Priorat Food & Wine and Barcelona
Description
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Main Grape Varieties
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The Priorat region near Barcelona is home to the enterprising winemakers drawn by the old vines and the distinctive native grape varieties and slat-dominated soils. The wines here continually win international praise and awards. The Priorat landscapes are stunning with steep terraced hillsides and ancient villages tucked into valleys or dominating hilltops, each one feeling light years away from the last. Tuck yourself into your lovely rural hotel overlooking vineyards and forget a bout the world outside this dreamy wine region. Spending a few days in the Priorat can feel like stepping into a forgotten past, that is until you visit the cutting-edge wineries. This trip includes visits to Priorat’s most exclusive private wineries, lunches and dinners at the best loved restaurants, and a private guide and driver throughout your time in this corner of Catalonia, Spain.
The Priorat wine region, one of only two wine regions in Spain (along with Rioja) to qualify as DOCa, the highest qualification level, is known for its powerful red wines. The rocky slate soil, steep vineyard inclines, and varying amounts of sunlight depending on each vineyard’s orientation make for challenging work in the vineyards. The cultivation and harvesting work is done by hand at many wineries and yields are therefore low. The prices of Priorat wine reflect those factors. The main grape varieties used are Garnachaand Cariñena for reds and White Garnacha and Macabeo for the whites. Some international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are also allowed.
Highlights
- Taste through the wines at the Priorat’s world-renowned wineries started by the Priorat pioneers in the 1970’s
- Prepare emblematic Catalan dishes in s private cooking class above a winery
- Visit Scala Dei Monastery and learn how the 12th-century Carthusian monks built themselves a home in the Montsant mountains and began making wine there leading to the origins of the wine-making fame of the region.
- Compare Priorat and Montsant wines in guided tastings
- Seafood lunch on the Mediterranean Coast
- Private Gaudi tour in Barcelona with an architecture expert guide
- Lunch with a chef in Barcelona’s Eixample neighborhood
Suggested Itinerary 6 nights
Itineraries are hand crafted with extra care to create the right mix of food, wine, and culture for a memorable and unique experience. Here are some ideas and a sample itinerary. Contact us to get started.
Day 1 – Priorat
- Transfer with a driver or on the train to the Priorat from Barcelona.
- Visit a high-end family-run winery headed up by a mother and daughter team. One of their wines is made from vines planted in 1902.
- Lunch will be a lesson in Priorat vs. Montsant wines.
- Enjoy your winery hotel overlooking vineyards.
- Overnight in the Priorat
Day 2 – Priorat
- The winery of one of the original Priorat pioneers is a treat given you will taste some of the region’s most respected wines, including a vi dolç–sweet Garnacha wine.
- Don your apron for a cooking class with our favorite Catalan chef.
- Overnight in the Priorat
Day 3 – Priorat
- Start your wine tasting at a village winery that combines tradition and cutting-edge technology in their winemaking.
- Lunch will feature modern renditions of classic Catalan and Spanish dishes and a stellar Priorat and Montsant wine list.
- Another visit and tasting at an innovative winery whose early harvesting and “Burgundian” style of vinification produce fresh, complex age-worthy wines winning them praise from international critics.
- Overnight in the Priorat
Day 4 –Priorat
- Visit two wineries in the neighboring Montsant wine region where the soil and elevation differences are noted in the wines
- Go down to the Mediterranean coast for a seafood lunch
- Free time in Tarragona for wandering around the old town
- Dinner in the hotel
- Overnight in the Priorat
Day 5- Barcelona
- Head for Barcelona after breakfast
- Explore Gaudí’s architectural legacy in Barcelona with an expert guide.
- Lunch of traditional Catalan arròs and seafood in the fishermen’s Barceloneta district.
- Overnight in Barcelona
Day 6 – Barcelona
- A chef escorts you to a market frequented by locals for a Catalan breakfast before market shopping for lunch. Take the goods back to a private home in the Eixample and enjoy lunch and sobremesa–the Spanish art of staying at the table talking after lunch–in the company of the chef.
- Overnight in Barcelona
Day 7 – Depart
- Private transfer to the Barcelona airport for departure
Options
- Drive with a private guide to the Benedictine Monastery at Monserrat and the Shrineof the Black Madonna.
- Add a day in the Penedes region where most of Catalonia’s Cava is made. Visit a biodynamic family-run winery for a vineyard visit and Cava tasting.
- Visit a Priorat winery calling their labor heroic viticulture due to the harsh local conditions as they make excellent Garnacha and Cariñena vi de vila (village) wines.
- Go up the mountain to the stunning cliff-top village of Siurana, a formerly Moorish town and home to a 12th century Romanesque church.
- Taste artisan local olive oils made from Arbequina, Rojal and Negret olive varieties. Visit the ruined monastery of Scala Dei where Carthusian monks planted vines in the Montsant mountains.
- Take a walking gourmet tasting tour through the streets of Barcelona’s Gothic quarter or Poble Sec district in pursuit of Barcelona’s finest charcuterie, cheese, pastries, chocolate, wine and tapas.