Vins El Cep was born from the union of four winegrowing families and four estates. Since 1980, they have crafted distinctive, high-quality wines and cavas that express their terroirs. Located in els Costers de l’Anoia, at Can Llopart de les Alzines, they are pioneers in organic and biodynamic viticulture.
They strive to achieve the perfect balance between respect for nature and the highest quality in the winery. The vineyards are their heritage; the roots, their landscape.
Technical Sheet
Winery: Estate vineyards in Sant Sadurní de Noia (Barcelona), hand-harvested.
D.O. Penedés
Alcohol: 12%
Variety: 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay
Tasting note: Pale yellow color with golden highlights. Fine, persistent bubbles with slow evolution. Clean aromas combining citrus, gentle toasted notes, and brioche. An elegant cava of great minerality, dense and broad on the palate, characteristic of the variety. Saline notes. Balanced and elegant, with a long finish.
Serving temperature: 6-8ºC
Production: A very warm autumn extended the period in which the vine stores energy. Rainfall increased the soil’s water-holding capacity. Winter was dry and very warm, causing early budbreak. Spring was warm and very dry, which reduced yields. Occasional rains in July and early August helped the grapes ripen well. The harvest was low-yielding and of good quality, with high acidity for their wines. They began harvesting on August 14 with Pinot Noir and finished on October 2 with Cabernet Sauvignon. Hand harvest. Grape cooling. Gravity-fed reception. Low-pressure pressing with a 30% extraction of free-run must. Fermentation in small tanks at controlled temperature. Only 5000 l of this wine are made. Aged for more than 48 months.
Pairing: shellfish, fish, foie gras.
At Made in Spain Gourmet, we believe it is excellent with Mediterranean rice dishes such as those from Dehesa de la Albufera (seafood paellas, brothy rice dishes) and fresh pasta with sautéed vegetables or boletus sauces.
Vins el Cep is a sustainable, responsible, and efficient winery.
They work every day to honor their commitment to the landscape. They operate sustainably using renewable energy, with the utmost respect for the environment in both vineyard and winery.
They work to improve water management, reduce waste, and increase energy efficiency, investing so that everything runs on photovoltaic energy.
Their Journey
The Carreras, Esteve, Masana, and Parera families had centuries of experience, with deep-rooted farming traditions and a history of winemaking in their farmhouses. In 1980, they began a shared project to produce wines and cavas that represent the identity of their terroirs.
Can Llopart de les Alzines, an estate dating back to 1499 and surrounded by vineyards, was the chosen site for building their winery.
The soul of their project was—and always will be—those four friends and neighbors who eventually became partners: Gil Masana, Josep Carreras, Pere Parera, and Josep Esteve, who, guided by vocation, knowledge, and love for the land, have brought it to where it is today.
Biodynamic: Pioneers and True Believers
Throughout their history, each generation has contributed its own grain of sand, its advances, but also the wisdom to observe and reflect. The experience gained through direct contact with the land led them, in 2000, to steer their agriculture toward organic farming.
Soon after, driven by the desire to keep improving at every level, they decided to go one step further and apply biodynamic agriculture. Although at that time it was a fairly unknown type of farming in their country, the results spoke for themselves and they chose to commit to it. And they will continue to do so.
Vins El Cep was born and has grown in this landscape of vineyards and forests imbued with character. They love their land, and so they care for it, listen to it, and try to understand it in order to act, because they know everything begins here: in the soil, in the vines, in the plants and animals that coexist in the same ecosystem, understand one another, and establish a natural balance.
Observation, effort, and conviction have led them, from 2003 to the present day, to keep working in this direction, striving to achieve the perfect balance between respect for nature and high quality in the winery. Their cava Claror, the world’s first biodynamic cava, is an example of their work.
It is well known that the path of wine begins in the vineyard. The personality, emotion, and expression of their wines only make sense if the vine is more alive every day. The vineyards are their heritage; the roots, their landscape.
Terroirs and Landscapes
Thousands of years ago, these lands formed part of the seabed, and in fact there were already vines here more than 500 years ago.
Their vineyards are largely old vines located in Costers de l’Anoia, between the municipalities of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Gelida, and Sant Llorenç. These are vineyards with a marked character, the quality needed to obtain their terroir-driven wines.
The grapes grow on gently rolling slopes crossed by deep streams, in a typically Mediterranean climate: moderately hot, dry summers, mild winters, and irregular rainfall. Alongside the native varieties that occupy much of their vineyards—such as Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada, and Tempranillo—are others such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Syrah, allowing them to find balance in their blends.
The moderately deep roots take hold in a loamy-clay-silty soil, well structured, porous, and active in terms of fauna. Thanks to the organic and biodynamic farming methods they use, ants, worms, and all kinds of organisms live and develop there, fostering the necessary natural balance.
Commitment
They are a sustainable, responsible, and efficient winery.
They work every day to honor their commitment to the landscape. They work sustainably with renewable energy, with the utmost respect for the environment in both vineyard and winery.
They work to improve water management, reduce waste, and increase energy efficiency. They invest in operating with photovoltaic energy.
They are what you see.
Winemaking
Experience and Passion
Two generations combine experience and tradition with passion and new approaches. Strict control, technology, and the right blend are the key to the success of their wines and cavas.
Vinification
The location of the winery, next to the vineyards, means the grapes arrive in the best possible condition. The grapes are pressed gently to extract the noblest fraction of the must, a maximum of 50%, ensuring the highest quality of their wines. In small tanks, under strict control during fermentation, each variety is vinified separately according to the vineyard it comes from, personalizing each of the wines they will obtain.
Aging
Inside the cava cellars, protected from light, with constant humidity and low temperatures, their bottles rest. Only with these optimal conditions and long aging is it possible, year after year, to transform grapes into exceptional cava. Long aging brings bouquet complexity, finesse, and integration of the carbon dioxide in their reserva and gran reserva cavas.
Tirage
During the first months of the year, when temperatures are lower, they bottle their wines and cavas. Under these conditions, a slow fermentation takes place in the bottle to obtain the best aromas and fine bubbles that will combine to begin the long aging process. Selected yeasts give their cavas complexity and character.