The Wine Route through a land of vineyards and talent

To whet your appetite, a good option is to start the route at the Castell del Vi centre, which you will find in the former castle of the Counts of Prades in Falset. The visit brings you closer to wine culture through interactive projections. When it comes to Priorat wineries, we cannot overlook its stylistically outstanding examples. One of them is the Cooperativa Falset Marçà winery, also considered one of the Wine Cathedrals. Straddling Modernisme and Noucentisme, Cèsar Martinell drew inspiration from the shapes of the Castell de Falset when he designed it. Active from the beginning, the winery has lived through all the changes in the sector and presents this journey from its origins and tradition.

The Celler Cooperatiu de Cornudella de Montsant, a Modernista building also considered one of the Wine Cathedrals, combines spectacle and functionality, rationality and architectural beauty. Since its beginnings, the winery has been devoted to making and selling wine and oil and has kept the legacy inherited from past generations, adapting to new times and technologies. But the truth is that, old or new, you have a good handful of wineries —many of them Modernista— and all offer their own peculiarities, stories, charms and, of course, exceptional wines and cavas. If vineyards cover around 7,000 hectares of land, this translates into about a hundred wineries grouped under the Priorat Qualified Designation of Origin (DOQ) or the Montsant Designation of Origin (DO).

The wineries, proud of their work, like to show what they do, share their knowledge and offer their best wines. That is why a multitude of options are at your disposal, from walks among the vines to experiencing the grape harvest or a wine tasting, among many others. It will be hard to choose; they are all very interesting!

It is also highly recommended to follow the itinerary 'Els batecs del vi' (The Heartbeats of Wine), a route that takes you through places such as the portal dels Ferrers, the walls of Falset, the Serra de les Obagues, the Mas Martinet, Gratallops, Bellmunt, the Mas d'en Mariano or the camí dels Carners. This will give you an idea of the landscape that embraces the whole wine tradition of the Priorat. And in fact, this is only one of the options in the magnificent network of paths that bring you closer to the area.

If you go to the Priorat, there are places you cannot miss, such as the Charterhouse of Escaladei. The monks of the Carthusian order built the monastery that marked the foundation of the first charterhouse on the Iberian Peninsula. They called it Escaladei, meaning 'God's ladder', and it is surrounded by the Serra del Montsant, the Natural Park of the Costa Daurada, a park leading the process of joining the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (ECST). From then until 1835, the charterhouse went through very prosperous times: the surrounding land was farmed, the area was settled, mills were built and vine growing expanded. The prior became hugely important, and from this came the name of the region. With Mendizábal's confiscation (1835), the monks, deprived of the right to work the land, had to leave the charterhouse. Afterwards, constant looting left it in ruins. Today you can visit the premises and walk through what was the origin of the region.

Wineries, vineyards and wines. A past, a present and a future of the Costa Daurada with an aroma, a landscape and a history that make it unrivalled.