In 2006, Ramón Jané broke with 500 years of family tradition. Until that time, Ramón and his family had always sold their grapes to large Cava producers in Penedes. Along with his wife, Mercé Cuscó,... Read More

In 2006, Ramón Jané broke with 500 years of family tradition. Until that time, Ramón and his family had always sold their grapes to large Cava producers in Penedes. Along with his wife, Mercé Cuscó, and best friend, Toni Carbó, he kept a portion of his grapes and made his own wine under the Mas Candí label.

This being Penedes, Mas Candi makes an assortment of sparkling wines and like the other top small producers in the area have eschewed the Cava designation. But the wines below are not the bubbly sort. Ramón knew that with the quality of his old vines that they were capable of producing world class still wines. He focuses on Xarel-lo, an indigenous variety which thrives on the estate's calcareous clay soils.

Ramón and his family continue to be grape growers first and only make small amounts of wine on their own. All of their grapes are grown biodynamically on the inland edge of the Garraf massif. Meticulous viticulture, old vines, an almost perfect climate for grape going and gentle cellar practice produce Xarel-lo with an almost distilled minerality. Fresh and breezy, these wines are pleasure bombs that display citrus peel, earthy notes and salinity that points to their semi-coastal provenance. Low in alcohol with an ability to age, Mas Candi is displaying Xarel-lo’s ability to make complex wines that are capable of aging with grace.

With many of her newer producers dedicated to sustainable viticulture and non-interventionist winemaking, Spain has become one of the planet's most exciting wine regions. Mas Candi is at the leading edge of this movement and we are excited about what their future will bring.