Celler Clos Figueras & Restaurant Les Figueres

Cantina e Vini

During the 1980’s a group of inspired enthusiasts fell in love with the area and saw the potential to produce very great wines in the Priorat. The group was led by René Barbier, whose father had owned a wine shipping company in Tarragona, and Alvaro Palacios from the Rioja. In 1989 their first wine was produced with three other friends in an abandoned chicken farm outside the village of Gratallops. The presence of very old Grenache and Carignan vines in the unique slate / schist soils called “llicorella”, helped by some recent plantings of international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, showed the way to make wine of world class quality. It was not long before the international wine press was falling over themselves to expound the virtues of this “rediscovered” territory, putting Priorat back on the map as one of the great wine producing regions of the world. HOME HISTORY VINEYARDS WINERY WINE & OLIVE OIL ROOMS RESTAURANT ENOTOURISM EVENTS DIARY Today the region enjoys the coveted “Denominacion de Origen Calificada” appellation which in Spain is only shared with the Rioja. Christopher Cannan, with his export orientated wine shipping company, Europvin, based in Bordeaux, had already discovered the potential of the Priorat back in 1983 when he was given a bottle of the 1974 vintage Priorat from the Scala Dei winery by a small retailer in San Fransisco. Tasting the wine that same evening with a Californian wine maker, it turned out to be excellent and extraordinarily good value at $ 4.00 a bottle ! Shortly after Christopher met Manuel Peyra, owner of Scala Dei, and started exporting these delicious wines to various countries including the U.S.A. and Japan. At the time Scala Dei was the only single privately owned estate exporting the wines of Priorat. Later in 1988 Christopher met Alvaro Palacios at the New York Wine Experience. Alvaro informed Christopher of his plans and invited him to dinner in Logroño where he enthusiastically

Clos Figueras has a spectacular vineyard, with the classic “llicorella” soil, in one piece, just to the north of the famed town of Gratallops, overlooking the Montsant river valley. The property was purchased in October 1997 by Charlotte and Christopher Cannan on the recommendation of Réné Barbier, owner of the famous Clos Mogador estate and founder of the “new wave” movement in Priorat during the late 1980’s. The initial purchase of 10 hectares of abandoned terraces was followed by a new acquisition in 2000, completing the 18 hectares estate. The original vineyard included a small plot of old Carignan and Grenache vines. This was completed in 1998 with plantings of more Grenache, Syrah and a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre and Viognier. With the new acquisition in 2000 came 2500 old Grenache and Carignan vines, more than 60 years old. More vines were planted in 2001 including some Grenache Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Touriga Nacional. The sweeping views from the estate over the Ebro Valley and the mountains beyond are spectacular. Behind looms the emblemic Montsant mountain range and the famous “Hermita” hill and vineyard. Being open to the Ebro Valley the estate benefits from the cool breezes coming up from the Mediterranean, slowing down the grape maturation and of enormous benefit to the quality and style of the wines produced. Approximately 135 olive trees on the estate, some more than 300 years old, contribute to the production of the magnifice