The DOQ Priorat wine box, a great offer supporting COVID-19 research

The online offers of wine “lockdown packs” (“vins de confinament” here in Catalunya) have been circulating quite heavily these past weeks. When you calculate the prices per bottle, some of them are a quite a good value and some not really, just benefiting the people promoting them by getting a commission or, free wine.

I’ve steered clear of all of this as most everyone is probably a bit saturated of online shopping at this point and there have really been endless offers whether from shops, distributors, or, if in the US, the wineries themselves. But being a big champion of Priorat and a resident of the region myself, I’d really like everyone know about the Vins de Viticultors del Priorat initiative, offering “surprise” boxes. These are random selections of six bottles per box from various producers all within DOQ Priorat.

The base price is 72.60€ (VAT included) with free shipping throughout the Spanish Peninsula, and 1€ per bottle (6€ per box) is donated to a research project doing clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine.

That makes the price 12.10€ per bottle which is a great considering that some wines in the pack cost nearly 20€ only when buying them directly at the winery as Priorat is an extremely tough, labor-intensive region to make wine in. If you’re in say the UK or other Western European countries, shipping is a pretty reasonable 13€ extra. It varies a bit depending upon where else you are (although it’s still far cheaper than a flight to the region, even if that was possible, which it isn’t) and unfortunately, this is only available to ship to most European addresses–Americans, go scream to get rid of the three-tier distribution system if you want in on these things in the future…

The box started as the initiative of the Cellers de Porrera Association (one of DOQ Priorat’s top wine villages) and once they received support from the DOQ body, other producers from around the territory joined in as well–83 in total!

Why am I promoting this? Am I getting a commission or free wine or some kind of kickback? Nope, nothing at all and I’m very happy with that if it means:

1. Good friends of mine can have a livelihood and continue making great wines by selling them directly to consumers in these difficult times
2. Wine lovers and readers of this site can get in on a great deal
3. It promotes more Direct to Consumer activities in Spain, which is a sector that’s been sorely overlooked until now
4. Last but not least, the donation of 1€ from every bottle going directly to COVID-19 research which is a disease we have to eradicate before any semblance of normal can return

About the only way this doesn’t work out for you is if you’re cutting back on consumption during these times, which if you feel it’s needed, is something I fully support. Otherwise, I can’t see why anyone who loves wine from DOQ Priorat wouldn’t take advantage of this and if that’s the case for you, receive some of your old friends and maybe make some new discoveries by buying it now!