Women in Wine: Agroecological Wines by Sara Pérez at Mas Martinet in Spain’s Priorat DOC with Duck a la Espagnole, Eggplant Importancia, Couscous to Celebrate Women’s History Month

Sara Pérez (in jeans jacket) in a seminar at WINeFare; founder Pamela Busch on far left seated

At just 17 years old, Catalonian Sara Pérez learned how to make wine at her family winery and started the the small family vineyard on a path toward organic viticulture in northeastern Spain, she said during Women’s History Month at last year’s WINeFare in San Francisco, California. Cheers to Women’s History Month, to International Women’s Day March 8, and to trailblazing winemakers like Sara Pérez!

As a fan of natural and organic wines and on the lookout for those made by women winemakers and from women owners, I was in heaven a year ago when I attended WINeFare— Women In Natural Wine— held in San Francisco at the Haight Street Art Center, and I can’t wait for the next one scheduled for June 7. In 2018, a non-profit organization focused on social justice in the wine industry called The Vinguard founded by Pamela Busch started WINeFare to provide a platform for women who make and import natural wine. In 2025, 50 winemakers from five countries will pour on Saturday; purchase tickets here. This is also one of the more affordable and important wine tasting events that I know! 

WINeFare logo

In 2024, WINeFare was a two day event with seminars both days and a dinner in between gathering 75 wineries with women who work in natural wine from all over the world to share their wares and stories with the public. Each day of the event last year featured different women pouring their wines in, around, and among art combining two of my favorite things! So many fascinating wines and people too including wines from Spain’s Mas Martinet made by Sara Pérez who attended and participated in a Sunday seminar and women in wine in Spain.

2022 Mas Martine PESSEROLES BRISAT, Priorat DOC

Founded in 1981 by her father Josep Lluís Pérez and her mother Montse Ovejero with the whole family involved, Sara Pérez took over winemaking at Mas Martinet 20 years later and ushered in a new era. While Mas Matinet has always stood for sustainability and family, Sara’s a champion of agroecology and she’s experimented with styles of wine far different than those favored by her father— although she still makes some wines to please him she told me with a laugh. 

Rioja may be better known in the US, but the Priorat region, located in the Montsant mountain range south of Barcelona and north of Tarragona in the northeastern part of Spain produces some of Spain’s finest reds. One of the warmest and driest areas of Spain with a continental climate means long, sunny summers and infrequent rainfall.

Steep, terraced vineyards composed mainly of ragged and broken slate date to Roman times— and like in Roman times due to the rugged terrain, are planted, pruned and picked by hand. In the cellar, Sara seeks to reflect the grapes of a given year with minimal manipulation or intervention as well as make wines to last. 

“Our commitment to sustainability and eco-feminism is translated into concrete practices with which we try to regenerate the territory, enhance biodiversity and support a viticulture that is conscious and environmentally friendly,” they say. 

Sara was part of a seminar with other Spanish women winemakers, and she poured her wines on Sunday which is where my palate encountered them. I begged for samples, and she handed these bottles over. I searched for and found several dishes that I thought would be fabulous with these wines, and Sue pulled it off with the help of Kathy to produce a complex, fragrant meal to go with complex, fragrant wines!

Mas Martinet Wines

Mas Martinet Wines

  • 2020 VERGE DE MARTINET, Priorat DOC
  • 2022 PESSEROLES BRISAT, Priorat DOC
  • 2021 ELS ESCURÇONS, Priorat DOC 
  • 2021 CLOS MARTINET, Priorat DOC 
 

Mas Martinet Wines

Menu

2020 Mas Martinet VERGE DE MARTINET, Priorat DOC

2020 Mas Martinet VERGE DE MARTINET, Priorat DOC

ABV: 14%
SRP: $50 (more?)
Grapes: organic Cariñena, Garnacha Tinta, Grenache Gris
Importer: Vintage Imports Inc
sample for my review

Only 350 bottles!

Foot treaded and crushed for a couple of hours in chestnut half barrels, then pressed directly.  Crushing the grapes gently by feet, they say, gives an intensity of color and a structure more typical of a red wine than a rosé wine. Fermented in a 1200 liter foudre and in glass demijohns then aged in the same vessels for seven months. This is a delightful wine! 

Appearance:  Orange rim, a bit cloudy, blood orange, watermelon

Aroma: Orange peel, orange oil, rose geranium, tart cherry, saffron, clove, tangerine

Palate: Tart, earthy rhubarb, rose geranium, cherry finish, red fruit skins, Santa Rosa plum, tangerine  

Pairing: The wine was beautiful with the Serrano ham. The salty ham really brings out the intense cherry fruit in the rose as does the olives, loves the creamy saltiness in the Manchego cheese. The duck is quite nice with the wine. The spices in the couscous was a perfect highlight to the wine. Lovely the eggplant as well because of all the beautiful spices in the dish. Great with the spicy arugula salad. The duck and the wine was even better than I thought it would be. 

The Serrano Jamon was our favorite with this wine.

2022 Mas Martine PESSEROLES BRISAT, Priorat DOC

2022 Mas Martine PESSEROLES BRISAT, Priorat DOC

ABV: 13.5
SRP: $50
Grapes: organic 43% Picpoul, 29% Pedro Ximenez, 28% Grenache Blanc
Importer: Vintage Imports Inc
sample for my review

Only 1075 bottles! 

They say: “Pesseroles Brisat is an emotional journey to recovery of orange wines, white grape wines macerated with the skin. It is a traditional, handmade wine with a slow and cold fermentation. It is macerated with the skin for 3 months, and then aged for a long time in a glazed ceramic jar and demijohns. It is a wine with a strong structure in the mouth and oxidation notes that show the great ageing capacity of the southern Mediterranean white wines.”

An orange wine for those who are afraid of orange wines or trying something new or different. Something special that’s outside of some people’s wheelhouse. 

Appearance:  rich deep golden apricot, pretty sunset, a bit cloudy, sediment

Aroma: orange, orange blossom, like when you’re outside in an orchard and it’s blooming with the dampness of the earth, baking spices, rich enveloping nose

Palate: fresh orange, and more orange with some baked orange cake, incredible texture that envelopes the palate, lots of substance almost like fresh squeezed orange juice

Pairing: Lovely with the cashews, Serrano ham (bringing out a sweetness in the ham), and all the cheeses on our plate, The spices in the meal respond so nicely with the wine; the spices in the eggplant bring out lovely fruit in the wine and the wine brings out a sweetness in the eggplant. The wine responds so well to the smoky paprika. The wine loves the duck especially the orange rind. Seriously just wow with the duck! Fabulous with the flavorful couscous. Also very nice with the arugula salad. 

We loved the entire menu across the board with this wine!

2021 Mas Martinet ELS ESCURÇONS, Priorat DOC

2021 Mas Martinet ELS ESCURÇONS, Priorat DOC 

ABV: 13.5%
SRP: $98
Grapes: organic Grenache 
Importer: Vintage Imports Inc
sample for my review

They say: “Els Escurçons is a tribute to Priorat before the phylloxera, when people worked in the higher parts and mainly the Garnacha. 100% Garnacha from a vineyard at a height of 600 meters. The highest estate of Priorat on a ferruginous slate-containing land. An exceptionally fine and elegant wine that shows the nicest slope of Priorat. Fermented in clay, and also aged in clay and demijohns. It is a wine that escapes from the typical structure, strength and rusticity of Priorat in order to offer the lightness, delicacy and maturity of the old wines.”

Think of this for a Valentine’s Day wine…or any special occasion meal with your sweetheart!

Appearance:  Super pretty, bright fuchsia, rose rim, clear

Aroma: fresh roses, potpourri, herbs of Provence, very perfumed, carnation, strawberry, raspberry, fresh soil, wet terracotta 

Palate: tart fruit, feel the texture from the amphora, mild tannins, black current tea, black pepper, fresh raspberry, pomegranate, red mulberry

Pairing: The salad works with the wine especially if you are generous with the cheese. Great with the Serrano ham. We felt that if we added the Serrano ham, cashews, and olives to our salad and paired it with this wine it would make for a perfect hearty salad pairing. The wine works well with the eggplant again because of the spices. Very good with the couscous; there is something about the zucchini and the spices become refreshing and light with the wine and the wine enlivens the dish. OMG the duck and the wine are just divine together. I want to cry it is so good. It loves the orange rind and brininess with the duck. 

We felt that the couscous was absolutely amazing with the meal. It was so flavorful, refreshing and light that both the meal and the wine were elevated when paired together. Definitely a dish to make again — and not too hard to do! In fact, on a subsequent evening at a ski cabin, I brought a jar with the spices already mixed and the other ingredients and we made another batch! 

2021 Mas Martinet 2021 CLOS MARTINET, Priorat DOC

2021 Mas Martinet 2021 CLOS MARTINET, Priorat DOC

ABV: 13.5%
SRP: $135
Grapes: organic Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon
Importer: Vintage Imports Inc
sample for my review

They say: “Clos Martinet is the Priorat of the 1980s. The wine of those who believed in terroir and put all their efforts in taking care of the process and the shape… It is the wine of the previous generation. Different varieties from different orientations and locations. It goes through cement tanks, demijohns, French oak barrels, foudres and clay jars to understand its full complexity. A deep, warm, tasty and elegant wine. The most classical and recognisable Priorat.” Sara makes this wine for her dad she told me, in honor of the traditional wines of the region, and the style that he knows and loves. We loved it too — but it needs to be cellared for another 5-10 years. 

Appearance:  Ruby, medium density, mauve rim. 

Aroma: Cherry, cherry pie, earth, baking spices, cherry tobacco, loamy earth, vanilla; I love the spicy nose.  

Palate: Ripe rich cherry, lots of intense fruit, not jammy! earthy, mulberry, black pepper, tannins stick to your palate, rib eye steak, lay me down! 

Pairing: The duck dish went very nicely with the wine, and the rich flavorful gran marnier was evident when paired with this wine where it wasn’t noticeable with the other wines. The couscous was so beautiful with the wine. The earthy spices in the sauce of the eggplant also went well. Great with green olives and the Serrano ham. I liked the Cabra cheese where Sue really liked the Manchego cheese with the wine. So nice with the tangerines in the salad and in the duck dish.  

We loved the duck best with this wine. The dish was so rich, complex, and satisfying, and was completely elevated to perfection with the wine. Sauces that are often put on duck don’t work so well with wines, however, this one did maybe because it is Spanish in style and southern French in origin where Grenache is the star. 

 

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2 thoughts on “Women in Wine: Agroecological Wines by Sara Pérez at Mas Martinet in Spain’s Priorat DOC with Duck a la Espagnole, Eggplant Importancia, Couscous to Celebrate Women’s History Month”

  1. How wonderful that you were gifted samples of all these wonderful wines. Pretty impressive for a 17 year old to take on such an important role.

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