Priorat

Priorat is the powerful, concentrated red of a tiny, rugged corner of Catalonia, where old-vine Garnacha (Grenache) and Cariñena (Carignan) cling to terraced hillsides of black slate called llicorella. Where most Grenache is soft, pale and red-fruited, Priorat is dark, dense and mineral — deep garnet, high in alcohol and concentration, with brooding black fruit, liquorice and a distinctive stony, graphite minerality drawn from the slate. It is one of only two Spanish regions to hold the country's top DOQ/DOCa classification, the other being Rioja, and its finest old-vine wines are among the most sought-after in Spain.