In Priorat, describing harvest as a single date can be misleading. Slope, exposure, altitude, variety and the behavior of each plot create different rhythms within the same season. During our visit to Perinet, on the second day of the 2026 harvest, that diversity could be seen and tasted directly in the vineyard.

Toni Sánchez-Ortiz, winemaker at Perinet and Clos Maria, summarized very well what many people do not see at first sight: when he looks at a grape, he is not only looking at its current condition. He is already imagining the wine that may come from it, its style, its aromatic profile and the role it will play within the project.

The vintage had been shaped by an extreme circumstance: more than 100 days without rain. According to Toni, 2026 will be one of Perinet’s earliest and shortest harvests. A rainy spring helped the vines resist, and generous rainfall the previous week allowed ripening to continue a little longer, but the year still demanded a very precise reading of each plot.

Perinet is located in the northern part of DOQ Priorat, around Poboleda. Its vines grow on licorella and are distributed across slopes, terraces and different exposures. In a region like Priorat, these details are not secondary: they define the light the grapes receive, the pace of ripening, concentration, acidity and the aromatic profile of each wine.

During the visit, Toni explained how a northeast-facing slope can bring a more spicy profile, because the grapes ripen with a different light exposure from a warmer, more exposed hillside. Even within the same variety, such as Syrah, the decision changes according to the place. A fresher part may be destined for a more fruit-driven wine, while a plot with greater sun exposure can be reserved for a single-varietal wine with more concentration and aromatic potential.

Harvest therefore becomes a sequence of readings. Each decision responds to a specific combination of soil, exposure, variety and intended style. At Perinet, waiting can also be a decision: some plots need more time to reach the expression required by the wine.

Licorella is one of the most important elements in understanding Perinet and Priorat. Toni described it as a poor, dry soil with very little organic matter and strong drainage. This type of soil limits the vigor of the plant, creates water stress that can be moderate or extreme depending on the year, and concentrates color, tannin and sugar in the grapes.

But licorella does not only bring concentration. It also helps explain why a Priorat wine can show ripeness and alcohol without necessarily feeling heavy. Toni insisted on a point that is especially useful for international markets: this soil also gives acidity, and that natural acidity helps balance the alcohol on the palate.

For an importer, this nuance is highly valuable. Priorat should not be explained only through power. The conversation becomes far more interesting when it includes tension, depth, balance and ageing potential. At Perinet, licorella connects the landscape with a concrete sensation in the wine: intensity, yes, but also freshness, structure and longevity.

Heat can accelerate sugar accumulation, but the picking decision is not based on that factor alone. In a region like Priorat, where the appellation requires a minimum alcohol level and where concentration is part of the natural landscape, the challenge lies in finding balance between ripeness, acidity, tannin, aroma, potential alcohol and texture.

Toni explained that in 2026 the most important decisions will not only take place at harvest, but also during vinification. Because it is a heterogeneous year, the protocol for pigeage, pump-overs, maceration length and skin contact will be decisive in defining the final style of the wines.

This helps explain harvest with greater precision. The vintage does not end when the grapes enter the winery. In complex years, the work continues by interpreting each lot carefully, adjusting extraction, texture and structure so that the wine can express the place without losing elegance.

One of the most interesting ideas of the visit was how Toni defined an ultra-premium wine. He did not begin with price, but with the ability of a wine to express its place. For him, a great wine connects with its origin, with the team, with the way of working and with an aromatic intensity that cannot be found just anywhere.

This vision fits very naturally with Priorat. We are speaking about a small region, limited production and very low yields. Toni placed production between 8 and 15 hectolitres per hectare, a figure that explains why these wines cannot be approached through volume, but through identity, scarcity and precision.

Sheri Perricone, CEO of Perinet and Clos Maria, added another layer to this idea. For her, ultra premium is also about the effort of the team, the manual work, the passion and the commitment of the people involved in every bottle, from the vineyard to the sorting room.

This combination of extreme landscape and human work is one of the keys to Perinet. The wine is not presented only as the result of a prestigious region, but as the expression of a place interpreted by a team that understands its rhythms and its limits.

Perinet has a particularly interesting advantage for international markets: it allows several faces of Priorat to be explained through one winery. Toni described it as a summary of three important climatic areas within the appellation: a warmer and drier southern area, a more maritime and humid area linked to Porrera, and the northern zone where the winery is located, with higher altitude and a more floral, distinctive profile.

The fact that Perinet works with its own vineyards and does not buy or sell grapes allows the winery to build a range that expresses different readings of the territory. Through blends and single-varietal wines, the estate can show the character of licorella, climatic differences, local culture and the internal diversity of Priorat.

For an importer, this structure makes the project much easier to present. Perinet does not offer just one idea of Priorat. It offers a journey. From wines that work as an entry point to more specific references, the winery can explain the region progressively, without losing coherence.

During the tasting, Toni explained the main pyramid of the portfolio. Likka and Merit work as an entry point to Priorat, wines where soil and climate are expressed without the interference of oak. They are references designed to begin discovering the concentration, aromas and acidity of the region in a more direct way.

Then comes Perinet, the house’s most classic blend, conceived as an expression of the area. Toni also introduced a future line connected to village wines, with different expressions of each village, a direction that is especially interesting for markets where the buyer already understands Priorat and is looking for greater precision of origin.

At the more historical and premium end of the range is 1194, a wine connected to the arrival of the Carthusian monks and to local varieties, especially Garnacha and Cariñena. This reference places Perinet not only in the present landscape of Priorat, but also in a deeper cultural and winegrowing memory.

This range architecture has commercial value because it allows the importer to work at different levels of conversation: accessibility, territory, village, variety, history and high-end positioning. It is not a scattered collection, but an ordered way of presenting the character of Perinet.

Sheri explained that, in international markets, Perinet needs to be experienced in order to be told well. For her, it is important that importers and distributors visit the winery, walk the landscape, understand the soils and then bring that experience back to their own markets.

She was also clear about future positioning: Perinet is a high-end wine and belongs in high-end restaurants and hotels, while wines such as Merit and Likka can bring the project closer to a broader audience. Her ambition is not only for Perinet to be recognized, but for Priorat to gain more space in the mind of the international consumer alongside other major Spanish regions.

For E2G, this reading is essential. In markets where Priorat already has prestige, the name of the appellation can open the conversation. But the buyer still needs to understand what distinguishes an individual project. Perinet offers an answer based on place, plots, team, scarcity and an elegant interpretation of the region.

A visit during harvest connects the commercial narrative with observable decisions. At E2G, we were able to walk the vineyard, compare exposures, touch the licorella and listen to the team interpret the moment of each plot. That experience helps us present Perinet to importers and distributors with greater accuracy.

Wine travels more convincingly when its origin can be explained with precision. At Perinet, that precision begins before the grapes reach the winery. It begins by recognizing that every plot has its own rhythm, that licorella is not only a soil but a force that defines the wine, and that elegance in Priorat does not happen by chance.

The 2026 harvest reminded us that Priorat is read plot by plot.

Discover Perinet and the character behind its wines.

Elena García