In a downstairs cellar in a sleepy Spanish town, the Hostal Sport offers a surprising insight into the Catalonia region. While the northern territory of Spain may well be known for its separatist tendencies, the region is also home to some of the finest wine producers in the world.
Priorat is a sleepy Spanish town, but not the type you’d have expected Don Quixote to visit. Instead it’s full of rolling green hills and lush valleys. The city is full of family-run hotels and high-caliber restaurants catering to culinary tourists. The region itself is full of “agriturismo”—or tourists on personal food & wine tours, typically staying in farmhouses and other local abodes.
The Hostal Sport is a family-run hotel in downtown El Priorat (if Priorat can be said to have a downtown). The city is one of the lesser known areas of Catalonia but has lots of personality and a growing history famous for wine tourism and gastronomy. The restaurant is open 365 days a year and serves only local products, so if you’re looking for a foodie escape from the Catalan countryside and bustling Barcelona, Priorat is a great place for leisure.
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Hostal Sport – a restaurant with rooms
I visited the Hostal Sport in El Priorat on a food and wine tour through the region. We were provided a brief tasting of local olive oils by the friendly staff of the hotel/restaurant. As always during a tasting like this, the wine (and cava!) was flowing. The hotel also has a large terrace in the back which was a great setting for an additional wine tasting. We also tried the local Catalan liqueur—ratafia. Ratafia is a nutty-anise flavored liqueur which reminded me of a strong brandy.
The Hostal Sport offers custom-made food & wine tours in the region and goes above-and-beyond catering for the regional tourists. They’re responsive on Twitter (@hostalsport) and other social media, which just makes it that much more cool. And the olive oil was good, too.
Hostal Sport
Miquel Barceló 4-6
43730 Falset (El Priorat)
hotelpriorat-hostalsport.com
My visit to Catalonia (read more stories here) was in partnership with @TravelDudes and the Catalunya tourism board.
This is why Europe is so intriguing to me. I love the Old World feel that these places have. I can only imagine how delicious the wine and carefully made olive oil were!
It’s so true Marco! Probably helps that Europe has a LOT of history.
The olive oil was really strong, I remember, but I quickly became a fan of many of the Priorat wines :)
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