We spent a recent weekend in the stunning Priorat wine region, which is located a bit under a 2 hour from Barcelona. It's one of just two DOQ wine regions in Spain, the other being Rioja and it's a majestic place, renowned for powerful red wines which possess incredible minerality. When you see the steep, sun-baked terraces, perched on the sides of the hills and mountains, it just all makes sense.
If you travel even further inland far away from the sea, through the Priorat and near the city of Lleida, you will enter the territory of DO Costers del Segre. It's a harsh, semi-arid region with dry, hot summers and colder winters. According to Spanish winemakers Torres, the monks of the famous Montserrat abbey would carry out their penance at the Desterrats estate in Costers del Segre, working the land to produce food for the diocese. In the manner typical of monks all over the world, they also managed to produce some excellent wines in the region, which now inspire the name of Purgatori, the first Torres wine from this region.
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| Image taken from Torres website |
We tasted Purgatori briefly at a wine tasting in the Torres Visitor Centre at Villafranca de Penedes, and when we got home, we pulled a bottle of the 2013 from the wine rack to finish off our Spanish weekend.
It's made from a blend of Carinena (Carignan), Garnacha Tinta (Grenache) and Syrah, which results in a deeply coloured garnet wine, with aromas of blackberries, black cherries, pepper and a little wood. This full bodied wine is rich and silky smooth in the mouth with fine tannins and a lovely fresh fruitiness, balanced by the use of 40% new oak.
Well recommended and a perfect accompaniment to lamb and rustic food dishes. Available in selected independent retailers such as The Corkscrew, Dublin 2 for €24.95
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