Enric Soler: The white wine artisan who finds beauty in the details

Although he rarely attends trade meetings or industry gatherings, every wine professional in Spain recognises and rates Enric Soler’s wines among the country’s most consistent and compelling whites.

With an annual production of just over 10,000 bottles and steadily rising prices, Soler’s wines are eagerly sought after by restaurants and importers alike, with some 65% destined for export. Soler excuses his rare public appearances given such limited availability.

Those who have visited the warm, welcoming world that Enric and Mercè García have created around Soler's old family home at Cal Raspallet in Alt Penedès (Barcelona) understand their deep connection to their cellar and vineyards. Sensitivity, care and attention to detail infuse everything —the house, the vines, the couple themselves—and ultimately, the wines.

Mercé had saved a note on her phone from my visit on 22 November 2016, listing every dish she had prepared for lunch that day. Not everyone might find such meticulousness easy to live with, but wine lovers will surely appreciate a producer who applies that same precision to craft the finest wines.

Grandfather’s vineyard

Named Best Spanish Sommelier in 1997, Soler already had a deep understanding of the wine’s role at the dining table, its power to bring pleasure and create memorable experiences. This is why his approach was different. “I had to learn everything about wine production. But I was comfortable with the sensory aspects,” he says.

His career as a winemaker began almost by chance in 2004, when he inherited his grandfather’s old Xarel·lo vineyard, planted in 1945. Located in Sabanell, a tiny hamlet of barely 20 inhabitants within the town of Font Rubí, right beside the C-15 road, the flat terrain had once served as an airfield for the Republican army during the Civil War.

“At that time, only Finca Viladellops, Parés Baltà and Can Ràfols dels Caus produced still Xarel·lo wines in Penedès,” recalls Soler. “It was crazy that such a quality variety, was used almost exclusively for sparkling wines.”

Nun Vinya del Taus marked a milestone in the history of still Xarel.lo wines in Penedès. Its ambition, Burgundy-style oak ageing and rapid success among sommeliers were all key factors. Soler was convinced that, with its ageing potential, Xarel.lo could hold its own alongside the world's finest white wines.

Since then, Soler has built a small universe around that vineyard, maintaining the artisanal approach that defines his work. Over two decades, production has grown from one to four wines, and from 2,000 to just over 10,000 bottles -clear proof that his ambitions are not about quantity. Instead, Soler obsesses over the details: fractioning vineyard pressings to delve deeper into the finer details (“for that you need a 1,000-kilo press,” he observes) and perfecting his blends. ‘We can afford this because we are small. Otherwise, what's the point of a vigneron living in his own winery?” he argues.

Other pillars of his philosophy include organic and biodynamic farming —although the latter is not certified— spontaneous fermentation and a steadfast refusal to correct the wines. He left the DO Penedès in 2019.

Building a family of wines

Like other growers in this region, Enric and Mercè have faced pressure from industrial expansion in an area located just 40 kilometres from Barcelona. “In the late 2000s, there was a lot of speculation about new industrial parks and road widening. That’s why we decided to plant at a higher elevation,” Soler explains.

Thus began Espenyalluchs (in the photo below), the first notable Xarel.lo vineyard to push beyond the variety's standard planting height and into Parellada territory. It is perched on a hillside at 400 metres elevation in Torreles de Foix, just bordering Guardiola de Font-Rubí, a hamlet of Fontrubí. The steep, difficult-to-reach terrain had not been farmed for a long time. It was planted with a random mass selection from Vinya dels Taus. This philosophy has subsequently been applied to all the plantings in the project. “We no longer use plant material from nurseries,” Solers says.

Since the 2013 vintage, the vineyard has been vinified separately to showcase the characteristics of high altitude Xarel·lo. The resulting wine is finely textured, less structured than Nun and is marked by a wild character and salty freshness. For the current 2023 release, which appears to be sold out online, Soler carried out a meticulous selection in the vineyard to combat the effects of drought, which often blocked the ripening process. Any bunches that tasted diluted and lacked depth were discarded.  

When the long-planned road expansion finally reached Sabanell, part of the historic vineyard was expropriated. Anticipating this, Enric and Mercè had already set up new plantings on the other side of the road. This eventually allowed them to extend their range of wines.

They had previously expanded by acquiring Sisqueta, an old vineyard right next to the Vinya dels Taus, which forms the core of Improvisació, their second wine from Cal Raspallet. In 2016, they bought their first Austrian foudre from Stockinger to distinguish it better from Nun.

Jerónia (in teh photo above) is the most colourful vineyard of all: just over one hectare, planted with Parellada vines in 1996 and later re-grafted with Xarel·lo plant material from Vinya dels Taus. In 2020, they added 400 Malvasia de Sitges vines, followed in 2024 by a further 1,600 Xarel·lo Vermell plants. Some of the Xarel·lo grown here goes to Improvisació, which, in certain vintages, may also include grapes from Espenyalluchs.

This blend makes Improvisació less about a single site and more an expression of Xarel.lo itself, its terroir, and Soler's distinctive winemaking style. It is also the estate’s most widely available wine, with over 6,000 bottles produced, and according to Soler, the truest expression of the vintage. To reinforce this idea, the colour of the label changes with each new vintage -the 2023 bottling has a light orange hue. The wine displays a classic smoky bouquet, firm structure and an spherical, enveloping mouthfeel.

Guest stars: Malvasía and Xarel.lo Vermell

The latest addition to the range in the 2017 vintage was Istiu, which means 'summer' in Catalan. The blend combines new Malvasia plantings, (around 50%) with +50-year-old Xarel.lo from a small plot called Darrere Casa (behind the house).
Malvasia is notoriously difficult to grow due to its vigour, but it has incredible acidity and a refined aromatic profile. The vines are trained with two fixed wires and pruned to single Guyot method. Highly susceptible to powdery mildew, particularly in July and August, the variety requires generous leaf thinning.

This is the winery's only unoaked white. Most of it is aged in egg-shaped concrete vats, the rest in stainless steel tanks. The 2023 vintage is truly fragrant, herbal rather than floral, with distinctive citrus tones (grapefruit). Vibrant and satisfying, the finish delivers chalky and flinty notes. A wine full of light.

The latest arrival at Cal Raspallet is Xarel.lo Vermell, a pink-skinned mutation of the original Xarel.lo variety. “Given how much I love Xarel-lo, it's no surprise that we've taken on the challenge of following a similar path with Xarel.lo Vermell,” says Soler enthusiastically. The vineyard includes 15% standard Xarel.lo vines interspersed with Vermell, with the aim of producing a field blend. The plant material came from an old Xarel.lo Vermell vineyard that was uprooted because it succumbed to the droughts in Penedès. “Xarel.lo Vermell has thicker skins and a more rustic character. For now, we’re vinifying it as a white,” says the Catalan producer.

More changes outdoors than indoors

Although Soler's wines show excellent definition, recent years have been far from easy. With rainfall ranging between 260 and 290 mm, drought hasn’t killed many vines, but it has weakened numerous branches. In 2024, the number of buds was intentionally reduced to safeguard the plants’ future. Generous rainfall in 2025 meant cover crops could be left, though mildew posed new challenges. A weather station now installed in Espenyalluchs monitors humidity and helps anticipate fungal outbreaks.

Soler has witnessed significant changes over the last 20 years. "The growing cycles have changed. The fruit we harvest now is completely different from what we had at the outset. Picking dates have been brought forward to the end of August. The wines are more approachable, and we have had to reduce the use of new oak, although Nun still has its share. Every vintage brings new climate challenges."

In the vineyard, pruning and leaf removal have become increasingly selective. You can’t expose the bunches fully to the sun anymore unless there is a high risk of fungal disease. For whites, I prefer greener grapes to overripe ones. Direct sunlight is not imperative; in this way, we preserve freshness and depth.”

Although Soler insists his winemaking has not changed significantly, there have been a couple of turning points. For example, he stopped using bâtonnage in 2013 and increased his use of seasoned oak. Now, only 15-20% of Nun is aged in new oak barrels, while Espenyalluchs is entirely aged in 300-litre seasoned barrels.

Another change is that harvest timing is now guided by acidity. Tasting two vintages of Nun from two different decades side by side perfectly illustrated this evolution. The complex, opulent 2014 vintage, with notes of dried herbs, spices and toast, showed riper fruit; in contrast, the juicier 2023 vintage, had chalky notes on the finish. Both were serious whites with ageing potential, but the 2014's creaminess delivered more weight and a fuller, richer palate.