Who: Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó What: Vino de España and Corpinnat Where: Penedès near Vilafranca del Penedès When: Since 2006 Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó are the husband wife team who own and manage Mas Candí, a growing concern in the Penedès just outside Avinyonet close to Vilafranca del Penedès, less than an hour … Continue reading Mas Candí
Appellation: none Cuvée: Disbarrats Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu 80, Xarello 20 About: new in 2019 from fruit that used to be sold in bulk to Juve y Camps, a quality local producer of Cava. Light in alcohol with a gram of sulfur at bottling to keep it straight, this is like a white version of … Continue reading La Salada Disbarrats
Appellation: none Cuvée: La Serra Colour: White Grapes: Xarello About: new in 2018 from fruit that used to be sold in bulk to Juve y Camps, a quality local producer of Cava. This is the mirror wine of L’Ermot which is pure Macabeu. Whole bunch maceration gives it a visceral texture. Vines Location of vines: … Continue reading La Salada La Serra
Appellation: DO Penedès Cuvée: Hey! Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu 60, Xarello 40 About: New in 2019, an entry level white with a bit of skin contact from a new vineyard Amós is looking after that was planted by his Grandfather, this is more about the wine experience than Missatge and Oculta which are more about … Continue reading Amós Bañeres Hey! 2019
Appellation: Cava. Cuvée: SIN. Colour: Sparkling White. Grapes: Xarello. About: A soft and silky, mineral, saline Cava, with some complexity from 18 months on lees. SIN means “without” in Spanish; the wine is made without chemical products and with little intervention in the making. Vines Location: near Sant Marti Sarroca just north west of Vilafranca … Continue reading SIN Cava
Appellation: DO Penedès. Cuvée: Ull de Llebre. Colour: Red. Grapes: Tempranillo (called Ull de Llebre in Catalonia). About: From pure limestone soils and with a maceration of just two days, this is as simply made as possible to yield a very soft, silky, pure, light red wine. Vines Location: near Sant Marti Sarroca just north … Continue reading SIN Tempranillo
Appellation: DO Penedès. Cuvée: Xarello. Colour: White. Grapes: Xarel-lo. About: SIN means without in Spanish; the wine is made without chemical products or much intervention in the making. As little as possible is done to make this wine, the grapes are harvested from warmer sited south-west facing vines at the end of August when the … Continue reading SIN Xarello
Almost everything we know about Celler La Salada-Mas Candí’s wines for now has been posted here! Toni and Anna Carbó with Ramon Jane Garriga and Merce Pujol are making a large and eclectic but very fine and ever improving collection of wines, from organic wines and without any additives.
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Caboriès. Colour: Red. Grapes: Mando, Sumoll Tinto, Xarello. About: a fascinating blend of native varieties to create a wine that has intensity but very light touch, somewhere in between Roig Boig and Maçaners. Vines Location: Gunyoles. Size ha: 1.5. Age: Mando and Sumoll Tinto planted between 1985 and 2010, Xarello in 1949. … Continue reading La Salada Caboriès
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Maçaners. Colour: Red. Grapes: Sumoll. About: Sumoll is Catalonia’s Poulsard or Pinot Noir, a quite delicate but intense variety that’s more about acidity and perfume than fruit. In the hands of a careful producer, the results are usually very lovely. Toni’s wine is as concentrated as it gets, with fabulous finesse. It … Continue reading La Salada Maçaners
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Sota Els Ametllers. Colour: Orange. Grapes: Malvasia de Sitges. About: new in 2016, made from a single, rare varietal and given the full orange treatment, but unlike Bufarrella where the long skin maceration seems to disappear into the wine, this wine is distinctly orange, astringent, tannic and peppery from the skin contact. … Continue reading La Salada Sota Els Ametllers
Appellation: VDE. Cuvée: La Bufarrella. Colour: White. Grapes: Xarello. About: another killer wine from Toni Carbó that shows what can be done with Xarello, here low-yielding and given 5 months skin contact with 5% of the stems left in to add some vegetal crunch, the wine that comes out is hardly orange and remarkably fine … Continue reading La Salada La Bufarrella
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: L’Ermot. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu. About: shows the diversity and quality of Macabeu, which is rarely used for varietal wines here, being usually blended into Cava. This wine has a strikingly rich, viscous texture, and toasty character, which comes from the age of the vines, there’s no oak used. Vines Location: Pla … Continue reading La Salada L’Ermot
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Ovella Negra. Colour: White. Grapes: Garnacha Blanca 2/3, Malvasia de Sitges 1/3. About: the unusual blend makes this wine stand out, there’s very little of either grape in the Penedès, or even in Spain. One of the richer wines from this producer. Vines Location: Gunyoles and Plan del Penedès. Size ha: less … Continue reading La Salada Ovella Negra
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Baudili. Colour: White. Grapes: Xarello 65%, Parellada 35%. About: this is basically a still Tinc Set and was originally, in the first vintage 2016, called Tinc Set Tranquil. To avoid confusion, for the label was basically the same as the sparkling, too, the wine has been re-named after the vineyard it comes … Continue reading La Salada Baudili
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: Roig Boig. Colour: Rosé. Grapes: Mando, Sumoll, Xarello, Parellada, Torbat, Monica, Cannonau, Rogenc (Garnacha de Emporda), and Carinyana. About: the first vintage of this wine, 2013, was more of a pale red and the wine has always been well coloured for a Rosé, not surprisingly given the mix of red and white … Continue reading La Salada Roig Boig
Appellation: Vi escumós. Cuvée: Roig Boig Ancestral. Colour: Sparkling Pink. Grapes: Mando, Sumoll, Xarello, Parellada, Torbat, Monica, Cannonau, Rogenc (Garnacha de Emporda), and Carinyana. About: This deceptively simple Pet Nat (Ancestral) sparkling rosé wine is made from a blend of 9 grapes, both red and white. It’s the sparkling version of their killer pale red … Continue reading La Salada Roig Boig Ancestral
Appellation: Vi escumós. Cuvée: Tinc Set. Colour: Sparkling White. Grapes: Xarello 65%, Parellada 35%. About: Fine, thirst-quenching, wonderfully refreshing with clean and pure fruit. This light, easy, fun sparkling white is just about the best aperitif or palate cleanser or fix of bubbles we know. As with all La Salada-Mas Candí joint productions, it’s from … Continue reading La Salada Tinc Set
Almost everything we know about Els Vinyerons Vins Naturals wines for now has been posted here! Els Vinyerons Vins Naturals is a brilliantly realised project to make inexpensive organic, sans soufre, terroir wines. By Alex Rios and Amós Bañeres, who each produce very successful but totally different wines in their own name.
Appellation: Penedès Cuvée: Saltamarti Colour: Red Grapes: Tempranillo About: Both red and white Els Vinyerons – Vins Naturals wines are creations brilliantly realised to make inexpensive organic, sans soufre, terroir wines. They’re designed to be clean and easy to drink while fully capturing the fruit character of the grape and soil and climate. Early vintages … Continue reading Els Vinyerons Penedès Saltamarti
Appellation: Penedès Cuvée: Lluerna Colour: White Grapes: Xarello About: Both red and white Els Vinyerons – Vins Naturals wines are creations brilliantly realised to make inexpensive organic, sans soufre, terroir wines. They’re designed to be clean and easy to drink while fully capturing the fruit character of the grape and soil and climate. The soil … Continue reading Els Vinyerons Penedès Lluerna
Almost everything we know about Amós Bañeres’s wines for now has been posted here! Amós makes tiny quantities of pure, complex, elegant, rich and totally gorgeous wines from a small hillside near Vilafranca in the Penedès of Macabeu on one side and Xarel-lo on the other. Without added sulfites.
Appellation: DO Penedès. Cuvée: Vinya Oculta. Colour: White. Grapes: Xarello. About: Amos top wine – until he produced the extraordinary Arrels del Cielo. Majestic, full of umami, the name means the dark side of the vineyard because it’s north-facing so ripens more slowly, more intensely. While Missatge expresses a celestial side to Macabeu, this very … Continue reading Amós Bañeres Penedès Vinya Oculta
Appellation: DO Penedès. Cuvée: Missatge en una Ampolla. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu. About: Amos feels Macabeu is an incredible grape, with complex fruit and cool salty acidity, but it’s difficult to grow because the skin is thin, the cluster is tight and so it’s prone to disease. So, many Macabeu wines are earthy and vegetal. … Continue reading Amós Bañeres Penedès Missatge en una Ampolla
Who: Toni and Anna Carbò with Ramon Jane Garriga and Merce Cuscol What: Vi de Taula Where: Penedes, Catalonia, Spain When: Since 2011 Celler La Salada is located in the Penedes close to Avinyonet and Vilafranca, less than an hour out of Barcelona due west. It was founded by Toni Carbò in 2011 with his … Continue reading La Salada-Ramon Jane Garriga
Who: Joan and Guillem Carol What: Cava Where: Penedes, Catalonia When: Since 1996 The lovely wines from Carol Valles show how good Cava can be when it’s made with care by a small, family estate dedicated to making just one style of wine, from traditional varieties farmed organically, and aged for 18 months, double the … Continue reading Carol Valles
