La Perla Del Priorat is one of Priorat's oldest wineries. Founded in the 15th century by the carthusian monks of Scala Dei under the name of "Mas Dels Frares" (House of the Friars), it used to be an important monastery of Priorat. It was surrounded by a huge vineyard (up to 90'000 vines). As the fame of the wines blended in the "Mas Dels Frares" grew quickly, it was named “La Perla Del Priorat” since the beginning of the 18th century.

On the eve of the 20th century, the land of Mas Dels Frares was abondonned by the monks. In the whole region, farmers stopped working on their lands and left to work in the silver mines. It was the end of regional traditional farming, and the beginning of the industrial era.

Almost one hundred years later, Count Pirenne bought the Mas Dels Frares along with more than 100 hectares of land around it. All of this land is situated within the Priorat. Convinced of the potential of this particular area of Priorat, he founded the winery “La Perla Del Priorat SL” in 1998.

The same year, 70’000 vines were planted on 22 hectares of the lands of Mas Dels Frares. About 1’000 vines of 25 year old Cabernet Sauvignon were allready there.

La Perla Del Priorat SL blended its first wines in 1999 from grapes that were bought from selected old vines of Priorat. Then, only 10’000 bottles of “Comte Pirenne” and “Clos Les Fites” were produced.

Today, with a 10 year old vineyard in full production, La Perla Del Priorat SL limits it’s production to maximise the quality of it’s four wines (“Comte Pirenne”, Clos Les Fites”, “Clos Les Fites Blanc” and “Noster”). Grapes from very old Grenache and Cariñena vines are still bought outside the property to blend “Comte Pirenne”.

The Priorat is one of the driest regions of Spain. The average rainfall is 300 mm per year. With no irrigation, our vines are obliged to seek for water deep into the stone soil, especially during the summer.

The soil is called “Llicorella”. This typical mineral soil of Priorat is composed of layers of porous schist that are very rich in iron. It makes no obstacle to the penetration of the vine’s roots, thus enabeling the plant to find humidity tens of meters underground. In these conditions our vines have a very limited production of grapes: about 1.1 kg per vine.

The north-east dry wind coming from the center of Spain provides great benefits for the maturity of the grapes. It prevents all diseases that could affect the grapes in a humid environment, especially during the harvest. We are therefore able to avoid unnecessary chemical treatments on our vines.

The philosophy of La Perla Del Priorat SL is based on two principles: respect and quality. The respect aims the local tradition of winemaking, the environment, and the human beings. Making quality wines is our way to respect the history of “La Perla Del Priorat” as well as our customers.

The fact that our vineyard is not irrigated serves both ecology and quality: each vine produces a maximal average of 1.1 kg of excellent quality grapes with high mineral and sugar levels, and no water is spoiled in the process.

To limit our production and optimize the quality of our wines, we proceed in July to what we call a “verema verda” (“green harvest”). By removing between 30 and 50% of the grapes off each vine, we concentrate the vine’s energy on the few grapes that are left for a perfect maturation. Doing this, we also reduce the vine’s “stress” due to the exceedingly hot summer and enable the plant to regenerate and stabilise it’s production year after year.

Pruning and harvest are entirely done by hand. When harvesting, every grape is controlled twice: once in the field, and once on our “table of selection” in the cellar. Only the grapes that succeed are vinified.