2018-09-18 Camping Prades Park to Celler Masroig

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Camping Prades Park to Celler Masroig

We hear the pouring rain in the night and it rains on and off most of the morning adding to the dreary appearance and gritty dirt that is tramped around this site. We use the time to plan our route through the Priorat region and places to stop.

It is very hard to find information, especially of Priorat, as it is a small mountainous area, enclosed by the Sierra El Mola, a wide circle of mountains that do indeed look like massive grey-white molars towering around the edges. We have an early lunch, service the camper (everything down the same grid at this dirty site!), pay with cash (a receipt is refused!).

We leave Camping Prades Park on T701 past the road to Siurana and see the village perched way up high on top of the ‘molars’. Cornudella is the first of the Montsant and Priorat villages (strictly speaking this one is Montsant) with a little Priorat wine. We call at Cellar Cooperative and buy three bottles of Siurana wine. Back on the TV7021 we stop at La Morera de Montsant where we stop briefly and take photos of the impending storm, a huge black, flat-bottomed cloud spilling over the edge of the El Mola mountains. Escaladei next, reached via a tortuous mountain road, narrow and bendy so our progress is slow, but the scenery is magnificent. Walled terraces about 15ft high and 20 ft wide line almost vertical mountain sides.

Terraces are everywhere, either with rows of vines laden with bunches of navy blue grapes or with olive trees heavy with green olives. Some terraces have well maintained walls made with the local ‘licorella’ slate or large smooth river boulders, others in very steep mountainous sections have lost their stones or they have disappeared under decades of scrubby grass.

It is difficult to park at Escaladei, and nothing is open in the afternoon, most close between 1.00 and 6.00pm so we don’t stay. The T702 takes us to the villages of La Vilella Alta (upper) perched high on a rocky outcrop so we pass the track to this one and go into La Vilella Biaxas (lower). We weave our way through streets that are far too narrow and meet a small truck coming the other way! He backs up for us and points with his thumb to go down a small hill behind him. We have no idea why but we do it anyway.

It looks like it goes to a yard, in fact round the corner we find a camping park! It even has water and a flush toilet!! We park up and walk to the village. Over the river and an incredible steep climb up through impossibly narrow streets with no sun, where we find nothing is open… again! We enjoy the stop but feel the need to find somewhere to stay. We join a ‘main’ road… at least it is wide enough for two cars to pass, and take the T710 through Gratalopps, join the T712 to EL Lloar, T732 to El Molar village and to Masroig. Cellar Masroig (a cooperative) dominates the village, a huge Priorat wine cellar that celebrated its centenary last year (1917 – 2017).

Here we park up on one of their six motor home parking spaces and now, after 5.30pm, go to taste Priorat wine. We try a white (Grenache Blanc) which we have not sampled before, it is very nice, and two reds: Carignan and Carignan/Syrah, both are excellent, and we buy 15 bottles (6 white, 6 Carignan and 3 Carignan/Syrah), also a bottle of something special that she recommends.

Back at the camper we decide her generous tasting portions in large glasses is plenty for us tonight… so enjoy Spanish omelette and then sit out in the not-so-cool of a very hot and humid evening watching electric storms lighting the distance mountain sky like fireworks.