Priorat has produced superb quality wines for more than 8 centuries, starting when Carthusian monks founded a priory or Priorat in 1163. Phylloxera wiped out nearly all of the plantings of grapes at the end of the 19th Century and it wasn't until the 1950s that serious replanting began. The region rocketed to fame in the 1990's as a new generation of winemakers came to the area combining new technology and old vines for superior results. There are only 26 wineries listed with the Consejo Regulador.

The climate is extreme but continental with cold winters and hot summers. Plantings range from 300 feet to 2,300 feet in elevation.
Soil: The soils based on volcanic bedrock called llicorella, are composed of black and red schist and mica, a kind of quartz. The extremely poor and thin soils force the vines roots deep in search of water and nutrients.
Wine: All of the fruit for this wine is grown in and around Gratallops, where there tend to be warmer daytime temperatures than more northerly subregions of Priorat. Vines range in age from 10 years for the Syrah to 50 years for the Carinena. Grapes were hand harvested in the middle of September. Varietals were fermented separately with a total of 22 days on skins prior to pressing. Aged 6 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels.