Some winemaking talent is taught, and some is simply inherited. Alicia Serres carries the name of one of Catalonia's most uncompromising natural growers, and her first wines suggest the instinct runs in the family.
Backstory
Alicia is a descendant of the Serres family of Pinell de Brai and the daughter of Laureano Serres, the cult figure behind Mendall and a pioneer of Spanish natural wine. Laureano worked as a software developer before returning home to take over the family vineyards and, after 2003, began the radical sulfur-free experimentation that made his name. Working with her partner Alex, Alicia has taken on family parcels her father once farmed, including the Santa Helena site and the Finca Caibelles plot that belonged to her great-grandfather.
The Region
The wines come from Terra Alta, the high, remote southwestern corner of Catalonia in the province of Tarragona, near the Ebro. It is Garnacha and Carinena country, with a continental climate, the strong garbinada winds off the Mediterranean, and meager soils that keep yields naturally low.
Vineyards & Farming
The vineyards sit at altitude on poor, stony ground that stresses the vines and concentrates the fruit. Caibelles is an old field-blend parcel farmed biodynamically, planted on clay and calcareous soils. Grapes are hand-harvested. The family tradition favors old massale-selected vines of Garnacha and Carinena rather than replanted clones.
Winemaking
Serres works with absolute minimalism, the house style she grew up around: spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts, aging in stainless steel to preserve freshness, and bottling unfined and unfiltered with no added sulfur.
The Wines
Santa Helena is built around roughly 70% Carignan with Garnacha Blanca and Garnacha Tinta, fermented and aged about seven months in stainless steel. Caibelles is an old field blend of about 90% Carinena rounded out with small amounts of Syrah, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Garnacha Negra on clay-calcareous soils. Both are honest, vineyard-driven expressions of Terra Alta from a winemaker carrying a famous lineage forward on her own terms.
