The merchants and traders of Phoenicia, the ancient region of modern Lebanon, first introduced grape vines to Priorat between c.1500-332 BCE. By the time the Roman Empire reached its prime, wines from Priorat were praised by poets and historians alike, most notably Martial, Pliny and Virgil. After the fall of Rome in the 4th Century, there was a general decline in wine production, mainly due to the Islamic dietary laws of the ruling population. It was not until the Christians reconquered Spain in the 12th Century that wine production began to recover and vines were cultivated once again.
About our Vineyard The Gran Clos estate consists of 32 hectares of the finest vineyards in the Priorat region, with some vines over one hundred years old. We were rated the Number 1 winery in Priorat by top wine critics, sommeliers and international judges in a 10 year blind tasting among our peers. In addition to growing grapes we also cultivate almonds and olives and every year we produce and release a very small quantity of exquisite olive oil.
Josep Angel Mestre was raised in the town of Falset, known as the "capital" of the D.O.Q. Priorat. The Mestre family has been producing wine in the Priorat region for over 50 years and it was his intense love for his surrounding countryside and an interest in the practice of wine-making that prompted Josep Angel to begin studying both viticulture and enology at a very early age.
Vines, like people, often reach their peak in the face of adversity. This highly limited cuvée is hand made from 100-year-old vines that suffer daily to survive in dense slate soils on steep hillsides.
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