Nº 04·Primavera 2026·Enoturismo del mundo hispano
Nº 01·Wine region·D.O.Q. Priorat
Priorat is, alongside Rioja, the only Spanish appellation with Qualified status (DOQ in Catalan, DOCa in Spanish) — the highest tier of the Spanish system. The wine region collapsed after phylloxera (1893) and practically disappeared until the 1980s, when René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios, Carles Pastrana, and three other "brewers" settled in Gratallops and reconverted the slopes of llicorella (Precambrian slate) into one of the world's most prestigious red-wine regions. Powerful wines, marked minerality, high alcohols held together by firm structure. Old-vine Garnacha on slate slopes is the soul of the appellation.
By Mateo Iriarte·Editor
Updated · May 10, 2026
Nº 01·Cities
PrioratNº 01
Tarragona is probably the Spanish city where the Roman footprint is most continuous and best preserved — Tarraco was the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis, and the archaeological remains are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the wine traveler, the city is the gateway to Priorat (an hour by car), the surrounding Montsant appellation, and the southern Penedès. And Catalan seafood cooking — calçots, suquet, Tarragona shrimp — is among the best in the Mediterranean.
Nº 02·Featured
Tarragona · PrioratNº 01
Álvaro Palacios is the flagship winery of modern Priorat. Álvaro Palacios, son of the founder of Bodegas Palacios Remondo in Rioja, settled in Gratallops in 1989 and, alongside René Barbier, Carles Pastrana, Daphne Glorian, and Josep Lluís Pérez, founded the generation that reactivated the region. L'Ermita (from the same-named vineyard, planted in 1940 on a brutal slate slope) is among the most expensive and coveted Spanish wines. Finca Dofí and Les Terrasses round out the offering. Very hard to visit, minimum-size groups.
Tarragona · PrioratNº 02
Cellers de Scala Dei is the historic winery of Priorat — Carthusian monks planted vines on this very site from the 12th century onward (the name "Priorat" comes from "Carthusian priory"). The Cartuja de Scala Dei monastery is right next door, and the visit combines ruins + winery + tasting. Activity ceased after the 19th-century desamortización and resumed in 1973 when the modern cooperative recovered the monastic spirit. Today it belongs to the Codorníu group, and the wines (Cartoixa, Prior, Sant Antoni) are an accessible reference for classic Priorat.
Tarragona · PrioratNº 03
Clos Mogador is René Barbier's project (another of the five founders of modern Priorat). Clos Mogador is a Vino de Pago — the highest classification in the Spanish system, equivalent to a French Grand Cru — and the wine that best represents Priorat's slate minerality. Manyetes (the other estate) and Nelin (a Priorat white from white Garnacha and other varieties) round out the offering. Very small group visits, by appointment only.