Few grapes are as tied to a single place as Trepat is to Conca de Barbera, and few families have done more to defend it than the Forasters of Montblanc.
Backstory
The Foraster family has farmed vines and olive trees in Catalonia's Conca de Barbera since 1828. For generations they sold their grapes in bulk, but in 1998 they began making and bottling wine under their own name. Tragedy struck in 1999 when Josep Foraster Jr. died just as the first vintage was reaching the market. His sister Julieta Foraster and her son Ricard Sebastia Foraster took over the project, and Ricard, a trained oenologist and sommelier, remains the fourth-generation winemaker today.
The Region
The estate sits beside the medieval town of Montblanc, inland from Tarragona in the DO Conca de Barbera. It is cooler and higher than much of coastal Catalonia, and the family's plots climb from roughly 375 to 650 meters above sea level. Soils are a mix of limestone, stones, slate and clay, with the Trepat thriving in alluvial clay and sand.
Vineyards and Farming
The family works around 30 hectares, the majority owned and the rest rented, all certified organic or in conversion since 2011. Native varieties lead the way, with roughly 18 hectares planted to the local red Trepat alongside the white Macabeu. Olive trees still grow among the vines, a reminder of the estate's mixed-farming roots.
Winemaking
Winemaking is unfussy and centered on transparency. The cellar uses concrete eggs and French oak barrels for aging, letting the delicate, pale Trepat speak of its place rather than of oak. The family also produces a traditional-method Cava from estate fruit.
The Wines
The range showcases Trepat in many guises, from the juicy entry-level Els Nanos wines to the more serious Julieta and Trepat bottlings, plus white wines from Macabeu and sparkling Cava. Together they make a compelling case for a grape that exists almost nowhere else.
