07 Aug Grapevine adopters’ newsletter (July, 2014)

July, 2014: 60 year of the DOQ Priorat!

Highlighted: Restaurant Pepa Tomate (Cupatges)

The climatic situation in July, 2014, was quite pleasant. Besides some occasional minor rains and thunders, we may well say that we enjoyed some long days of sun and sizzling heat, with the landscape denoting increasing drought, i.e. we crossed the typical midsummer heatwave. However, Priorat’s early mornings are oftentimes cool, so those who sleep with open windows needed a blanket sometimes at dawn.

PEPA TOMATE: Constitutional revolution

Vineyards in July: ripening colours

Right now, vineyards need a lot of peace and minimal intervention. In order to cash in on some possible random rains, we ploughed the estates. Like every year, the peak moment of the month has been the beginning of grape ripening, this spectacular colour evolution, when green berries suddenly start to turn pink and finally their skins end up blackish… The first ripening began at the Cabernet Sauvignon estates, followed by those of Red Grenache, with the finale dominated by Carignan (which usually takes a later start).

DOQ Priorat in focus

Did you know that the Denominació d’Origen Qualificada Priorat turned 60 years old? Well, this is true! That’s why on 18 July we attended this anniversary’s celebration. The slogan chosen for the celebration says: “Priorat, 1000 years of history, 60 years of DO”. The event was quite short and to the point, so afterwards there was a tasting for all visitors featuring wines from different wineries on the DOQ list, among which our Il·lia 2011.

Besides, to observe this dates and liven up the links between Baix Camp and Priorat, the “Reus Digital” newspaper started a series of publications focused on our county. If you follow us via Facebook, Twitter or Google+ you’ll see that we’ve been featuring links to these articles on a daily basis.

Wine tourism, actually, has kept us very busy this July. We equalled July, 2013, in terms of visitors, and in revenues, head and shoulders above! Ous special guest was the vine guardian Anna, she was thrilled to get to know her adopted grapevines and to label some bottles for her friends.

Our grape harvest agenda:

1) if some of you want to visit us during the grape harvest (at weekend) please contact us via email.

2) On 13 September (Saturday) we’he hosting a hiking visit with a wine tasting at our vineyard at dusk through the collaboration with the “El Brogit Guiatges” agency. The full rate is 17€ per person. Please let us know if you’re interested in this activity, and we’ll haggle a special discount for you.

Finally, we’d like to remind you about the grapevine adopters’ questionnaire if you haven’t completed it yet. It’s short, but very important for bettering our service.

We wish you a wonderful summer! Greetings from Gratallops!