Clos Galena: ‘The essence of Priorat terroir’

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One family's dream that became a reality...

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Clos Galena was the brainchild of Miguel Pérez, a great wine enthusiast who shared his lifelong passion with his wife, Merche Dalmau.

Merche and Miguel fell in love with the Priorat region and it was there that their dream became a reality — a sustainable winery inspired by the French châteaux.

Both trained in pharmacology, the husband-and-wife team felt strongly that Clos Galena should be organically certified in order to create healthier wines, made with greater respect for the natural environment.

Clos Galena’s vineyards are planted with regional grape varieties, grown in traditional non-terraced hillside vineyards, known as ‘costers’. The soils are full of ‘llicorella’, a brown and brittle slate that gives this region’s wines their signature mineral character.

Miguel’s ambition was to shape his family-run winery into a vessel where he could attempt to bottle the essence of the surrounding Priorat terroir.

Sadly Miguel passed away in April 2013, but the torch was passed to his wife, Merche. She took over the running of the estate with the help of her team, Merche Dalmau including the enologist Toni Coca.

Today, the Clos Galena winery is the culmination of the Pérez and Dalmau family’s continuous dedication; it is their life’s work and they remain centred on making unique fine wines.

The family’s efforts were rewarded when ‘Formiga de Vellut’ was selected for the Nobel Prize Banquet 2017, held in Stockholm, where it was served to Swedish royalty.

The wine — a red blend of Grenache, Carignan and Syrah — made history as the first Catalan wine to be served at the Nobel Prize Banquet since the award’s foundation in 1901.

Reports in the Swedish press celebrated ‘Formiga de Vellut’ as ‘fantastically great’, and Clos Galena gained global recognition for the quality of its wines.

Clos Galena has been praised by the most demanding consumer markets and its wines are exported to 30 countries around the world.

Looking beyond Priorat, Clos Galena has started new wine projects in the appellations of Montsant and Terra Alta, focusing on indigenous varieties and old vines.

Above all, Clos Galena prizes its strong Catalan identity and supports initiatives to enrich the community. Notably, the Art and Wine project brings together Catalan artists to create limited collections of paintings that are used on Clos Galena’s wooden wine boxes and distinctive labels.