From Monks to Modernity: The Resurgence of Priorat's Wine Industry

-A Wine Region with a 12th Century Heavenly Connection

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Priorat is a very small wine region west of Barcelona, Spain. I was there in 2021 where I visited Mas Martinet winery who makes the Menut wine.  It is an extremely rugged, mountainous region with altitudes as high as 750 m.  Despite the hot summer daytime temperature, this altitude gives cool nights, slowing the grape ripening which allows the development of complex flavors.

The region’s wine history goes back to the 12th century when Carthusian monks arrived from Provence forming the Scala Dei monastery (meaning ladder to God). Winemaking grew and continued uninterrupted until its downturn in the 19th century precipitated by the state expropriation of all monasteries in 1835 and eventually by the growth of the Catalonian textile industry.  The economic advantages of textile jobs led many lay vintners to move to cities, leaving their vineyards behind.  Still now, you can see abandoned vine terraces growing wild along the roadside. 

Luckily for us, in 1989, a small group of local and international people created a renewed interest in the region.  Amongst them, Josep Lluis Pérez who created Mas Martinet.  This group brought French inspired winemaking techniques and blended French grapes with Priorat’s local varieties.