Priorat and Montsant

Montsant red: Priorat's neighbour - similar grapes and warmth, half the price.

Montsant almost encircles Priorat and uses the same grapes. Wines range from fresh, light and mineral to full and Priorat-like - top value among Catalan reds.

Montsant almost encircles Priorat and uses the same grapes. Wines range from fresh, light and mineral to full and Priorat-like - top value among Catalan reds.

Montsant from a quality co-op or grower - the everyday star.

Capçanes Mas Collet or Cabrida, or Acústic: warm Garnacha and old-vine Cariñena at friendly prices.

Capçanes Mas Collet or Cabrida, or Acústic: warm Garnacha and old-vine Cariñena at friendly prices.

Llonganissa amb fesols (sausage and beans) + Montsant.

Grilled pork sausage with white beans - country food for a juicy Montsant red.

Grilled pork sausage with white beans - country food for a juicy Montsant red.

Priorat red: dense, mineral Garnacha and Cariñena from slate - a splurge.

Intense red from steep slate slopes: black cherry, plum, herbs, liquorice and a stony edge, with firm tannin and warmth. Never cheap, built to age.

Intense red from steep slate slopes: black cherry, plum, herbs, liquorice and a stony edge, with firm tannin and warmth. Never cheap, built to age.

An entry Priorat from a pioneer - the region's taste for less.

Mas Doix Les Crestes or Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses: real Priorat character without the cru price.

Mas Doix Les Crestes or Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses: real Priorat character without the cru price.

Corder a la brasa (grilled lamb) + Priorat.

Lamb grilled over embers, the classic feast. A Priorat's tannin and herbs match the char and fat.

Lamb grilled over embers, the classic feast. A Priorat's tannin and herbs match the char and fat.

Cariñena (Samsó): old vines give the tang, colour and grip.

Tough to grow well, but century-old vines on slate give dark, tangy, long-lived wine; now bottled alone by top estates.

Tough to grow well, but century-old vines on slate give dark, tangy, long-lived wine; now bottled alone by top estates.

Montsant: same grapes and climate, mixed soils - softer, cheaper, often fresher.

Montsant wraps around Priorat but has clay, limestone, granite and some slate. Wines range from light and mineral to full and Priorat-like, usually for much less money.

Montsant wraps around Priorat but has clay, limestone, granite and some slate. Wines range from light and mineral to full and Priorat-like, usually for much less money.

Vi de Vila + village name: Priorat from one village, e.g. Gratallops, Porrera.

Priorat's village wines name one of its twelve zones on the label. Each village has its own feel - Gratallops full, Porrera and Torroja tight and mineral, La Morera fresher and higher.

Priorat's village wines name one of its twelve zones on the label. Each village has its own feel - Gratallops full, Porrera and Torroja tight and mineral, La Morera fresher and higher.

Garnacha Blanca: rich, herbal white of the slate and granite.

The main white in both regions: broad, textured and savoury, often blended with Macabeu.

The main white in both regions: broad, textured and savoury, often blended with Macabeu.

Celebration: a Vi de Vila or old-vine flagship.

Palacios' Gratallops Vi de Vila, Clos Mogador or Mas Doix Doix - Priorat's own high end.

Palacios' Gratallops Vi de Vila, Clos Mogador or Mas Doix Doix - Priorat's own high end.

From new oak and power to foudres and freshness.

The 1990s Priorats were dark, oaky blockbusters with French grapes; many estates now use big casks, local grapes and earlier picking for more aromatic wines.

The 1990s Priorats were dark, oaky blockbusters with French grapes; many estates now use big casks, local grapes and earlier picking for more aromatic wines.

Priorat white: rare, textured Garnacha Blanca - worth ordering.

A small share of Priorat is white, mostly Garnacha Blanca with Macabeu and Pedro Ximénez: full-bodied, herbal and saline.

A small share of Priorat is white, mostly Garnacha Blanca with Macabeu and Pedro Ximénez: full-bodied, herbal and saline.

Montsant white and rosé: savoury, characterful and inexpensive.

Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo whites, some skin-contact, and serious rosés - a small but lively scene.

Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo whites, some skin-contact, and serious rosés - a small but lively scene.

A Garnacha Blanca white - the bottle nobody expects.

Clos Mogador Nelin or a Montsant white: rich, herbal and saline.

Clos Mogador Nelin or a Montsant white: rich, herbal and saline.

Capçanes: Montsant's quality co-op - great-value Garnacha from Mas Collet to Cabrida.

A village cooperative founded in 1933 that turned to quality bottling. Mas Collet is the friendly everyday red; Cabrida an old-vine Garnacha of real class.

Celler de Capçanes was founded in 1933 by a few families in the village of Capçanes, in the southern part of Montsant, and is a model example of a cooperative that switched from bulk wine to quality bottling. The range covers every price point. Mas Collet and Mas Donís are the easy, fruity reds you'll see in bars and shops; Costers del Gravet is a step up with more structure; Cabrida, from old Garnacha vines, is elegant and age-worthy and stands comfortably beside many Priorats at a fraction of the price. The co-op also makes limestone- and slate-specific Garnachas and has long produced a kosher wine. If you want to understand why Montsant is the value neighbour, buy a Mas Collet for tonight and a Cabrida to keep.

Mas Doix: Poboleda estate with century-old Cariñena; Les Crestes is the value pick.

A family estate in Poboleda, one of Priorat's highest villages. Les Crestes is a fresh, Garnacha-led entry; Doix and 1902 come from very old vines.

Mas Doix was set up in 1998 by two families with deep roots in Poboleda, a high, cool village in the north of Priorat. They farm about 20 hectares organically, including a vineyard of Cariñena planted in 1902 and Garnacha around 80 years old. Les Crestes, mostly Garnacha with a short time in barrel, is a great-value introduction to serious Priorat: juicy, fresh and mineral. Salanques is the step up, Doix the old-vine flagship with a large Cariñena share, and 1902 a tiny single-variety Cariñena that holds Gran Vinya Classificada status. The estate has grafted its international vines over to local grapes, and its whites from Garnacha Blanca are worth a try. Buy Les Crestes for drinking and Doix for a celebration.

Álvaro Palacios: Gratallops pioneer - from Camins del Priorat to L'Ermita.

One of the 1980s pioneers who revived Priorat. Camins del Priorat is the fresh entry; the Gratallops village wine is the sweet spot; L'Ermita is a grand-cru rarity.

Álvaro Palacios left his family's Rioja estate to join the small group that relaunched Priorat in the late 1980s, sharing equipment and each bottling under their own name. His early wines used Cabernet and Syrah with new French oak; today he works almost only with Garnacha and Cariñena on llicorella slate and aims for finer, more aromatic wines. The range is a clear ladder: Camins del Priorat, a bright, fruity introduction; Les Terrasses, the classic entry Priorat; Gratallops Vi de Vila, an aromatic village wine with rockrose and rosemary notes; Finca Dofí, his original single estate; and single vineyards Les Aubaguetes, La Baixada and L'Ermita, the first wine to win Gran Vinya Classificada status. Order Camins or Les Terrasses with dinner and taste the Vi de Vila to understand Gratallops.

Clos Mogador: René Barbier's founding estate in Gratallops; Nelin is a top white.

Founded in 1979 by René Barbier, who led Priorat's revival. The flagship blends Garnacha and Cariñena; Manyetes is old-vine Cariñena; Nelin a textured white.

René Barbier planted Clos Mogador in Gratallops in 1979, when Priorat's terraces were being abandoned, and became the leader of the group that put the region back on the map. The flagship Clos Mogador blends Garnacha with Cariñena and smaller, shrinking shares of Syrah and Cabernet, and was the first wine in Catalonia to earn a single-estate quality seal. Manyetes is a pure old-vine Cariñena from one site in Gratallops - dark, tangy and mineral. Nelin, from Garnacha Blanca, Macabeu and a rare local grape, is a standout Priorat white. The estate has moved toward fresher wines aged in large foudres rather than small new barrels. The family also makes Com Tu in neighbouring Montsant. Barbier's son René and daughter-in-law Sara Pérez run Venus La Universal in Montsant.

Vinya Classificada and Gran Vinya Classificada: Priorat's crus - L'Ermita at the top.

Above the village wines sit named sites and classified vineyards of old vines. Only a handful of wines hold the top Gran Vinya Classificada rank.

Priorat built a full Burgundy-style pyramid, known as Els Noms de la Terra ('the names of the land'). At the base is plain Priorat; then Vi de Vila for a single village; then Vi de Paratge for a named site; then Vinya Classificada, a single classified vineyard of mature vines; and at the top Gran Vinya Classificada, for vineyards of old vines with a long track record. Only three wines hold that top rank: Álvaro Palacios' L'Ermita in Gratallops, Vall Llach's Mas de la Rosa in Porrera and Mas Doix's 1902 Tossal d'en Bou in Poboleda. Clos Mogador was the first Catalan wine to earn the earlier single-estate seal (Vi de Finca Qualificada). These are the collector bottles of Priorat, often costing hundreds of euros. For most drinkers the point is the cue: a site or vineyard name on a Priorat label signals the producer's most precise, old-vine wine.

Terroir al Limit: Torroja's lean, Burgundian Priorat from high old vines.

Founded in 2001 by Dominik Huber and Eben Sadie in Torroja. Old Cariñena and Garnacha at high altitude, organic and biodynamic, in an elegant, lighter style.

Terroir al Limit turned the Priorat stereotype on its head. German-born Dominik Huber, who learned his trade at Mas Martinet and Cims de Porrera, founded it in 2001 with South African winemaker Eben Sadie (who left in 2012). They work old Cariñena and Garnacha plots high above Torroja and make wines described as elegant, lean and racy - closer to Burgundy in feel than to the dense, oaky Priorats of the 1990s. Huber farms biodynamically. The village wine, Vi de Vila de Torroja, is the way in; Les Tosses (Cariñena) and Les Manyes (Garnacha) are the celebrated single sites; Arbossar was one of the first wines. Pedra de Guix and Terra de Cuques are characterful whites. For anyone who thinks Priorat is too heavy, start here.

Venus La Universal: Sara Pérez and René Barbier Jr's organic Montsant.

A small project near Falset by the children of two Priorat founders. Dido is the juicy red; Dido Blanc and the Solució Rosa are characterful pinks and whites.

Venus La Universal is run by Sara Pérez and René Barbier Jr, daughter and son of two of Priorat's founding families (Mas Martinet and Clos Mogador). They deliberately chose Montsant rather than Priorat, working with a handful of grower families around Falset who farm organically to their standards. The Dido wines come from decomposed-granite soils (sauló): the red, mostly Garnacha with some Syrah, is vibrant and spicy; Dido Blanc, from Macabeu, Garnacha Blanca and other local grapes, is aged in large barrels and turns savoury and saline; La Solució Rosa is a serious, savoury rosé. Venus, from clay-limestone, is the more structured red. These are wines with personality, made with minimal intervention, and standouts in Montsant.

Discovery: Terroir al Limit Torroja or Venus La Universal Dido.

Lighter, fresher, organic takes on both regions.

If you want to show friends that Priorat and Montsant can be elegant rather than heavy, bring home two bottles. From Priorat, Terroir al Limit's Vi de Vila de Torroja, from high old vines farmed biodynamically, is lean, racy and mineral, with the slate showing through. From Montsant, Venus La Universal's Dido - mostly Garnacha from granite soils near Falset - is vibrant and spicy, and the Dido Blanc is a savoury, saline white aged in large barrels. Both producers are small and much sought after, so look in Falset or Barcelona vinotecas rather than supermarkets. They show the new direction of the region: less oak, more freshness, more sense of place, and still Mediterranean warmth.

Llicorella slate and steep terraces: tiny yields, intense mineral wines.

Priorat's crumbly dark slate holds little water and reflects heat; vines on steep slopes and terraces give very small crops by hand. That's why the wines are intense - and never cheap.

Priorat's crumbly dark slate holds little water and reflects heat; vines on steep slopes and terraces give very small crops by hand. That's why the wines are intense - and never cheap.

In the glass: Concentration, dark fruit, a graphite or wet-stone mineral edge.

Montsant: same grapes and climate, mixed soils - softer, cheaper, often fresher.

Montsant wraps around Priorat but has clay, limestone, granite and some slate. Wines range from light and mineral to full and Priorat-like, usually for much less money.

Montsant wraps around Priorat but has clay, limestone, granite and some slate. Wines range from light and mineral to full and Priorat-like, usually for much less money.

In the glass: Granite and limestone: fresher, more floral. Clay: rounder. Slate pockets: closer to Priorat.

Altitude separates the villages: Bellmunt low and warm, Porrera and La Morera high.

Vineyards run from about 100 metres to about 700. Higher villages give fresher, more structured wines; lower ones riper, rounder fruit.

Priorat is small but vertical. The vineyards climb from around 100 metres near Bellmunt del Priorat, the warm southern end, to about 700 metres on the upper slopes of La Morera de Montsant and Porrera, under the limestone cliffs of the Montsant range. Height and aspect change everything here: high, north-facing slopes keep acidity and give tight, mineral wines, while low, sun-baked terraces ripen Garnacha to high sugar. Poboleda, among the highest and coolest villages, gives Mas Doix its freshness; Torroja's steep, high slate gives Terroir al Limit's lean, racy wines; Gratallops, in the centre, tends to full-bodied, characterful reds. The Vi de Vila labels make these differences visible. When you taste across Priorat, ask the village - it predicts weight and freshness better than the price.

In the glass: High villages: fresher, firmer, more mineral. Low, warm sites: riper, broader.

Hand-worked terraces: why Priorat costs what it does.

Slopes are too steep for machines, vines are old bush vines with tiny crops, and everything is done by hand. That labour sets a high price floor.

Slopes are too steep for machines, vines are old bush vines with tiny crops, and everything is done by hand. That labour sets a high price floor.

In the glass: Low yields mean concentration and depth.

From new oak and power to foudres and freshness.

The 1990s Priorats were dark, oaky blockbusters with French grapes; many estates now use big casks, local grapes and earlier picking for more aromatic wines.

The 1990s Priorats were dark, oaky blockbusters with French grapes; many estates now use big casks, local grapes and earlier picking for more aromatic wines.

In the glass: Newer style: more herbs, red fruit and minerality; less vanilla and alcohol heat.

The late-1980s 'Clos' pioneers: friends who relaunched Priorat.

A small group shared one cellar in Gratallops and each bottled a 'Clos' - the wines that made Priorat famous.

By the 1970s Priorat's terraces were emptying: the medieval vineyards planted by the Carthusian monks of Scala Dei had been hit by phylloxera and rural flight. In the late 1980s René Barbier, already working at Clos Mogador, gathered a handful of friends - José Luis Pérez of Mas Martinet, Carles Pastrana of Clos de l'Obac, Daphne Glorian of Clos Erasmus and the young Álvaro Palacios with Clos Dofí. They shared equipment in Gratallops but each bottled their own 'Clos'. Their dense, modern wines, made from old Garnacha and Cariñena boosted with Cabernet and Syrah and aged in new French oak, caused a sensation in the 1990s and turned Priorat into one of Spain's two top-tier appellations. Today their children run several of these estates and Montsant projects, and the style has moved toward freshness. On a list, any of these 'Clos' names signals a historic Priorat house.

In the glass: Historic houses: polished, structured; now moving fresher.

Organic and biodynamic farming are common among top estates.

Mas Doix, Terroir al Limit, Venus La Universal and many others farm organically or biodynamically - a natural fit for dry, windy hills.

Mas Doix, Terroir al Limit, Venus La Universal and many others farm organically or biodynamically - a natural fit for dry, windy hills.

In the glass: Often brighter, more transparent fruit.