes get a mobile bottling truck in to help them out.
Alberto showed us the winemaking facility whilst Andrew set up a spread for morning tea. Then we tasted. As you can see, the spread (consisting of local almonds, hazelnuts, their own (amazing) olive oil, two types of local goats cheese, ham and olives was very generous. Everything was great, but especially the local goats cheese marinated in olive oil and the local hazelnuts.
We tasted 4 wines as shown in the photos, plus a rose that Ricardo, who joined us to taste and chat, was experimenting with. He brought it out at the end of the tasting, I think once he decided if he liked us or not. It was made from Grenache and was really quite good. He only has 30 bottles so we were pretty pleased to get a try. He can't currently bottle it as a 'Priorat' wine because the appellation rules require the wine to be at least 13.5% alcohol, and it is only 9%. He is working on the appellation council though.
I didn't take notes but you can find some, plus a bit more about the operation, here. http://www.classicalwines.com/submain.p ... gionid=CAT
All I can say about the wines was I actually enjoyed all of them. They are not light wines, all being in the 14.5% - 16% range. I was surprised at that though as they seemed to me to be quite well balanced. I bought a few home to see if I enjoyed them or if it was just the experience, so we will see. When they told us the prices (ranging from 9 euros to 20 euros) I couldn't help but laugh and tell Alberto to put his prices up. He just shrugged and said they like making good wine that people can enjoy, and that the prices are good because it means more people can enjoy them. What a legend. As we drank we talked about wine, the Priorat and Australian wine. Ricardo has been in the area since before the renaissance in the 80's when several Rioja producers reinvigorated the area, he is the president of the appellation council and has some great stories. Quite a character.
I should point out too that a 'tasting' in Priorat is not like your average tasting in Australia, as you may have already guessed. Firstly, Alberto and Ricardo shared each of the wines with us. Secondly, the pours were probably in the range of 100ml, and top ups were not only encouraged but almost insisted on. By the time we left Pasanau I was already on my way to quite jolly.
We left after about 2 1/2 hours in total and headed to our next tasting and lunch. On the way I took a picture of these vines. These were actually on a flat area, whereas many, especially of the older vines, grow on very steep hills which are either terraced or not. As you can see, many of the older vines in the area are just free standing. These vines were about 100 years old, not uncommon for the region.
Our next stop was Clos Figueras, a lovely cellar door and restaurant. We had lunch here and it was really good. I had the best grilled lamb chop I have had outside Australia. I have to say, the wines were only ok. It may have been the value was lacking, with the wines we tasted about twice the price of the wines we had tried at Pasanau, and I didn't think any better quality. However, it was nice to try the wines with our lunch and the staff, as with everywhere we went, were super friendly.
Here is a bit about Clos Figueras, including how they accidentally planted Viognier, which thrived and has now become a recognised grape in the Priorat DOQ. https://www.winerist.com/blog/entry/the ... s-figueras
We then headed off to see Paco, winemaker (with his wife and daughter) and vintner at Clos Dominic. His vineyards are mostly plantings in the 80-100 year age bracket, though he has also planted some younger vines. Paco is another local, though he and his wife only bought the vineyard he works about 30 years ago. He is quite the character and speaks basically no English, so everything was translated through Andrew (who got a few friendly swats from Paco when he did not translate quickly enough).
One of Paco's best sites is on a ridiculously steep slope. It is not terraced and I actually have no idea how they work this site effectively, though Andrew tell stories of visiting Paco in a sling and with broken ribs from falls. I am really not surprised. These links have a few photos that give you the idea of his terrain.
http://www.rutasdevino.com/enoturismo/p ... minic.html
https://catalanwine365.wordpress.com/20 ... q-priorat/
Paco was quite the host. We couldn't go see his vineyards as it was bucketing down by this stage (the stream through the village in the photo is normally a trickle), but we enjoyed another generous and fun tasting in his cellar. I bought a few of his wines as I quite enjoyed them, especially a merlot dominant blend he does.
We headed back to Barcelona having had a really enjoyable and fascinating day. I was intrigued by the history of the area and its vines, and the people we met were incredibly hospitable and interesting. It was a long day, leaving Barcelona at 8:30am and returning at about 7:30pm, but it was well worth it. I would recommend it to any of you who happen to be in the area. Andrew is talking about trying to organise some 2-3 day trips to experience more of the area and I am sure that will be a hit with enthusiasts.
Whilst the local wines were enjoyable, they are not something I will be regularly seeking out. However, I am looking forward to trying those I bought over winter with some hearty food and I certainly won't shy away from picking up a bottle or two in the future.
Oh, and there was a lovely old stone house for sale just down the road from Pasanau. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. A bit dated but in good condition apparently. Unfortunately the price, at a whopping 35,000 euros, just outrageous
