Few producers anywhere in the wine world can trace unbroken family ownership back five centuries. The Rossell family of Cal Cassanyes in Sant Marcal, Penedes, first appear in estate documents as vignerons in 1497, and Oriol Rossell S.A., the company that formally carries the name today, continues to make some of Catalonia's most thoughtfully farmed sparkling and still wines.
Backstory
Pere Joan Rossell de la Costa is recorded as the earliest winemaking member of the family in papers from 1497. A new house was built at Rocaplana near Sant Marcal in 1638, and the two great estate families, Rossell de la Costa and Cassanyes, were joined by marriage in 1810. The current cellar, built in the Modernista style, dates to 1908, constructed after the estate recovered from phylloxera. The first bottled sparkling wines under the O.R. initials appeared in 1979, and Oriol Rossell i Almirall formally established the company in the early 1980s. Today the estate remains a small family business in the hands of his descendants, led by Toni.
The Region
Cal Cassanyes straddles the boundary between Alt Penedes and Baix Penedes in Catalonia, a dual positioning that gives the estate access to two distinct terroir expressions. To the north, the Prelitoral mountain range shields the vineyards from excessive cold and channels cool overnight air down the slopes. To the south, the Litoral coastal range and the proximity of the Mediterranean moderate the climate and maintain freshness in the fruit. The combined influence creates conditions ideal for the slow, even ripening that traditional cava production demands.
Vineyards & Farming
The estate covers 85 hectares of vines in a single contiguous block around the historic manor house, all certified organic by the Catalan Council of Organic Agricultural Production. Xarel-lo is the dominant white variety, with vines exceeding fifty years of age providing the backbone of all cava blends. Macabeu and Parellada complete the classic cava trio, while Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir cover the estate's red vineyards. Soils range from sandy-clay in the central zones to stony, gravelly ground in the south and finer, poorer soils to the north. All vines are rain-fed with no irrigation. Farming follows biodynamic principles including green pruning, manual grape thinning, and hand harvesting.
Winemaking
In a region where mechanized gyropallettes have replaced human hands on most estates, Oriol Rossell continues to riddle cava bottles by hand on traditional wooden pupitres, completing the process over three weeks. This labor-intensive approach reflects a house philosophy that the extra time and care improves the final quality of the wine on yeast. Base wines ferment in temperature-controlled tanks before blending and secondary in-bottle fermentation. Still wines undergo lees aging where appropriate to add texture.
The Wines
The cava range includes the Brut Nature Reserva, Brut Cuvee Especial, Brut Rose, the prestige Mitic 1908, and the Gran Propietat. Still wines include Virolet, a 100 percent Xarel-lo aged on lees for five months, and Xino Xano in white, rose, and red. The estate's cavas have appeared on tables at Michelin-starred restaurants across Spain and Portugal.