I interview winemaker Álvaro Palacios at the Marejol restaurant in Vilanova i la Geltrú on a Friday night. A few hours later, he'll be having lunch with people who want to share his wines at an unforgettable dinner, both for the food and the wines served. Álvaro speaks in both Spanish and Catalan. He's lived in Gratallops for many years, and he knows the language and likes it. He says he has employees at the winery who have built human towers (castells), and he's interested in the Vilanova castellers group, the Bordegassos.

I interview the producer Sandra Doix (Poboleda, 1984), from the winery of the same name in Poboleda (DOQ Priorat) at the Barcelona Wine Week fairWe photographed her in Poboleda, in her vineyards. Sandra produces 12,000 bottles, with six different wines, and is one of the DOQ Priorat wineries currently experiencing growth.

"When you grow up going tomato picking with your grandfather, you also develop certain values ​​and a culinary identity." Martí Mestre Domènech is a young chef trained at the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo in Italy, who has been fortunate enough to have his culinary training at home in the Priorat region. "The fact that my other grandfather and mother ran the Hotel Hostal Sport definitely sparked my curiosity for gastronomy." Today, he works alongside his colleague Andrea Picchione, whom he met at the university. slow foodThey act as nomadic chefs; they travel to the place, read about it, understand it, and then cook it in the most honest and sincere way, with "powerful minimalism," he clarifies. At university, he learned that "gastronomy is everything because we have evolved through food." And he adds: "Cooking is becoming aware of the world we live in; it's a process of food transformation that begins with a tuber."

"Climate change translates into more hours of sunshine and heat and less rain. If this trend persists and the scientific studies are accurate, one of the biggest turning points for Priorat could certainly be the rise of white wines. We will plant more adapted varieties. And, in this scenario, it seems that white wines are gaining increasing presence and appeal," he reflects. He believes they could represent between 30% and 40% of production in the next 20 years. "White varieties perform very well on slate soils. Planted at altitude, with a low pH, they produce wines with structure and minerality," comments winemaker Jordi Vidal of La Conreria de Scala Dei. Primera Vinya, 100% Garnacha Blanca, is a Vino de Vila that has achieved Vinya Clasificada status thanks to the exceptional qualities of its location, perched atop a hill. Almost twenty years ago, he paved the way for white wines with Les Brugueres. He is aware of all the challenges facing the sector, but he isn't intimidated: "We're on a downward slope globally, but the Priorat DOQ, as a world-renowned region, has a lifeline that keeps us afloat or slows our descent." Vidal believes the crisis can be overcome "if we continue creating expressive wines with a strong identity."

"Priorat is a great land, and its white wines have a personality as strong as its reds. It's difficult to predict, but perhaps the future will be white, and quite diverse, because there are very different styles and profiles, but they are all Priorat wines, with a minerality that makes them saline and long on the palate, and with great aging potential. When they are old, they are very special." These are the words of winemaker Joan Sangenís, from the Cal Pla winery, one of the historic wineries of the DOQ Priorat, with vineyards in Porrera. Sede is one of the region's most charismatic white wines, Mas d'en Compte, a blend of Garnacha Blanca, Picapoll Blanco, and Xarel·lo. Its oak aging is evident, but it is a classic that discerning sommeliers treasure. "White wines have the soul of reds; they are intense, unique, and very food-friendly. In Priorat, we have fine white wines, crafted slowly: we age them in stainless steel tanks, casks, amphorae... We bottle them after 10 months, and the wine just keeps getting better," comments winemaker Albert Jané, referring to Ritmo, 2016 and 2023, a single-varietal wine made from old and "beautiful" vines—as stated on the label—of Garnacha Blanca grown on slate. Over the years, the wine achieves an elegant, profound, and balanced maturity. "The Carignan Blanca brings a smile to the Rocafosca 2024, adding freshness to the blend with Garnacha Blanca," explains Gisela Mira, sales manager of Costers del Priorat, in El Molar. "We used to make it with chimney stones, but the Carignan Blanca makes the wine more vibrant. We anticipate a boom in Priorat now that the regulations support it," she affirms. "There are few old vineyards of white varieties, but many have been planted in recent years because we know the wine is very good and the catalog of permitted varieties is extensive," notes Meritxell Pallejà, a winemaker and viticulturist in Gratallops.

The dream of winemaker Ester Nin is that "Priorat be the first biodynamic designation of origin in the world," she stated to the audience attending the winery's tasting organized by Blai Rosés within the programming of the Terrer Festival at the Escaladei monastery. Nin maintains that he would have also wanted Priorat to be the first organic farm in the world, a fact that the DO Penedès has achieved"And I'm also happy for the Penedès, because I make wines in both appellations; in the Penedès, because that's where my family is from, and in Priorat, where I settled in 2001," says Nin, who believes that wine, in general around the world, is not experiencing its best moments.

Borja Franco (Barcelona, ​​1988) completed his journalism degree in 2010, and since then, he'd been making documentaries on social issues, which was his specialty. He didn't do it all the time—everyone knows the profession is unregulated—and combined it with work for foundations dedicated to the integration of migrant minors. And he did all this while harboring the dream of one day going to live in Priorat, because he'd dreamed of doing so ever since he met Franco. He'd have a home, a job, and a family. Today, he explains with a smile, he's already achieved it.

This is the story of the miracle of wine in Priorat, however. On May 2, 3, and 4, the starting gun is being held in Falset for the thirtieth edition of the Wine Fair, which will continue to organize tastings at the various wineries in Priorat throughout the month. The anniversary comes in a rather complicated context: wine consumption is declining—younger people aren't drinking—and the drought, which has passed but everyone is certain will return, has reduced the grape harvest by 35%. The only thing missing from this reality are US President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs, which will complicate wine exports to the United States, one of the countries that sends the most (and most expensive) wines to Priorat. However, thirty years after the first Falset Wine Fair, it is a good opportunity to look back and take stock. ARA has spoken with some of the people who, more than 30 years ago, believed the region had an unmissable opportunity and who bet everything on the vineyard, which can only thrive in this terrain of difficult slopes dominated by native slate. "What happened in Priorat couldn't happen anywhere else," says winemaker and viticulturist René Barbier, almost 40 years after acquiring his first estate in the region, of which he has nothing but love. "There is extraordinary intelligence in Priorat," he asserts.

Winemaker Albert Costa and the director of the Vall Llach winery, Isa Serra, confirm they are preparing two new production lines, alternatives to those they operate at the Vall Llach winery. Both will be located on another estate called Horta Colomer, in the same town of Porrera, where they will produce wines with a lower alcohol content. They will also have kombutxa, which will be called La Forastera. At l'Horta Colomer, they have planted vineyards of the Garnacha variety, a vegetable garden, a goose farm, and a recreational area. All in the middle of Porrera, a few steps from the town square, and with the Cortiella River, now in full flow, running alongside.

I arrive in Porrera on a Friday afternoon with a cloudy sky that adds even more beauty to the population of houses nestled on both sides of the Cortiella river. I go up the road towards Cornudella del Montsant, to take a detour that indicates the name of the Marco Abella winery on a sign. From the very doors of the winery, the Priorat unfolds in its essence: terraced vineyards between heaven and earth. A landscape so beloved and so wild at the same time, qualities that are not separated but united. I interview Olivia Bayés (Vic, 1972) in the winery, in front of a window from which you can see the vineyards they cultivate. Next to the window there is a large painting by the deceased painter Josep Guinovart, a friend of David Marco's family, Olivia's partner. The Marco Abella winery (named after David's grandfather) celebrates this year twenty years of making wines in the Priorat qualified designation of origin.

Scams that can be used to market wine have come to light in the case of Reserva de la Tierra. Reus's investigating court number 3 has subpoenaed six people responsible for this business group to appear in court on September 21 and 22. They are being investigated over the alleged fraud in the sale of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) wine in which five Catalan designations have been affected: Terra Alta, Tarragona, Catalunya, Montsant and DOQ Priorat. In the order, the judge reveals some of the tricks the company used to market millions of bottles of wine with fake PDO labels, which often also broke regarding aging, carried fraudulent mentions in competitions and medals, and were sold at such low prices that, according to the magistrate, the makers of "real wines" could not compete