The wine of the Priorat
The Priorat has made wine for centuries, and its present reputation rests on a difficult landscape: very steep slopes, slate soil and small harvests. Here is what is worth knowing before you taste it, with figures from the regulatory councils of both appellations.
Start with the two appellations and the terroir, then move on to the grape varieties and the classification ladder, from the appellation wine up to the classified vineyard.
Two appellations, one landscape
DOQ Priorat
The Denominació d’Origen Qualificada Priorat covers a small mountain district in the heart of the province of Tarragona. The Montsant range closes it to the north, the Serra de la Figuera to the west and the Molló to the east; to the south the land opens out and follows the Siurana river down towards the Ebro. The regulatory council counts 17,629 hectares of delimited territory, of which 2,196.8 are planted with vines, worked by 511 growers.
Nine of the district’s 23 municipalities belong to it (la Morera de Montsant, which includes Scala Dei, Gratallops, Porrera, Poboleda, Torroja del Priorat, la Vilella Alta, la Vilella Baixa, el Lloar and Bellmunt del Priorat), plus the north of Falset (the Masos de Falset) and the east of el Molar (the Solanes del Molar). The first six were the villages of the Priorat of the Scala Dei charterhouse; the rest were added in the 1932 delimitation.
DO Montsant
DO Montsant wraps around DOQ Priorat like a semicircle of mountains: the Montsant range and la Llena to the north, the Serra de l’Argentera, the Mola de Colldejou and Llaberia to the east, the Serra de la Figuera and el Tormo to the west, and the land opening towards the Ebro in the south. The Siurana and Montsant rivers and the Capçanes stream water its valleys. Vines grow between 50 and 700 metres above sea level.
The regulatory council notes that wine has been made here since Roman times (wine amphorae, probably bound for Tarraco, have been found at Marçà), that the Scala Dei Carthusians, from 1194, spread the vine across the whole area, and that in the 19th century the wines were exported to France from Reus.
The terroir: slate, steep terraces and altitude
The Priorat is the land of llicorella, a dark slate that runs down from the mountains in gentle ridges and hillsides so steep that it is hard to see how vines were ever planted on them. Many vineyards are “costers” (steep slopes) and in places the terraces are so narrow that only two rows of vines fit, so no machinery can work them.
The DOQ Priorat vineyards lie between 100 metres above sea level, in the lower parts of Bellmunt del Priorat and el Molar, and 750 metres, in the highlands of la Morera de Montsant and Porrera. Most slopes are steeper than 15 %, and some estates reach 60 %. The vines struggle and yields are low: under one kilo of grapes per vine on average.
The harvest is long: it starts around mid-September in Bellmunt and el Lloar and runs to the end of October or early November in Porrera and la Morera de Montsant. The regulatory council has catalogued 100 % of the territory by the conditions for planting vines, and DOQ Priorat has been a member of CERVIM, the international body for mountain viticulture, since the start of 2013.
Keep exploring
Rated vintages
The DOQ Priorat regulatory council rates each vintage. These are the ratings it publishes for 2013–2022 (page updated November 2023); its website shows no later ones.
| Vintage | Rating |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Very good |
| 2014 | Very good |
| 2015 | Very good |
| 2016 | Very good |
| 2017 | Very good |
| 2018 | Very good |
| 2019 | Excellent |
| 2020 | Excellent |
| 2021 | Excellent |
| 2022 | Excellent |
Only one overall rating per vintage is published; it is not a score for any single wine or winery.
The wine in numbers
Vineyard area, wineries, growers and production for the DOQ Priorat and DO Montsant appellations, compared village by village.
DOQ Priorat
Appellation since 1954 · "Qualified" (DOQ) since 2000- Municipalities
- 9
- Hectares under vine
- 2,197
- Wineries
- 114
- Growers
- 511
- Annual harvest
- ~5,000,000 kg
DO Montsant
Appellation since 2001- Municipalities
- 14
- Hectares under vine
- 1,840
- Wineries
- 69
- Growers
- ~750
- Annual harvest
- ~10,000,000 kg
DOQ Priorat and DO Montsant, compared
The two appellations share a territory, but operate at very different scales.
| Municipalities | DOQ Priorat | DO Montsant |
|---|---|---|
| Municipalities | 9 | 14 |
| Hectares under vine | 2,197 | 1,840 |
| Number of wineries | 114 | 69 |
| Growers (approx.) | 511 | ~750 |
| Annual harvest | ~5,000,000 kg | ~10,000,000 kg |
Hectares under vine
Number of wineries
Growers (approx.)
Municipalities
Producers by village
The 24 municipalities shown on our map, with the appellation each belongs to and the producers we feature on DOPriorat.com.
| Municipality | Appellation | Producers on DOPriorat.com |
|---|---|---|
| Bellmunt del Priorat | DOQ Priorat | 7 |
| Cabacés | DO Montsant | 2 |
| Capçanes | DO Montsant | 5 |
| Cornudella de Montsant | DO Montsant | 13 |
| El Lloar | DOQ Priorat | — |
| El Masroig | DO Montsant | — |
| El Molar | DO Montsant | — |
| Els Guiamets | DO Montsant | — |
| Falset | DO Montsant | 23 |
| Gratallops | DOQ Priorat | 24 |
| La Bisbal de Falset | DO Montsant | — |
| La Figuera | DO Montsant | — |
| La Morera de Montsant | DOQ Priorat | — |
| La Torre de Fontaubella | DO Montsant | — |
| La Vilella Alta | DOQ Priorat | — |
| La Vilella Baixa | DOQ Priorat | — |
| Marçà | DO Montsant | 8 |
| Margalef | DO Montsant | 1 |
| Poboleda | DOQ Priorat | 10 |
| Porrera | DOQ Priorat | 12 |
| Pradell de la Teixeta | DO Montsant | 2 |
| Torroja del Priorat | DOQ Priorat | 10 |
| Ulldemolins | DO Montsant | 1 |
The producer count only reflects the wineries featured on this site, not the total number of wineries in each village.
Sources and notes
Figures verified against the regulatory councils (doqpriorat.org), INCAVI (the Catalan Wine and Vine Institute) and the Wikipedia infoboxes drawn from INCAVI data, with the reference year noted for each. They are approximate, rounded values that shift year to year with the harvest: the DOQ Priorat vineyard area and growers are those the council publishes on its “DOQ Priorat” page (updated November 2023), its grape varieties are from 2018 and the winery count is from the current official directory, while the rest of the DOQ Priorat data and all of the DO Montsant data are mostly from 2015. The municipality counts reflect the full municipalities mapped on this site (9 for the DOQ Priorat, 15 for the DO Montsant); the councils also count a few more that have only part of their territory in each appellation (such as Falset and el Molar, which sit in both). For official, up-to-date figures, consult the regulatory councils directly.
- doqpriorat.org
DOQ Priorat regulatory council: planted area (2,196.8 ha) and growers (511), from its “DOQ Priorat” page (updated November 2023); official winery directory (~114).
- domontsant.com
DO Montsant regulatory council.
- incavi.gencat.cat
Catalan Institute of Vine and Wine (INCAVI): hectares, growers, wineries and production (2015 reference data).
- Viquipèdia: DOQ Priorat
Entry with INCAVI data (area, growers, wineries, production).
- Viquipèdia: DO Montsant
Entry with INCAVI data and the list of municipalities.
Sources
- doqpriorat.org: DOQ Priorat
Territory, municipalities, area and growers.
- doqpriorat.org: Territory
Slate, steep slopes, landscape and CERVIM.
- doqpriorat.org: Varietals
Recommended and permitted varieties, altitudes, yields and harvest.
- doqpriorat.org: The villages
The 12 grape-growing zones and village wines.
- doqpriorat.org: The names of the land
The classification ladder and traceability.
- doqpriorat.org: Qualification of vintages
Official vintage ratings, 2013–2022.
- doqpriorat.org: ParatgesDOQPriorat.pdf
List of paratges by cadastral parcel (2019).
- domontsant.com: Vinyes i Vins
DO Montsant altitudes and grape varieties.
- domontsant.com: Paisatge
Mountain ranges, rivers and limits of the territory.
- domontsant.com: Història i tradició
From Roman times to the 19th-century export trade.