Following my 2022 adventure through the northern Spanish wine regions of Toro, Ribera del Duero and Rioja with my erstwhile travelling companion, fellow wine enthusiast and partner-in-crime, CWM Andy Roediger, I found myself constantly reading about the mysterious eastern neighbour of those famous regions, Priorat, the only other region in Spain, other than Rioja, which carries the DOQ classification – Denominación de Origen Qualificada which is the highest and strictest quality tier for a wine region in Spain. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. It sounded like a place where spectacular wines were made by equally spectacularly stubborn people on mountains that seemed to defy both gravity and common sense.
Nestled southwest of Barcelona in Catalonia, Priorat is a small but breathtakingly rugged wine region. Calling it “hilly” is like calling Everest “a bit of a climb.” Some vineyards cling to slopes as steep as 60%, making tractors about as useful as a surfboard in the Sahara. Instead, the locals employ mules. Now, these aren’t just any mules. They are highly trained agricultural professionals who patiently scrape the slate soils between the vine rows while their handler, the unfortunate soul known as the mulero, shouts a sequence of commands the mule somehow understands: “left,” “right,” “go,” and most importantly, “STOP!” Miss one instruction and both mule and handler could become the region’s newest geological feature. Andrew, my guide for three of the four days, explained this system in great detail. I’m still not convinced that the mule wasn’t actually the one in charge but, more of that a little later.
To read Mark’s full report on his adventurous trip to Priorat, please click HERE.
