Given the exceptionally warm and generous greeting we got from all the wineries we visited on our day out in Priorat, I thought it’d be a bit rude if I didn’t give them the write up they deserved. So here’s a quick one on the first winery of the day, the beautiful Saó Del Coster.
Located up in the proper little “ye olde Catalunya” village of Gratallops, it’s one of those places you’d normally just walk past if you didn’t know it was there. From the outside it just looks like a villager’s garage or something. But once you get in there, the top floor has a perfect terraced view over the rolling hills, the middle floor is the engine room for all the wine making, and the bottom floor has a stack load of barrels full of the good stuff!
The head winemaker, Xavier, took us on a tour of the winery to start with, but then we all hopped in his pick up and headed off to the vineyards. It was the first time in my life I’ve ridden in the back of a pick up. The little boy in me was loving it…until my mate Miles fell out, but let’s not go there!
He’s in the process of planting new vines of the grapes he wants to grow. He’s getting rid of some the old international sellers, like Cabernet Sauvignon, and growing Garnacha and Carignane instead. It’s a punchy move. The average wine drinker in the world hasn’t heard of those grapes, especially not in their Spanish names. But Xavier’s one of the new breed of Catalan winemakers. He makes great wines, and at some point we’re all going to clock onto that!
Between that and the cracking tasting session that followed, well…I’m sold!
Cheers
Mike
BTW If you live in Europe and want to try any of these wines, Tim from Catalunya Wine has said any of my readers can get a 10% discount on his website using the discount code “PBMMW”…lovely stuff!!!
