Priorat fair attracts 30,000 wine lovers

If there is one thing that the Priorat region in southern Catalonia is well-known for it is its wine, and this weekend saw a celebration of the local speciality during the annual Falset wine fair. The 23rd edition of the fair drew to a close on Sunday, having attracted some 30,000 attendees over the weekend.

Falset’s mayor, Jaume Domènech, gave a “positive” evaluation of the event, pointing out that this year’s fair included the participation of a record number of 75 local wineries. Some 60% of the firms bore the Priorat DOQ seal of quality, while the other 40% had the Montsant Designation of Origin (DO).

In fact, Domènech did not rule out further expanding the fair in the future to include new wineries as they open. “We must not deprive any DO winery with the chance to take part in the fair,” said the mayor, who said that this year some 5,000 glasses of wine were sold, while at the fair’s peak on Saturday, some 20,000 individual wine tastings were served.

Among the novelties in this year’s edition were wine tasting sessions carried out by a blind sommelier that were organized in conjunction with the ONCE foundation for the visually impaired, which aimed to “bring the sensations from the world of wine to this community.” Another great success at this year’s fair was more than a dozen free wine tasting sessions, while parallel activities in surrounding villages and towns sold out.