On 6th September Wine Spirit Women joined together with importer Mackenway Wines to host a tasting with Helena Pagès – Export Manager & Communication from Celler de Capçanes.

In the southern part of Priorat, the lands and people have a long history of winemaking. Celler de Capçanes was founded by a few families in 1933. To further expand, they convinced 80 more people from their village to invest in the winery. From there, they started making kosher wine under the Mevushal method to much success, and are the first Kosher wine producer in Catalunya.

Today, approximately 5% of what they bottle annually is kosher and the other 95% is made up of a wide array of young, semi-crianza and higher end wines. Their aim is to put the best expression of the village where they work into each bottle, and to do so they have an incredible team behind it. From the farmers working the vineyards, to the staff at the cellar, to the winemaker, Anna Rovira – their dedication and passion makes the magic of their wines possible.

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On the day, Helena talked us through 12 different wines. First up was their Sense Cap Cava comprised of Macabeu, Xarel-lo and Parellada and spending twenty months on lees prior to disgorgement. This sparkling wine is incredibly fresh with a delightful earthy minerality.

Up next were the beautifully labelled Mas Donís Blanco and Tinto which are blends comprised mainly of Garnacha Blanca and Negra, respectively. We then had the chance to try their Cap Sentit ‘Orange’, produced with 100% Garnacha Blanca using the Brasado method (ie. extended skin contact) for 15 days, and resulting in a fruit driven, earthy wine with a supple texture.

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Moving into the more serious red wines, we tasted their Capçanes Lasendal Seleccio, Mas Collet, Costers del Gravet and Candida labels. While they were all delicious wines, each one told a unique story of terroir, viticultural and winemaking tradition. We concluded our tasting of the still wines with a fabulous demonstration of the effect of soil type. Each bottle of 100% Garnacha negra is grown on a different soil – Sand, Clay, Limestone or Slate – and tasted side by side in order to contrast and compare the different expressions of this single variety.

Even the labels (pictured above) help decode what is going on. It was fascinating. And what’s even better is the four bottles are sold together in half-bottle sizes to encourage consumers to experience for themselves the effect of these different soils. We finished the tasting with an experimental treat, tasting their own vermouth, ‘Vermut’, with a splash of Sense Cap. Stunning!

Wine Spirit Women want to extend a big thank you to Bren from Mackenway Wines and Helena from Celler de Capçanes, for orgainsing such an insightful and thought provoking tasting.

You can pick up a bottle of Celler de Capçanes at the following stockists;