It hardly matters which way you approach the region of Catalonia: whether it's via Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France or from Barcelona, which lies a little over one hour's drive to the south. The landscape, flanked by the shimmering Mediterranean and dominated by the Pyrenees, which rise to the north, is equally distinctive whichever route you choose. Vines have been laboriously cultivated here since the Greeks arrived on the coast. The Romans followed exporting their wines throughout the empire. Later, in medieval times, it fell to the monasteries, including that of the wildly beautiful Sant Pere de Rodes perched high above the sea, to continue the wine-growing tradition.