Vinícola del Priorat is in the middle of the commemorative activities of their centenary. Thus, after having shown “Mural del Centenari” –a work by Catalan illustrator Marina Capdevila, painted on one of the walls of the historical building of Vinícola del Priorat, in Gratallops, where mules used to be tethered before grapes were taken inside–, a new, fresh and full-of-body wine, known as “Vi del Centenary”, was unveiled. The bottle’s label was also designed by Marina Capdevila.
Vinícola del Priorat is a local cooperative to which various cooperatives merge –Gratallops, Lloar, Vilella Alta and Vilella Baixa–. Today, it has 140 member producers that make around 320.000 bottles of wine within the so-called Denominació d’Origen Qualificada Priorat (DOQ Priorat appellation) that are exported to over 25 countries around the world. Besides wine, Vinícola del Priorat does also elaborate extra virgin olive oil labelled under Siurana’s protected appellation.
Main event
On 10 June, the winery held the main event of the centenary in Gratallops, which became a meeting point for all the members and people related to the long history of the cooperative. During the event, a “Vi del Centenary” bottle of wine was given to all partners, whilst the rest of the bottles will be for sale in the various “agrobotigues”, or eco-friendly shops, while stocks last. The main event did also include an open day that allowed users to visit the old cooperative’s building, recently refurbished, a parade round the streets of the village, a fellowship lunch and a music performance.
Vinícola del Priorat’s manager, Quim Sabaté, mentioned a number of objectives, such as promoting the planting of local grape varieties thanks to subsidies, improving the winery’s facilities, introducing new oenotourism activities and digital campaigns, and increasing the number of members. Sabaté also notified about the making of a corporative video that has been shot throughout an entire year in order to capture the different cycles of vineyards, and which will be unveiled after the next grape harvest.
Celebrations of Vinícola del Priorat don’t end here, as 2018 will mean the 10th anniversary of the merging of the cooperatives of the 4 villages, and 2019 will see Vilella Baixa’s cooperative turn 100.