Ten wines and their stories, discovered at BWW

From the dozens of samples tasted over the three intense days of Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) and the parallel events, which should we highlight? A definitive list of “the best of the best” seems questionable and arbitrary. No matter how fast you race against the clock, you can only taste a fraction of the wines on offer. This year, we decided to look beyond originality and quality, focusing also on the people behind the wines, their stories, and what their work means for their respective regions. 

Pilar del Cerro 2022 Tinto

Garnacha is proving to be one of Spain’s most exciting and versatile varieties. After a long career in wine, including working alongside Álvaro Palacios at Palacios Remondo in Rioja, Javier Gil Pejenaute has launched his own project in Campo de Borja (Zaragoza, Aragón). Based in Tabuenca, one of the most promising villages in the DO, he is championing a style of deep, refined Garnacha reds that has marked a turning point in the region. 

Pilar del Cerro (€32) is a new release sourced from a specific part of the vineyard originally intended for his entry level red Tabuca. Here, shallow limestone soils, as opposed to slate, and an east-facing exposure lend the wine extra freshness. The fact that this is an unoaked wine, fully matured in stoneware egg-shaped vats, results in a particularly vibrant expression of Garnacha, with floral and red fruit (pomegranate) aromas, the necessary structure and a graceful mouthfeel. The soon-to-be-released 2023 vintage is also worth seeking out. It offers a distinct aromatic profile of violets and blue fruits (blueberry), a signature trait of this vintage. The acidity is higher and more bottles were made in 2022 (1,500). Aragón still has much to say when it comes to Garnacha.

Perdidas en el Mariñanas 2023 Tinto

It's impossible to ignore this eye-catching label, with its bold orange colour and strikethrough lettering. It's not just a vindication for table wines to be able to say what's in the bottle, it makes its point using embossed printing techniques that demand attention. 

The man behind the wine is Sancho Rodríguez (Manin y sus muchachos), so it seems inevitable to draw comparisons with Matallana, the similarly crossed-out label crafted by his famous brother Telmo Rodríguez in Ribera del Duero. Sancho's project, run alongside his wife Ángela Zozaya, is more modest in terms of volume (they will reach 8,000 bottles in 2023) and operates outside any DO. It began in San Vicente de la Sonsierra (La Rioja) and later expanded into various villages in the Sonsierra region of Navarra, where they organically grow around four hectares of traditional vineyards spread  across three valleys at elevations of 400 to 700m.

Perdidas en el Mariñanas is a village wine from Armañanzas, in the region of Estella (Navarra). The grapes come from five plots of old vines planted with a mix of Garnacha, Miguel de Arco, Graciano, Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Granegro and Chasselas. Aged in concrete vats and oak barrels, the blend works beautifully, delivering a juicy and balanced palate with a clean expression of red and black fruits. A case of six bottles sells for €174 on the winery's website. This wine is a statement to the power of the label -both in design and in the story it tells.

Pretèrit 2023 Red

Joel Salvat Rull's day job is the artisanal marmalade business he inherited from his mother -he even brought a small sample to the Liquid Vins show. But this isn't just any marmalade; his Palo Cortado orange marmalade (a nod to the wine world that we love) won a gold medal at the World Marmalade Awards a few years ago. 

Based in Alforja (Tarragona), a village on the border between Priorat and Montsant, he also crafts a limited-production wine -just under 600 bottles- from a 1904 vineyard on a steep hillside or coster just outside both appellations. In fact, the terrain is not very different from those in the neighbouring - and well-known - town of Porrera. Cariñena (75%) is the dominant variety, which lends its blue fruit character and nerve to a full-bodied, finely textured palate balanced by Garnacha and other minor varieties in the blend. The label features a green lizard (lluert in Catalan), a territorial and elusive creature that also happens to be Joel's nickname in the village. Rather than just a business, winemaking can imply a sensitive and deep connection with the land. 

La Ravera Monastrell 2023 Red

It is a slow awakening, but La Mancha is finally seeing the rise of artisan projects led by young vignerons determined to revive the region’s often-overlooked viticultural heritage –one historically overshadowed by bulk wine production. 

At the ever dynamic Artisan Wine Attraction association at BWW, we chatted with some of these passionate winemakers, now united under the collective Wine Craft. Among them was José J. Ballesteros (Vinos Llámalo X) about whom we wrote briefly in our 2024 BWW piece; biologists Jaime and Andrea Yébenes, who revived their minimal intervention wines in 2020 under the brand Amadís de Yébenes; and María García (María de La Recueja), who grows Macabeo and Monastrell in the small village of La Recueja (pop. 300) in Albacete. An agricultural engineer and winemaker, María took over her family’s vineyards when her father retired in 2021, ending decades of selling the grapes to the cooperative. She currently produces 7,000 bottles under the Vino de Castilla PGI, selling them mainly through her website and to visitors at her garage winery, which opened in 2023. If all goes well, she hopes to scale up to 25,000 bottles. 

María has two ranges: La Rabera, fermented in steel tanks for a fruitier, more immediate expression, and La Ravera, with a ‘v’, aged in clay jars for added complexity. We were particularly drawn to the Ravera Monastrell (€15), which she describes as "a little edgier". Sourced from vines at 700 m elevation in La Recueja, it balances red and black fruit with gentle tannins and a textured mouthfeel.

G de Genaro 2023 Red

It’s always heartening to discover young, qualified vignerons who are commited to living in and from the land, but even more so when they bring the passion and energy of Sara Valencia, the driving force behind Casa Genara. She arrived in Barcelona for the Liquid tasting armed with a wineskin, a corquete (a traditional tool to cut bunches) and wild herbs from her vineyards–props that perfectly encapsulated her hands-on approach. At Liquid, she was sharing a table with Juan Jurado (Agrícola Calcárea), the sommelier turned winegrower in Sanlúcar whom we met last year in this same event.

Casa Genara took its first steps in the challenging 2022 vintage. Sara is based in San Martín de Unx, the most renowned village in Navarra’s Baja Montaña sub-zone, and is part of El Vino de los Aromas, a producer-led association established last year to preserve the unique identity of San Martín’s wines. The granddaughter of winegrowers who sold their grapes to the local cooperative, Sara is determined to keep both her family's vineyards and those of her village alive. And she has the expertise to do so –at just 28, she holds a degree in agricultural engineering and two master's degrees in viticulture and winemaking. 

For now, she works at Bodegas Abete, where she has been given a space to make her own project. Her flagship wine, G de Genaro, is a single-vineyard Garnacha with aromas of Mediterranean herbs, ripe fruit and soft tannins, aged in used barrels. Just 1,250 bottles have been produced –a modest beginning for a young woman with an ambitious vision.

Otro Cuento 2023 White

Spain is producing increasingly interesting white wines, often in unexpected places. This particular example comes from Arribes, a remote border region that seems to be emerging from isolation thanks to a new wave  of producers such as José Manuel Beneitez and Liliana Fernández. This couple, both forestry engineers with winemaking experience in Australia, California and Portugal, restored the old stone house built by José's great-grandfather in Formariz to settle there with their daughters and make El Hato and El Garabato their life’s project. They grow around 12 hectares of organic vineyards, producing 20,000 bottles.

This white wine is the result of the high proportion of white vines (30-50%) in some of the couple's old vineyards. Dona Blanca, the dominant variety, is not very aromatic but is good at conveying a sense of place. The result is a precise, well-defined, almost crystalline white. 

With a moderate alcohol content (12%), it expresses the granitic soils of Arribes. Aromas of white fruit and citrus lead to a palate with very good acidity, softened by its unctuous texture, and finishing with a distinctive salty, chalky finish. At around €18, it offers excellent value for money.

Fugaç 2022 White

Winemaker and agronomist Jot Camps Ferrer oversees Masía de la Roqua, an estate nestled in the heart of the Garraf Massif, an area of Penedès with distinctive limestone soils. His family has ties to this land for several generations. Their masía (farmhouse in Catalan) dates back to the 12th century and includes 26 hectares of organically farmed vineyards as well as woodland, almond, cereal and olive groves. As a pure Mediterranean dry farming system, the estate has faced severe challenges in recent years due to drought, with yield losses of 50- 70%. According to Jot, it is not just yields that are dropping -the vines are also dying. Most of the grapes are sold to local producers, but Jot keeps just under four hectares for his own wines, which are mostly single-varietal and sold in Catalonia and export markets. Production reached 20,000 bottles in 2021, but has fallen to 10,000.

Working outside DO, Jot believes the system favours large-scale operations over independent vignerons. "Everything is based on resources and size. If you work alone, you don't have the time to get things done and you don't have access to certain tools," he explained. Instead, he has found a like-minded home in the Artisan Wine Attraction collective, now a formal association committed to organic, biodynamic, chemical-free production and honest wines. Jot takes this philosophy even further and doesn’t add sulfites to his wines.

Malvasía is one of his favourite varieties. Alongside Xarel.lo, he sees it as the best grape to express his region. "It is difficult to grow, but amazing in the cellar; it has everything and can be used for many different styles, including sparkling wines," he explains. His Malvasía comes from two vineyards: one planted in 2009 with cuttings from the historic Hospital de Sitges vineyard and a second one in 2014 from his own massal selection. Fermented and aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks, only 800 bottles are produced. This fragrant, lifted, yet finely structured wine, boasts lively acidity and the potential to develop in the bottle.

La Diego 2023 White

Alongside his personal project in Gran Canaria, winemaker Carmelo Peña lends his (volcanic) expertise to Jable de Tao, a winery owned by the Betancor Rodríguez family, which debuted with the 2022 vintage. They farm 16 hectares of their own vineyards in Lanzarote while also buying grapes from around 30 growers from the north to the south of the island. 

We were particularly taken by the character and finesse that Peña brings to the estate's half-dozen wines –one red and five whites– each unmistakably Canarian yet reflective of its specific terroir. La Diego comes from a plot on the Juan Bello mountain where volcanic soils, locally known as rofe, shape its distinct profile. Made entirely from this late-ripening variety, prized for its ability to express terroir and retain acidity, the 2023 vintage benefitted from a stellar year in Lanzarote. With malolactic fermentation adding texture and volume, it boasts lovely balance and depth. Just 1,150 bottles have been released, priced at around €40.

Linda y Primorosa 2023 White 

Forever in the shadow of its more famous neighbour Ribera del Duero, the Cigales appellation has long built its reputation on the production of claretes –rosé wines traditionally made by blending red and white grapes. Juan Príncipe, a fourth-generation vigneron and key figure at the César Príncipe winery in Fuensaldaña, is a staunch champion of this style –and of drinking wine from a porrón. Recently he launched Charlatán, a very pale rosé made from directly pressed red Garnacha grapes fermented at low temperatures to preserve its fresh fruit and floral aromas. 

But Juan’s ambitions extend beyond rosés. For some time, he has been involved in what he calls "his R&D of the Pisuerga countryside" –a deep dive into old plots and heritage varieties across the 40 hectares that the family owns in Fuensaldaña, Corcos and Trigueros, three villages near Valladolid. More than half of these vines average 40 years of age, a mix of Tempranillo traditionally planted in between Albillo, Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Gris and other lesser-known varieties. According to Juan –an engaging storyteller who shares his passion about wine on his YouTube channel– many of these old vines are no longer ideal for modern claretes and rosés but lend themselves beautifully to other styles, including the three new wines he plans to launch in 2025. 

Among them is Linda y Primorosa, a barrel-fermented white made from Albillo and Garnacha Gris, named after the last mules owned by Juan's family. Lees ageing enhances its breadth and volume, adding a fine creamy texture to its fresh citrus notes –an exciting new path for Cigales. With yields particularly low in 2023, only 900 bottles will be filled, though Juan hopes to increase this in the coming years. 

Fino Viejísimo en Rama El Franciscano

Owned by the Pérez Morales family since the 1980s, Lagar de los Frailes is a traditional, semi-underground winery in Montilla-Moriles where time-honoured fortified wines undergo astonishingly long ageing processes. In 2017, Charo Pérez Morales and her three siblings inherited this liquid legacy and began bottling it unfiltered, selling it in 50 cl bottles –like those we sampled at the Off the Record tasting. Every wine they produce encapsulates the essence of the 11 hectares of Pedro Ximénez vines planted in the albariza soils of Moriles Altos, considered a grand cru of this region in Córdoba.

At the pinnacle of this meticulously aged collection is Cáliz, a stunning amontillado with over 35 years of age and an energy that lifts anyone's spirits. A little younger but no less compelling is the Fino Viejísimo El Franciscano, drawn from one of the casks preserved by Charo's father. Aged statically for over two decades, Charo told us that it has only been refreshed with other old wines to counter evaporation losses. Remarkably, despite its 25 years, it has retained its flor yeast, resulting in a wine that is vibrant, citrusy and astonishingly fresh. We are indeed lucky to be able to enjoy these limited-edition gems at more than reasonable prices (€38).