Gratallops estate in DOQ Priorat, making an estate bottled red with biodynamic soil work and ageing in oak foudres and concrete tanks.
The producer
Clos Mogador makes estate bottled wine in Gratallops within DOQ Priorat. Its first namesake wine was made in 1989 after René Barbier Ferrer bought a polyculture estate planted with vines, olive trees and almond trees. Today René Barbier Meyer guides fermentations and Christian Barbier Meyer tends the vineyards. Viticulture began changing toward biodynamic agriculture in 2012, with permanent cover crops, annual cow compost and biochar, and grazing horses, sheep and chickens. The wine is aged in oak foudres and concrete tanks.
Known for
Estate bottled Priorat red
Notable facts
René Barbier Meyer guides fermentations while Christian Barbier Meyer tends the vineyards.
Clos Mogador maintains permanent cover crops and adds cow compost and biochar annually.
Horses, sheep and chickens graze the estate's cover crops.
New plantings use rootstocks adapted to estate soils and buds from indigenous varieties.
The wine is aged for twenty months in oak foudres and concrete tanks.
The story
The Mixed Farm Purchase
In 1978, René Barbier Ferrer bought his first polyculture estate in Gratallops while pursuing Grenaches. The property contained vineyards, olive trees and almond trees, making it a mixed farm with several crops under one ownership. The history of Clos Mogador begins with that purchase. René Barbier Ferrer was looking for Grenaches, and the farm already carried vines alongside the other trees. The first namesake Clos Mogador wine was made in 1989. Those two dates frame the move from a purchased polyculture estate to a wine carrying the Clos Mogador name.
From the atlas
Clos Mogador
Clos Mogador is a Gratallops estate in DOQ Priorat, where biodynamic soil work and long ageing in oak foudres and concrete tanks shape its eponymous red.
At A Glance
Field
Detail
Place
Gratallops, Catalonia
Appellation
DOQ Priorat
Signature wine
Clos Mogador
Wine style
Red wine
Defining practice
Biodynamic viticulture, permanent cover crops, cow compost and biochar
The Producer
René Barbier Ferrer was pursuing Grenaches when he bought a polyculture estate planted with vines, olive trees and almond trees. The estate now divides responsibilities between René Barbier Meyer, who guides fermentations, and Christian Barbier Meyer, who tends the vineyards.
From 2012 onward, Clos Mogador changed its viticulture toward biodynamic agriculture. Soil work remains minimally interventionist, with permanent cover crops, annual cow compost and biochar. Horses, sheep and chickens graze those crops. New plantings use rootstocks adapted to the estate soils, grafted with buds from indigenous varieties.
Place
Gratallops is where Clos Mogador makes estate bottled wine within DOQ Priorat. Estate bottling means the wine is produced by the property itself. Clos Mogador was among the first Catalan wines to receive Vi de Finca certification, which denotes more than a decade of production from the same single vineyard.
Wines
Clos Mogador is the eponymous red Priorat wine, with 2022 as the listed vintage. Some lots use 40% added stems, while others incorporate whole bunches. Whole bunch fermentation keeps stems with the grapes and can contribute perfume, spice and grip to the wine.
In The Glass
Clos Mogador brings Mediterranean undergrowth aromas around softened fruit, with characteristic minerality remaining alongside the fruit on the palate. Added stems and whole bunches can contribute perfume, spice and tannin during fermentation.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Clos Mogador. Fermentation and maceration last between 35 and 55 days in foudre, followed by twenty months in oak foudres and concrete tanks. Foudre is a large oak vessel that allows gradual oxygen contact, while concrete provides a neutral ageing vessel. The bottle brings together extended maceration, variable stem use and two different ageing materials under the Clos Mogador name.
Final Word
Clos Mogador joins family vineyard and fermentation work with estate bottling in Gratallops, biodynamic soil management and long élevage in oak foudres and concrete tanks.