Pissarres is Costers del Priorat’s flagship wine, encompassing both the cool-rugged center of Priorat and the region’s warmer south. The name Pissarres is derived from pizarra, which is ‘slate’ in Spanish. The wine is a blend of organically farmed grapes from steeply terraced vineyards across a variety of exposures, primarily in Mas Alsera in Torroja and Sant Martí in Bellmunt. The 2022 Pissarres is composed of 60% Garnacha and 40% Samsó (Carignan) from vineyards planted as far back as 1934 on red llicorella (decomposed slate) atop limestone subsoil. Winemaker Jose Mas Barberà utilizes the traditional bush vine pruning technique and hand-harvesting. After a manual harvest, the wine is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts in 5000L stainless steel tanks. The different varieties in the blend are vinified separately to allow each to express itself fully. Pissarres is aged for 12 months in a variety of vessels: French oak barrels of 225 and 500L (both new and two years-old), 2000 and 3000L foudres, and a portion in concrete tanks.