Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #20: René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador

Meet the wonderful René Barbier Meyer, head winemaker at Clos Mogador winery in Priorat, Spain. René is a winemaker who believes in being close to the land, the grapes, and juice so that he can make unique, artisan, gastronomic wines. In our interview, he shares his philosophy of winemaking, which is very similar to the way that a musician would describe making music - it is about feel, technique, and adaptation. René practices very low intervention winemaking because he wants the people to experience the wine as it was meant to be. He comes from a long line of winemakers who are French in origin, but who found their home in northern Spain, focusing on indigenous grapes and passionate winemaking. We know you will enjoy meeting René and learning more about his winery and wines. If you are interested in learning more, you can visit them on Instagram at @clos_mogador.

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Transcript

Show Notes

Special Episode! Meet the (Wine) Makers #20: René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador

 KEY INSIGHTS & FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Q: What is René Barbier Meyer’s winemaking philosophy at Clos Mogador? A: René Barbier Meyer follows a low-intervention, artisan winemaking philosophy that prioritizes a deep connection to the land and indigenous grapes. He views winemaking as an art form similar to music, relying on feel, technique, and adaptation to create "gastronomic" wines that express the unique terroir of Priorat, Spain.

Q: What makes the Priorat wine region and Clos Mogador unique? A: Clos Mogador is a pioneer in the Priorat region, located in the village of Gratallops. The winery is renowned for its focus on organic viticulture and the use of local varietals. The region’s distinctiveness comes from its rugged terrain and "licorella" (slate) soils, which René Barbier Meyer utilizes to produce complex, high-quality Spanish red wines.

Q: Does René Barbier Meyer use organic or natural winemaking techniques? A: Yes, René Barbier Meyer is a proponent of organic and low-intervention winemaking. By minimizing chemical inputs and technical interference, he aims to let the natural juice and fruit speak for themselves, ensuring that the final wine is a pure reflection of the vineyard’s environment and history.

Q: Who are the "Clos Five" in the Priorat wine revolution? A: The "Clos Five" refers to a group of pioneering winemakers, including René Barbier’s father, who arrived in Priorat in the late 1980s. They are credited with reviving the region and establishing it as one of Spain’s premier wine-producing areas by focusing on quality over quantity and highlighting the unique slate-heavy landscape.

Introduction to the Interview with René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador 00:00

Hello, and welcome to this special episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and for this special episode,it’s just me! Caramela is making cakes in her bakery, which by the way you can learn more about if you head over to her website lovebabycakes.com, or maybe we are just out of town and while we are out, we are letting you hear our amazing conversations with winemakers.

So, today, we are going to introduce you to René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador. René is one of the best interviews I have ever had because he was so energetic and interesting and open. René comes from a long line of French winemakers, but he specializes in wines from Priorat in northern Spain. His winery is located in the village of Gratallops, a place his father and a group of four other winemakers settled in in the late 1980’s. He is a winemaker with a very close connection to the land and to the fruit, focusing on low intervention, organic winemaking with indigenous grapes. In our conversation you will hear about his approach, and how he brings joy, discovery, and art to his winemaking, both literally and figuratively.

Before our chat with René, I want to give you all a quick orientation to what we usually do in our podcast. In most episodes we learn about, taste, and review two to three wines that are reasonably priced, which means under $25, and should be easy to find. However, for this special set of episodes, we interview people who are involved in actually making wine. Because part of what we want to do with our podcast is to educate ourselves and you our listeners on different aspects of wine knowledge in a fun, entertaining, and unstuffy way, even entertaining as Decanter magazine has called our podcast, and that is what we are doing today!

A small plug before we get to the interview with René  - if you like what you are hearing or are interested in hearing our other “regular” episodes, please subscribe or follow our podcast so you can hear more - especially since you are only getting one half of The Wine Pair Podcast in this episode! You can also go to our website thewinepairpodcast.com to send us a note or subscribe to our newsletter, you can follow us on Instagram and Bluesky at The Wine Pair Podcast, and, if you like what you are hearing, you can even leave us a nice rating and review, we won’t mind!

Ok, let’s get to the interview with René, and I will just warn you if you are English speaker that it may take a minute or two to get used to René’s accent, but be patient, because once you get into the flow, you will have a great time and learn a ton!

Interview with René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador 02:59

Interview Questions:

• Tell us a little about yourself - your background, your family, etc., and if wine played any part in your growing up
• Tell us about how you got into winemaking. Was this something you had planned for and pursued, or did it "find" you?
• Did you have a mentor, or someone who taught you the ropes?
• What do you think defines you as a winemaker and makes you and your wines special?
• Tell us about a few of your latest releases and what makes you excited about them.
• Do you lean more towards the art or the science of wine (or both)?
• What’s something surprising, interesting, exciting, or funny you have learned about yourself since you started making wine?
• Are there any important or interesting stories about your wine or the people you work with that you think would be important for our audience to know?
• If we were to invite you to Sunday Night Dinner (a tradition in our Italian American family), what of your wines would you bring and why?
• How can people find your wines and follow you (your website, social, etc.)

Outro and How to Find René Barbier Meyer winemaker at Clos Mogador 35:13

Thank you very much for listening to our interview with René. As you can tell, he is a wonderful person, and really a pleasure to talk to. He is someone who you can tell puts all of his heart and soul into every wine he makes. 

Now, in case you are worried about how to find René and Clos Mogador wines, don’t worry, you can find out all of this information on our website thewinepairpodcast.com in our show notes for this episode. But so you have it, here is the information about how to find out more

• Website: http://www.closmogador.com/ 
• Instagram: @clos_mogador
• Email: closmogador@closmogador.com

And, we hope you will subscribe to our podcast The Wine Pair Podcast and follow us on Instagram, and visit our website at thewinepairpodcast.com where you can reach out to us and sign up for our newsletter, and you can also reach out to me at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com if you want more information, and we look forward to hearing from you!

But for now it’s time to go, and as we like to say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.