Cims de Porrera

Cims de Porrera - from the mountains 

Cims De Porrera is a winery in Priorat, a wine-growing region in the south of Catalonia. The name comes from the mountain tops(Cims) around the nearby village of Porrera. It was founded in the mid-90s by the oenologist and professor José Luis Pérez, as well as Lluis Llach, who is a singer. Cims de Porrera is rather to be understood as a winegrowers' cooperative, since the local farmers have a big share in the work of the estate. Initially, a lot of development work had to be done, as it is only in the last thirty years that Priorat has risen to the top of the wine-growing regions.

Cims de Porrera today

In the beginning, the grapes were delivered to the Vall-Llach winery of the singer in order to carry out the vinification. Large investments in cellar technology and buildings in the following years formed the basis to be able to produce wines of very high quality in the own house today. For his work, Pérez was awarded as "Man of the Year" by the gourmet magazine Sibaritas in 2005. Today, the cousins Adriá and Marc Pérez are responsible for the oenological consulting of the estate. 

The Priorat wine region

The Priorat wine region is the oldest wine-growing region in Catalonia. In the Middle Ages, the region experienced a heyday. In modern times, however, it fell into a slumber, from which it only awoke again at the turn of the 80s/90s. It was primarily wineries like L'Ermita or Clos Erasmus that contributed to this. It was precisely at this time that Cims de Porrera was founded, which was part of the spirit of optimism. Today, the region is the only one in Spain besides Rioja that is allowed to carry the appellation DOCa (Denominación de Origen Calificada). 

Viticulture at Cims de Porrera

The winery has steep slopes at an altitude of 400-700 m above sea level, which are dominated by slate soils. Some of these are 100-year-old Garnacha vines, whose grapes form the basis for the estate's top wines. The grape varieties grown correspond to the typical Spanish grape varieties, interspersed with individual French representatives:

• Garnacha
• Tempranillo
• Carignan
• Merlot
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Syrah
• Viognier
• Perdro Ximénez

Wines and vinification at Cims De Porrera

Originally, the company started with only two wines, namely the "Classic" as the main wine and the "Solanes" as the second wine. Today, Cims De Porrera has expanded its portfolio to 13 wines, most of which are representatives of the red variety. The wines are vinified in very different containers. While the simpler representatives receive the modern treatment in stainless steel and sometimes in large barrels with 7000 l capacity, the wines from the old vines are typically aged in cement tanks and French oak barriques. A bottle storage still follows for the higher-quality wines.