The Village of Torroja Del Priorat, Population 172

Our accommodations in Priorat were booked at Cal Compte. Again, our guide Rachel had provided the following quaint directions to the guesthouse..."it is opposite the church and streets are narrow, so I suggest you drove up and skirted around the village as you approach it from Escaladei. Enter the village from the “part alta” the higher part of the village. This will take you on a dirt road (the mayor is waiting for a grant to finish resurfacing it which is not forthcoming!). Park in square near cooperative building and Cal Joc restaurant and walk bags to church square where you will find Cal Compte. Or be daring and drive up to the door down a very narrow, cobbled street from the other side of the village, driving under the arch which is Cal Compte!"

Mike and I had a disagreement on which dirt road was the correct one.  After a few harrowing moments on what I thought looked like a sidewalk, not a road, we arrived in the small village.  For the record, Mike was sure we were on the right road all along.

We parked in the town square and walked down the cobblestone road through the village to Cal Compte.  We saw a couple of people, but they paid us no attention. The huge wooden doors to the hotel were locked up tight when we arrived.  We pressed the external intercom buttons several times but no one answered.  It was about 6PM and we were scrambling around to find a phone number that we could call to inquire about where the keeper of the inn might be.  As if on queue, Joaquim, the owner of the place rolled into the church square and welcomed us inside.

The Cal Compte was built in 1801 although the house has parts which dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The entry was truly stunning.  Joaquim showed us where breakfast would be served and showed us to our room.  We were literally the only guests in the whole place. 

It was as if we were staying in a historic monument in the common areas, yet the 3rd floor had been renovated into beautiful, modern guest rooms and suites.  The most incredible views were right outside our window.

Our dinner had been arranged at the local restaurant in town, Cal Joc.  They were not usually open in the evenings, but they had agreed to open for us.  Seriously, there were two ladies (seemingly mother and daughter) there to make dinner just for us.   

When Mike was trying to translate the menu options with the elder woman who was our server, he pointed to the menu item which we assumed was pig, "cerdo", she then formed a gun with her hand and proceeded to simulate a shooting sound.  From that we got "wild boar" and Mike's menu choice was final.  We had a terrific meal, Mike had the wild boar stew which will probably remain in his top 10 meals for quite some time.  They only served wine that was made from the Village of Torroja Del Priorat, it was quite enjoyable.




We walked back through the quiet village to our hotel and entered the grand wooden doors.  What an incredible day..

Food and Wine (5/14/2014)

...After a slight detour to find an ATM, we did not get too lost and the handy dandy Garmin GPS got us back on track...

To give a sense of just how small these villages are, these are the directions we received for our fist stop:

"... Leave this road at top of steep hill, through first tunnel near windmill farm and take road signposted to Porrera (population 465). You will be driving downwards on a very twisty road towards Porrera. As you approach Porrera you will come to a crossroads and a Stop sign. Turn right here into a tree-lined street and try to park somewhere between the trees or in the square at the end (Plaça Catalunya).  La Cooperativa is an old building with a metal cut out sign which is a bit rusty indicating it is the old offices of the cooperative of the village. Litus and Mia are the owners and will be there to welcome you."

La Cooperativa Restaurant

And welcomed we were. The restaurant was quaint and the smell coming from the kitchen hinted at what was to come.  Lunch is usually the larger meal in Spain, most restaurants offer a Menu del Dia or prix fixe which includes a first course, second course, bread and a drink (usually house wine, juice or coffee), water is usually an extra charge. Thus was the case at La Cooperativa upon our arrival.

There were 7 tables in the restaurant.  Two were occupied upon our arrival at 2PM.  Mike had a fresh salad with an incredible pomegranate dressing that he could not stop talking about.   His second course was roasted conill...any guesses?  Roasted rabbit.  I started with a warm beet soup and selected Cagote de vaca with roasted tomato sauce.  When I inquired about "cagote", Litus pointed to his neck, indicating this was neck of the cow. He assured me I had made a good choice.  I am still not sure what cut of the cow I ate, but it was tender and flavorful and the roasted tomato sauce base was nearly transcendent. Tremendous meal.

Warm Beet Soup

Mike's rabbit

My cagote

Dessert was not included, but since we were still enjoying the last vestiges of some incredible wine we had with lunch, we opted for the homemade chocolate truffles to split.  When Mia brought them to our table, she inquired if we would like to try them with olive oil and salt?  In broken English/Catalan, she explained that this was frequently a treat or snack for small children before meal time, a slice of bread, some Nutella drizzled with olive oil and salt. Seriously, I never had a snack like that when I was a kid.  We tried it.  The olive oil cut through the bitterness of the dark, dark chocolate truffle with a salty kiss at the end. Divine.

Truffles with olive oil and sea salt

Mike enjoying a little vino tinto de casa
after the drive to Priorat

At 4PM we literally wound back around through incredibly beautiful landscapes to arrive at Ferrer-Bobet winery for a pre-arranged winery tour.  Elena, our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, spoke English very well and shared her passion about the wines of Ferrer-Bobet.  We toured their state-of-the-art facility and tasted two wines in a tasting room overlooking the Montsant Mountains and the village of Porrera. Magnificent is the only word that comes close to the experience.  The pictures will not do it justice, but I will add some of my favorite shots.

Road to Ferrer-Bobet

View from Ferrer-Bobet Tasting Room

The Winery

The Wines

Off to find our hotel for the night.

Tale of two cities... (5/14/2014)

Barcelona, population 1.6 million.  Torroja del Priorat, population 179.  There are no zeros missing after the 179.  The next stop on our Spanish adventure would be in the little known DOC of Priorat and DO Montsant.  A week in the wine country was just the right break from the city of Barcelona.

The pack up, pack out, metro ride to the rental car pick up near Barcelona Sants train station was pretty uneventful.  Armed with our GPS and the map from the helpful rental car agent, Mike confidently got behind the wheel of the trusty Peugeot (standard transmission) to navigate our exit from Barcelona. Before we knew it, we the city streets gave way to an industrial district, then suburban areas with shopping centers, then agricultural areas with olive trees and artichoke farms and lastly the ancient walled villages, grapevines and Monsant mountains of the wine country.

We visited, fell in love with really, this area for 4 days on our last trip to Barcelona.  Stunning and magical are words that I would use to describe the disparate dotted villages that make up this region. This trip, we wanted to get a more in depth education about the area, its history and the wine.  We are not much for "pre-packaged" tours in our travels.  We are more plucky and unscripted about how we visit an area.  In this case though, due to the known language barrier and reserved embrace of the fledgling wine tourism industry by these small, family-owned, centuries old winemakers we opted for a local guide found at VisitPriorat.com as part of our experience.

Our guide, Rachel corresponded back and forth with Mike for several weeks prior to our trip to put together a personalized itinerary to the Priorat and Montsant wine appellations.  Our visit had a mixture of time on our own as well as a pair up with another couple from California who also contacted Rachel as a guide.

Our travel/arrival day was on our own but Rachel had arranged lunch for us at Restaurant La Cooperativa and a guided tour at Ferrer-Bobet both in the Village of Porrera.  Those visits and our additional days in Priorat deserve their own posts, coming up next...  Here is a sneak peak at the beauty of Porrera.