La Perla del Priorat is one of the region's oldest wine estates: the land of Mas dels Frares, in el Molar, was already cultivated by Carthusian monks from Scala Dei in the 15th century. Thanks to the quality of the fruit grown there, the hill became known as "la Perla del Priorat" (the Pearl of Priorat) from the early 18th century onward. The vineyard was abandoned around 1900, when local farmers left for the silver mines, and lay dormant for nearly a century.
In 1998 Yves Pirenne bought Mas dels Frares and replanted the hill, convinced of the potential of this particular site. The estate now has about 70,000 vines on 22 hectares of llicorella, the iron-rich porous slate soil typical of Priorat, planted mainly with Garnacha, Cariñena and Cabernet Sauvignon (the latter from pre-existing 25-year-old vines). The winery farms without irrigation, carries out a green harvest in July to concentrate the vine's energy, and hand-prunes and hand-harvests with a double selection, in the field and in the cellar.
Notable wines include Comte Pirenne, Clos Les Fites (red and white) and Noster; the Clos Les Fites Crianza ages about 14 months in new French oak barrels.
Imatge: Juan Emilio Prades Bel · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: laperladelpriorat.com · catalanwine365.wordpress.com