Oriol Artigas
Oriol Artigas never planned to become a winemaker. His journey to become a chemist was set off course when he worked a harvest in Penedes. This brought home to the realization that a life in... Read More
Oriol Artigas never planned to become a winemaker. His journey to become a chemist was set off course when he worked a harvest in Penedes. This brought home to the realization that a life in a laboratory was not what the Fates had in store for him. Quickly thereafter he enrolled in oenology school and upon graduation went to work at a slew of wineries throughout Catalan. Once he landed a steady job as an eonology teacher, he got to work on his true passion; the revitalization of Alella old coastal vineyards in order to produce the transparent, non-interventionist wines that had become his passion.
Alella is located on the coast just 9 miles north of Barcelona. With its rocky mineral rich soil and almost perfect climate the area had been known for its exceptional wine since the time of the Romans. Unfortunately that proximity to the glittering capital of Catalan heralded its decline. The voracious desire for seaside real estate was the death knell for the majority of the area's old vines. Only a tiny fraction of the old vineland remains.
One of Spain's smallest DOs, Alella is blessed with enviable granite soils called sauló. While most of the vines are gone what does remain are mostly old and of varieties endemic to the area. The remaining viticultural heritage has inspired a small group of young winemakers to set up shop here to protect it from extinction. Oriol's revolutionary approach and exceptional wine has made him a vanguard of this small but consequential movement.
His over-arching philosophy is to “cultivate the vineyards in the most natural and least interventionist way possible, to allow the grapes to express in the most intense way the landscape from which they come.” He works about 12 hectares in total, mostly of old vines. He allows vegetation to grow between the vines, prunes very little, and works the vineyards primarily along the lunar calendar. In the winery, fermentations are completely spontaneous, aging is primarily done in steel vats, and sulfur is never used at any point in this process.
From his terraced vineyard, looking over the azure sea you can feel and taste the sea breeze with a view of Barcelona glittering in the distance. The last ten years have seen him evolve from someone who makes wines casually for sharing with friends into one of Spain's most talked about winemakers. The two on offer today beautifully capture what has made this warm and humble man a superstar amongst his fellow Catalan winemakers.
Alella is located on the coast just 9 miles north of Barcelona. With its rocky mineral rich soil and almost perfect climate the area had been known for its exceptional wine since the time of the Romans. Unfortunately that proximity to the glittering capital of Catalan heralded its decline. The voracious desire for seaside real estate was the death knell for the majority of the area's old vines. Only a tiny fraction of the old vineland remains.
One of Spain's smallest DOs, Alella is blessed with enviable granite soils called sauló. While most of the vines are gone what does remain are mostly old and of varieties endemic to the area. The remaining viticultural heritage has inspired a small group of young winemakers to set up shop here to protect it from extinction. Oriol's revolutionary approach and exceptional wine has made him a vanguard of this small but consequential movement.
His over-arching philosophy is to “cultivate the vineyards in the most natural and least interventionist way possible, to allow the grapes to express in the most intense way the landscape from which they come.” He works about 12 hectares in total, mostly of old vines. He allows vegetation to grow between the vines, prunes very little, and works the vineyards primarily along the lunar calendar. In the winery, fermentations are completely spontaneous, aging is primarily done in steel vats, and sulfur is never used at any point in this process.
From his terraced vineyard, looking over the azure sea you can feel and taste the sea breeze with a view of Barcelona glittering in the distance. The last ten years have seen him evolve from someone who makes wines casually for sharing with friends into one of Spain's most talked about winemakers. The two on offer today beautifully capture what has made this warm and humble man a superstar amongst his fellow Catalan winemakers.