Forget me not Red Vermouth, Clos Figueras

Information about Clos Figueras

During the 80s, a group of inspired enthusiasts fell in love with the area and saw the potential to produce very good wines in Priorat. The group was led by René Barbier, whose father had owned a wine transport company in Tarragona, and Álvaro Palacios from La Rioja. In 1989 his first wine was produced with three other friends on an abandoned chicken farm outside the town of Gratallops. The presence of very old Garnacha and Cariñena vines on slate soils called "llicorella", aided by some recent plantations of international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, paved the way for making quality wine worldwide. It wasn't long before the international wine press spread the word about the virtues of this "re-discovery" putting Priorat back on the map as one of the world's great wine producing regions.

Currently, the region has the coveted "Qualified Denomination of Origin" designation that in Spain is only shared with Rioja.

Christopher Cannan, founder of the Bordeaux-based wine export company Europvin, had already discovered the potential of the back of the Priorat in 1983 when he was presented with a bottle of the 1974 vintage from the Scala Dei winery by the hand of a small retailer in San Francisco. He tasted the wine that same evening with a Californian wine producer and it turned out to be excellent at $ 4.00 a bottle!

Shortly after Mr. Cannan met Manuel Peyra, owner of Scala Dei, he began exporting his extraordinary wines to various countries, including the US and Japan. At that time, Scala Dei was the only private property in Priorat that exported its wines abroad.

Some time later, in 1988, Christopher met Álvaro Palacios at the Wine Experience in New York. Álvaro informed Christopher of his plans and invited him to dinner in Logroño, where he enthusiastically explained the project for the production of wines from old vineyards in Priorat. Álvaro introduces Christopher to René Barbier de Clos Mogador. A few weeks later René showed up in Bordeaux with his old Peugeot and some samples of his Clos Mogador. At first Christopher was skeptical: the wine was excellent but the price was high for an unfamiliar product. However, a couple of years later Christopher decided to show the wine to Robert Parker, in one of his regular tastings at the Europvin office in Bordeaux. Parker soon wrote an article showing his enthusiasm and it was after he published his subsequent broadcast in "The Wine Advocate", with an exceptional score, that the market finally realized what was happening in this remote corner of Catalonia. Since then, Europvin has been exporting Clos Mogador wines and other Priorat wines to numerous countries in North America and Asia. The Priorat has not looked back. Today more than 2000 hectares are in production and 96 wineries are shipping their wines around the world.

Today three red wines are produced, a white wine and a sweet: Clos Figueres from old vines, Font de la Figuera Tinto from vines planted in 1998 and, the recent launch of Serras del Priorat, a fruity wine more focused on fast consumption. , although maintaining all the classic character of the Priorat. The Sweet Clos Figueras made with raisined Red Garnachas. Finally, the Font de la Figuera Blanco of the "wrong" Viognier strains. A total of between 25.000 and 30.000 bottles are made with passion and a commitment to the highest possible quality.

Clos Figueras also produces an exceptional extra virgin olive oil from 135 olive trees of the famous Arbequina variety under the control of the Siurana Designation of Origin. Many of the trees are over 300 years old. The oil is packaged in an attractive 50 cl bottle. in a dark green container.

The vineyard has been cultivated with ecological practices in mind, we currently have the official certificate from the authorities (CCPAE). The vines are planted at different heights that extend to the Montsant river valley, in cool places strategically chosen to delay the ripening of the grapes. The views over the wide Ebro valley and the mountains as a backdrop are impressive, and they protect from the cold north winds.