Priorat (Doq) (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Priorat is a Spanish Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOCa) (Denominacio d'Origen Qualificada (DOQ) in Catalan) for wines produced in the Priorat county to the south-west of Catalonia. The DOQ covers 11 municipalities. It primarily produces powerful red wines, which came to international attention in the 1990s. The area is characterised by its unique terroir of black slate and quartz soil know as llicorella. It is one of only two wine regions in Spain to qualify as DOCa, the highest qualification level for a wine region according to Spanish wine regulations, alongside Rioja DOCa. Priorat is the Catalan spelling, which is the one usually appearing on wine labels, while the Spanish spelling is Priorato. The first recorded evidence of grape growing and wine production dates from the 12th century, when the monks from the Carthusian Monastery of Scala Dei, founded in 1163, introduced the art of viticulture in the area.