Clos Mogador is one of the pioneering estates of modern Priorat, founded in 1979 in Gratallops by René Barbier and his wife, Isabelle Meyer. A descendant of a family of French winegrowers, Barbier bought land in the area at a time when Priorat wines were still virtually unknown, and he is considered one of the first to believe in the region's potential to produce world-class wines. The estate's name comes from "Les Gens de Mogador," a French novel whose plot — the story of a family from near Avignon — parallels the Barbier family's own history.
The original plantings were Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The first vintage of Clos Mogador, released in 1989 alongside those of other estates from Priorat's new wave of "clos" wineries, was met with critical acclaim and helped put the region on the international wine map. Today the estate produces, besides its namesake red, Manyetes (red), Nelin (white) and a rosé under DOQ Priorat, as well as Como tu, a red under DO Montsant.
Clos Mogador was one of the first wines in Catalonia to receive "vi de finca" (single-estate) certification, which guarantees that the grapes come exclusively from the winery's own vineyards over a minimum of five years, underscoring the project's focus on expressing the terroir of Gratallops. The estate has no restaurant or accommodation.
Imatge: Biblola · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · turismepriorat.org