The Phoenicians - or their successors the Romans - introduced the vine to this area, and by the time Imperial Rome had reached its zenith, wines from Priorat were being praised by Roman poets and historians, including Martial, Pliny and Virgil. When the Romans withdrew in the 4th century viniculture was first disrupted by the Visigoths then banned by the Moors. It was not until the Christian reconquest in the 12th century that the population of the region began to recover and grapes were cultivated once again.
Our estate has 32 hectares of the finest vineyards in Priorat with the oldest vines being over 100 years of age. We were rated the #1 winery in Priorat in a 10 year blind tasting among our peers by the top critics, sommeliers and international judges. In addition to grapes, we also cultivate almonds and olives on the estate, and we release a very tiny quantity of extraordinary olive oil each year.
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.