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Spain

Priorat

2 000 ha under vine

Soils
Llicorella — fractured black and rust slate that glitters with mica
Climate
Harsh inland Mediterranean — torrid days, mountain nights, miserly rain

On the map

Priorat — 2 000 haLanguedoc — 220 000 haBordeaux — 110 000 haSicily — 98 000 haVeneto — 96 000 haPuglia — 87 000 haSouthern Rhône — 66 000 haRioja — 66 000 haTuscany — 60 000 haLoire Valley — 57 000 haEmilia-Romagna — 50 000 haKakheti — 48 000 haSouth-West France — 45 000 haPiedmont — 43 000 haDouro — 43 000 haChampagne — 34 000 haAbruzzo — 33 000 haUtiel-Requena — 32 000 haBurgundy — 29 500 haProvence — 27 000 haSardinia — 27 000 haFriuli — 25 000 haRibera del Duero — 25 000 haPenedès — 25 000 haPfalz — 23 000 haCampania — 23 000 haAlentejo — 22 000 haMinho — 21 000 haRueda — 20 000 haDão — 20 000 haMarche — 16 000 haAlsace — 15 600 haBeaujolais — 13 500 haBurgenland — 13 000 haUmbria — 12 000 haCalabria — 9 000 haMosel — 8 800 haDalmatia — 8 000 haJerez — 7 000 haCyprus — 7 000 haAttica — 6 500 haFranken — 6 100 haCorsica — 6 000 haTokaj — 5 800 haAlto Adige — 5 600 haValais — 4 800 haNorthern Rhône — 4 400 haRías Baixas — 4 300 haNahe — 4 200 haSussex & Kent — 4 000 haRheingau — 3 200 haBierzo — 3 000 haNemea — 3 000 haSavoie — 2 200 haJura — 2 000 haWachau — 1 350 haValdeorras — 1 300 haSantorini — 1 100 haNaoussa — 700 haMadeira — 450 haColares — 20 haPrioratLanguedocBordeauxSicilyVenetoPugliaSouthern RhôneRiojaTuscanyLoire ValleyEmilia-RomagnaKakhetiSouth-West FrancePiedmontDouroChampagneAbruzzoUtiel-RequenaBurgundyProvenceSardiniaFriuliRibera del DueroPenedèsPfalzCampaniaAlentejoMinhoRuedaDãoMarcheAlsaceBeaujolaisBurgenlandUmbriaCalabriaMoselDalmatiaJerezCyprusAtticaFrankenCorsicaTokajAlto AdigeValaisNorthern RhôneRías BaixasNaheSussex & KentRheingauBierzoNemeaSavoieJuraWachauValdeorrasSantoriniNaoussaMadeiraColares
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

Named for a priory: the Carthusian monks of Scala Dei planted these terraces in the twelfth century and ran the vineyard until the desamortización of 1835 stripped the monasteries of their lands. Phylloxera then emptied the hills, and by the 1980s only a few hundred souls remained in the villages.

In 1989 a handful of pioneers — René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios and their companions — founded their "clos" among the ruins, and the scores of the 1990s did the rest: in 2000 Priorat became Spain's second DOCa, after Rioja. The vines root vertically, metres down into the fractured llicorella slate, and give some of the lowest yields in Europe — dense, mineral wines wrung from an almost unfarmable land.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Priorat Red wine

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 30Exploration & the Fortified Age — 20Classifications & the Golden Age — 20Phylloxera & the World Crises — 10The Modern & New World Era — 55Antiquity0500150017001875195055
The Monastic Middle Ages 500 Exploration & the Fortified Age 1500 Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950