food & wine. ANNA VICENS
Wine route through Priorat
In the morning
Porrera is a small town in Priorat where the Marco family have been established since the 14th century. The family vine growing business began with Ramón Marco Abella, who decided to breathe new life into what had been one of the best vineyards in the Priorat area. After a century, his grandson David and his wife Olivia, the current owners, decided to take the next step and build a modern cellar. The couple built up the business, with a philosophy consisting of producing grapes that express the authenticity and essence of Porrera.
The altitude, the soil and the orientation of each of the estate's plots give the wines they produce their own identity. Their location, distant from other plots, makes the practise of organic farming more efficient. The Priorat soil gives the wines of this denomination their unique, mineral character. It is a dry land and the cultivation of the vineyards is carried out on terraces cut into the hillsides, at an altitude of between 200m and 700m. Priorat has its own particular micro-climate, with hot, dry summers and cold winters, while precipitation is scarce and the temperatures vary greatly between day and night. The grapes ripen slowly, giving them their complexity.
The labels on the firm's wine bottles are inspired by the work of the artist Guinovart, a close friend of the family and among the masters of contemporary art.
David Marco and Olivia Bayés run the cellar alongside oenologist, José Luis Ruiz, with Nuria Torres in charge of the bodega. All of them together make a young, knowledgeable and enthusiastic team.
For lunch
Location:
The Lo Teatret restaurant is located in a singular 19th century building, inaugurated as a theatre in 1891. However, it was not until 1995 that it began to be reused after years of being boarded up. It recovered its initial appearance and was fitted out as a restaurant. The former theatre's stage was maintained, as well as the side balconies, where tables are placed.
Lo Teatret offers traditional homemade cuisine at affordable prices. Among the dishes available, particularly good are the foie paté dishes, the cod brandada, the oxtail and the rissotto. On Saturday nights, they offer a variety of pizzas cooked in a wood-burning oven. And all of this with a very complete list of local wines.