How Priorat came to make wine the way it does: the eras, families and rules that shaped the glass.
How Priorat came to make wine the way it does: the eras, families and rules that shaped the glass.
1st century BC to 5th century AD
Viticulture in what Rome called Tarraconensis spread through the Tarragona hinterland under Roman administration. The provincial road network and amphorae trade moved wine from the Tarragona coast inland into the hills that would become Priorat. Rock-cut lagares and vine terraces attributable to Roman-era cultivation survive in isolated form across the schist slopes of the comarca.
1163
Carthusian monks from Provence established the Cartoixa d'Escaladei in 1163, building the monastery that gave the region its name: Priorat derives from 'prior,' the head of a Carthusian priory.
1200s
Through the 13th and 14th centuries the Carthusian order expanded its vine terraces up the licorella-schist slopes around Escaladei, Gratallops; Porrera.
1600s to 1700s
Priorat wine production reached its pre-modern peak in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the Carthusian community at Escaladei trading wine along the coast and inland.
1835
Spanish Prime Minister Juan Alvarez Mendizabal's Desamortizacion Eclesiastica decrees of 1835 confiscated the Cartoixa d'Escaladei and redistributed its lands to lay owners and the state.
1860s to early 1890s
When phylloxera devastated French vineyards in the 1860s and 1870s, Priorat's growers filled the gap. The region exported large volumes of high-alcohol Garnacha to France for blending into depleted Bordeaux and Burgundy.
1893 to early 1900s
Phylloxera vastatrix reached Priorat around 1893 and within five years had destroyed virtually every vine in the region. Population collapse followed: farming families emigrated to Tarragona, Barcelona, and Latin America as the economic base evaporated. The villages of Gratallops, Porrera, and Torroja shrank dramatically. Vineyards were left untended, stone terraces fell into disrepair, and the old-vine Garnacha and Carinena that would later anchor the modern revival were reduced to isolated remnants on American rootstocks.
1917 to 1930
Between 1917 and 1930 most of the working cooperatives in Priorat were founded, including the Falset-Marca cooperative in Falset. Smallholders who had replanted on American rootstocks pooled resources to press and sell their wine collectively. Production focused on high-alcohol bulk wine for distillation or blending with northern Spanish reds. The cooperative model stabilised the rural economy but entrenched a bulk-production culture that persisted for decades.
1932
Spain's 1932 Estatuto del Vino recognised Priorat as a wine zone worthy of protection, establishing the earliest formal framework for its wines.
1936 to 1955
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) disrupted Priorat's already fragile wine economy. The region was on the Republican side and suffered both military disruption and the economic consequences of Francoist neglect of Catalonia after 1939. Rural depopulation accelerated through the 1940s and 1950s as young people moved to Barcelona and Tarragona for industrial work. Vineyard area contracted further and the remaining growers sold wine exclusively through the cooperative network for bulk prices.
1954
Under Spain's Franco-era wine administration, Priorat received formal Denominacion de Origen status in 1954. The DO covered essentially the same geographic area as today's DOQ. Regulations recognised the region's high-alcohol red wines and the traditional vi ranci (rancio) style from Garnacha aged in outdoor demijohns. The DO designation provided administrative structure but did not substantially alter the cooperative-driven bulk-wine economy of the comarca.
1989 to 1993
In 1989 five producers pooled the Priorat harvest and made wine from a shared facility in Gratallops: Rene Barbier (Clos Mogador), Alvaro Palacios (Clos Dofi), Daphne Glorian (Clos Erasmus), Josep Lluis Perez (Clos Martinet, now Mas Martinet), and Carles Pastrana (Clos de l'Obac). For the first three vintages, 1989 to 1991, they shared grapes and split the production into five Clos labels. The wines reintroduced French viticultural rigour, low yields, and small-barrel ageing to Priorat. This collaboration, known as the Cinc Pioners, is the founding event of modern Priorat.
1993
Alvaro Palacios produced the first vintage of L'Ermita in 1993 from a single plot of ancient Garnacha vines above Gratallops. The wine's concentration and the elevated price Palacios commanded on release signalled to the international wine trade that Priorat could produce wines of the highest calibre from indigenous varieties on extreme terroir. L'Ermita became one of the key references that brought critical attention to the region in the mid-1990s.
1993 to 2000
By the mid-1990s Priorat wines were receiving sustained attention from Wine Advocate, Decanter, and Wine Spectator. The combination of old-vine Garnacha and Carinena on llicorella schist, minimal yields, and modern cellar techniques produced a distinctive flavour profile that critics found exceptional. This period saw a rush of outside investment and new producer arrivals as the region's identity crystallised around small-production Clos wines from single plots.
2000
In 2000 the Catalan government approved Priorat's elevation from DO to DOQ, Denominacio d'Origen Qualificada, the highest classification tier in Catalan wine law.
2009
On 6 July 2009 the Spanish central government formally confirmed Priorat's DOQ status at national level. Simultaneously, the Consell Regulador launched the Els Noms de la Terra vineyard classification system, mapping 459 named paratges across 12 village zones (Vi de Vila), with additional tiers for Vi de Paratge (single parcels) and Vinya Classificada (classified vineyard). The system drew deliberate parallels to Burgundy's premier and grand cru hierarchy and represents the most detailed territorial classification of any Spanish wine region.
2010 to 2020
The 2010s saw the children of the Cinc Pioners and new arrivals push Priorat deeper into single-vineyard expression. Sara Perez at Mas Martinet implemented agroecological and biodynamic practices from 2006. Dominik Huber at Terroir Al Limit moved from small barrels to foudres and concrete vats, producing wines of unusual freshness for the region. The Vi de Vila classification enabled producers to label wines with their village of origin, accelerating terroir-driven marketing and differentiation across the comarca.
17th century to present
Priorat has produced vi ranci, an oxidative wine from Garnacha, since at least the 17th century. Made by ageing high-alcohol Garnacha outdoors in glass demijohns or old barrels, the wine develops a characteristically nutty, caramelised profile through deliberate oxidation. The tradition survived the cooperative era and persists today: Arrels del Priorat, a project associated with Rene Barbier of Clos Mogador and Jaume Balaguer, produces a Ranci Solera aged over 30 years in chestnut barrels, connecting the region's modern identity to its oldest vinous tradition.
2020 to present
Priorat's extreme summer heat, routinely 38 to 42 degrees Celsius in July and August, has concentrated producer attention on altitude plantings, north-facing slopes, and drought-resilient white varieties including Garnacha Blanca, Pedro Ximenez, and Chenin Blanc. Regenerative viticulture and biodynamic methods have spread beyond the pioneer estates. The Consell Regulador and producer groups are actively debating altitude limits, vine density, and variety permissions as the climate envelope shifts.
Walk among vineyards guided by a local in the unknown and unspoiled landscape of the Priorat wine region. Enjoy an easy half-day walk and savour the Priorat world-famo...
Welcome to a unique experience in the heart of Priorat, a region with some of Spain's most outstanding red wines. The only one classified under the DOC label near Barcelona.
Walk among the vineyards, breathe fresh air, taste our wines and enjoy a breakfast or snack in the middle of an exceptional landscape.
Wine tastings and winery visits in Priorat (5) · Wine tours and day trips in Priorat (8)
Peak wine-travel season in Priorat is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Priorat rewards trust.