Priorat – Sangenis I Vaque and Wino.Tours are amazing

We were based in Tarragona, Spain for a week in September 2025.  We booked a couple of wine tours to explore nearby wine regions.  Penedes, and some cava tasting were one of the tours – check out our experience here.  Priorat was the other.  This post shares our experience wine tasting with Wino Tours and Sangenís I Vaqué.  While we tasted wines from three different producers on this tour, Sangenis I Vaque was a stand out for us and is the focus of this post.

Wino Tours

Ivan Lacroix, the founder of Wino Tours, has been providing services since 2018.  Starting off in Barcelona as a tour guide, he now shares his extensive knowledge of Penedes and Priorat wine regions with his clients.  

We found him through Instagram and reached out with questions.  He quickly responded and we were able to book our wine tour in advance very easily through his website.  The confirmation email advised he would be in touch 24 hours prior to the booking to confirm pick up location/time – and indeed he did do so.  Very easy and seamless.

Fortunately on the day of our tour we enjoyed a private tour with Ivan for the day.  He arrived a short 5 minute walk from our accommodation in Tarragona to pick us up and we drove on to Priorat.  As we cruised along, he shared a great deal of background on the wine region, its classification system, and what makes them unique.

The Wine Region of Priorat 

Priorat is located approximately two hours from Barcelona, and one hour from Tarragona.  It has an awe-inspiring landscape, impressive historical sites, and award winning vineyards.  It is known for powerful, intensely flavored red wines made from old vines in a harsh, mountainous environment.

Climate of Priorat

Priorat features an extreme hot and dry Mediterranean-continental climate with long, hot summers, short, cold winters, and scant rainfall (400-600mm annually).  This creates a diverse and challenging environment with potential for frost, drought, and hailstorms, but also offering a high diurnal range and ample sunlight that foster powerful and complex wines due to deep soil moisture and low yields from steep, terraced vineyards. 

Due to its mountainous terrain – the Serra de Montsant massif – it is somewhat protected from the Mediterranean Sea nearby.  The summers are long, hot and dry with temperatures often well into the 30°C’s.  The winters are short but cold, with the temperatures periodically dropping below 10°C.  There is little annual rainfall, most of it during heavy storms in winter and spring.  Sunlight is prominent, over 4,300 hours annually.

Vineyards of Priorat

This region has steep, terraced slopes, known as “costers,” which restrict mechanical farming and naturally limit yields, leading to smaller, more concentrated grapes and higher quality wines.

Due to varying altitudes and orientations, numerous microclimates exist within the region, leading to distinct differences in temperature, rainfall, and sunlight even between nearby villages. Soil is key in Priorat.  It is called licorella, and is red slate with particles of mica in it.  This reflects light and conserves heat.  It also helps retain water.  

Generally, due to the bush vines and steep slopes, there is no mechanization.  Thus, expensive and time consuming to manage, with small yields, typically resulting in more expensive wines.

Sangenis I Vaque – The Vineyard

The ’history’ of Sangenis I Vaque is detailed on their website and begins:

“In 1978 Pere Sangenís and Conxita Vaqué started to plants vines in the various family properties of Pere around the village of Porrera in DOQ Priorat.”

Maria Sangenis, our guide for the day, is the 7^th generation of her family to work these lands.  As the winemaker, she is knowledgeable of the terroir and nuances that make their wine so highly sought after.

Wine Tasting – Sangenis I Vaque

Arriving in Porrera a little early for our appointment with Sangenis I Vaque, Ivan took us for a scenic walk around this village.  Full of cellars for local vineyards within the Priorat region, it was just waking up, with the cafes full of patrons enjoying una taza de cafe (cup of coffee).

Ivan took us to the now open cellar and handed us over to Maria for our tour.  She had already been harvesting in the vineyard earlier in the day.  As we spent our time in the cellar, harvested grapes were being brought in for initial processing – the destemming process.

Wine: Lo Coster Blanc, 2024, Sangenis I Vaque

Means “The steep slope” in Catalan.

This white wine is made from 85% white Grenache and 15% Macabeu. The grapes are harvested from vineyards of more than 40 years in age.  These vineyards are east facing.  They are cooler as they receive a light sea breeze.  As the name says, the vineyard is planted on a steep slope.  This vineyard is tilled by a mule which they hire each year for this purpose. The vineyards are organic, and aged 4 months in French oak, unfiltered, unclarified.

This white wine has pronounced lemon, lemon zest and peach aromas and its flavours include additional mouth complexity.  It is full bodied and has a medium + finish.  A very good white wine and a great start to our tasting.

Wine: Vall Por, Sangenis I Vaque

This is the old name for the village of Porrera which means ‘Valley of Fear’.

This deep ruby red wine is a blend of 60% Carignan, 40% Grenache. It is aged for 12 months: 80% French (Allier) and 20% American.  It is unfiltered, and unclarified.

This red wine has pronounce red plum, blackberry and black plum aromas and flavours.  Its tannins and acidity are well balanced and enhance the complexity of this dry wine. It has a long finish.  An outstanding wine that can continue to age. 

Wine: Coranya, 2016

Coranya is the name of the vineyard from which these grapes are sourced.

This deep garnet wine is a blend of 50% Carignan from vines of more than 40 years in age and 50% Grenache from vines of more than 40 years in age.  It has been aged for one year in 85% French oak (Allier) and 15% American oak, and is the 2^nd use of the barrel. It is unfiltered, and unclarified.

This wine was outstanding.  Rich black cherry and black currant aromas and flavour were pronounced with balanced tannins and medium + acidity.  The fruit flavours on the palate were medium in intensity with a great complexity and mouthfeel.  The wine was very smooth to drink.  The finish was long.  It can be drunk now, and could also be aged a bit more.

Wine: Coranya, 2005 

To compare, Maria poured us a tasting of the same blend of Coranya, aged for the same period of time, from 2005. It is unfiltered, and unclarified.

This deep garnet, almost tawny, red wine was very good.  Its rich fruit flavours were more mellow and balanced on the palate.  The tannins had softened and the acidity was medium.  A very good red wine ready to drink now. 

Wine: Clos Monlleo 

Monlleó is the family name of Pere Sangenís’ ancestors who, for centuries, grew vines and made wine.

This red blend is drawn from very old vines of more than 50 years in age. 50% Carignan and 50% Grenache.  There is 18 months aging in barrels of new oak: 100% French oak (Allier). It is unfiltered, and unclarified.

This deep garnet red wine had pronounced notes of blackberry, black plum and tobacco.  It was dry with balanced tannins, medium + acidity and pronounced flavour intensity.  Its mouthfeel was luscious – it was full bodied with a long finish.  Divine.

Summary of Sangenis I Vaque

We had a wonderful visit with Maria for our wine tasting.  Seeing the harvest roll into the winery and watch the destemming process get underway was a huge treat.  She was very generous and gracious in answering all our questions.  Our biggest challenge was figuring out what to purchase given the unique challenges of shipping wine to Canada!  We will be doing what we can with our Liquor Distribution Branch here in British Columbia to secure more of it to enjoy.

Summary of Wino-Tours

Ivan picked us up at the end of our tasting to take us to our next location.  We headed to Bodega Clos Figueras for our pre-booked 3-course lunch with wine pairing which was very enjoyable – the food was fantastic; and then on to Cellar DeVinssi to enjoy a ride through the vineyard and tasting.

Highly recommend this experience to sample some of the great wine Priorat has to offer and to learn more about the region.

For more wine tastings, check out our Wine posts! Interested in more in-depth explorations of wine regions? Check out our e-guide to Tasmania’s Wine – simply sign up to our monthly newsletter, and you will get access to all our free travel and wine e-guides!