Natural Wine Producers: Working With Nature
Portraits and interviews with the world's finest natural wine producers — farmers and winemakers who work in harmony with terroir, minimal intervention, and a deep respect for the land.
Mendall
Former computer programmer Laureano Serres returned to his ancestral village in Terra Alta in 1999 and became one of Spain's most influential natural winemakers, farming biodynamically on limestone at 400 meters elevation without a drop of added sulfur.
Masia de la Roqua
Jot Camps tends ancient vines on the calcareous heights of the Massís del Garraf above Barcelona, producing small-batch natural wines from Ull de Llebre, Macabeu, Xarello, and other indigenous Catalan varieties on soils that date back to the twelfth century.
Costador
From a single Catalan mountain, Joan Franquet rescues vines up to 110 years old and ferments nearly extinct local grapes in clay amphorae under his Metamorphika label.
Pardas
Ramon Parera and Jordi Arnan farm 35 organic hectares at Can Comas in Alt Penedes, where Xarel-lo, Sumoll, and rare indigenous varieties express clay-limestone terroir at 250 metres elevation.
Viticultor Ramon Jané
A Penedes native with Burgundy and Champagne training who farms biodynamically to express the true character of Xarel-lo and Sumoll from his family's ancient land.
Casa Pardet
A tiny biodynamic Catalan estate in Verdu making zero-sulfite, additive-free wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Trepat and Chardonnay on limestone-clay soils.
Alta Alella
Inside a natural park barely a mile from the Mediterranean, this Pujol-Busquets family estate has farmed organically since 1991 on Alella's distinctive white granite sand.
Tanca Els Ulls
In the village of Nulles, where his grandfather once farmed the vines, Cesc Boronat is the last active winemaker standing -- reviving indigenous Catalan varieties with eyes wide open and a conviction that this forgotten corner of Alt Camp deserves to be heard.
Artesano Vintners
Two New Zealand winemakers set up in Catalonia in 2016 to make tiny-batch, zero-added-sulfite wines from indigenous grapes like Xarel-lo and Parellada.
AT Roca
A third-generation sparkling-wine name walked away from Cava to join Classic Penedes, making zero-dosage traditional-method bottles from organic, hand-picked Macabeu and Xarel-lo.
Álvaro González Marcos
Working two hectares from a 400-year-old masia, this Penedès grower farms old Xarel-lo and Parellada biodynamically and bottles barely 8,000 gravity-handled bottles a year.
Partida Creus
Former architects Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa left Turin for a remote village in Baix Penedes, where they rescue old vines of obscure native varieties and make some of Spain's most distinctive zero-zero natural wines.