Last Tuesday was a black day for Priorat. A severe thunderstorm affected the core of the region causing four small-scale fires. One of them severely affected 24 ha of vineyard in total, particularly the prime 1.9-ha Els Escurçons vineyard planted in 1999 by Mas Martinet.
The thunder was perceived straight away by neighbours, who called the emergency service. The fire started at 2.50 pm and 10 minutes later four hydroplanes, three helicopters and 31 fire trucks had arrived and secured the perimeter. It took four hours to finally extinguish the fire. The Escurçons is a vineyard surrounded by forest, which...