Bartolome Vernet, Priorat DOCa, Primitiu de Bellmunt

In this tiny DOC Priorat Single Estate of the Bartolome i Vernet family, passion and dedication are inextricably linked to loyalty and devotion to the native soil and grape cultivation. Generation after generation, the family has harvested the grape stocks on its plots of land known as trossos, using them to produce its wines in the traditional manner from the local Garnacha and Samso (Carine a) varieties. This is a heritage that Josep Bartolome maintained even in the difficult years of the seventies, and thirty years later, alongside his son-in-law, Antonio Rodriguez, they set about improving the quality of the family s wines. In 1997 the family started to bottle its own wines having only previously sold in bulk. The 7-hectare vineyards of this small estate are in Bellmunt del Priorat, a town to the southwest of the district where the Siurana and Montsant rivers meet as they flow towards the Ebro. Being genuine vineyards of the DOC Priorat region, the family s three trossos,' Mas de Caldera'(1.5 hectares of 100-year-old rootstocks), 'El Grinyo' (2 hectares of 110-year-old vines) and 'Els Molins'(3.5 hectares of 40+-year-old vines) form part of this extraordinary, steeply sloping landscape, in which each terrace of land is a haven of peace and quiet: twisted, age-old vines emerge amidst sheets of slate. With an average output of 2,500 kg/ha, this allows an annual production of no more than 10,000 bottles.