The Sangenís family farms 20 hectares of vines located around Porrera. Their oldest vines of Garnatxa Negra and Carinyena are located in the famed Mas d’En Caçador vineyard, arguably the village’s Grand Cru. The remaining vines vary in age from 15 to 80 years old. Farming is done organically, which may sound easy in such a warm and dry climate until you see the steepness of some of their sites – here, any kind of farming is arduous. In addition to Garnatxa Negra and Carinyena, the estate grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnatxa Blanca, Xarel.lo, Picapoll Blanca, Macabeu, and Moscatel.

After harvesting the grapes by hand into small crates, they are brought to the cellar, where they are sorted. The white wines see a short pre-fermentation maceration on the skins before pressing and fermentation in stainless steel tanks, followed by aging in new French oak barrels. The red wines, also fermented in tank, see a long maceration lasting over 30 days. Once the primary fermentation is complete, the wines are aged in concrete or French and Hungarian oak barrels and foudres. Their untidy cellar looks like a museum to winemaking of the past and reflects the authenticity and charm of the Sangenís family and their wines. Having worked with Joan Sangenís for close to two decades it was a logical decision to select his estate fruit for our Black Slate Porrera.

This profile and tasting notes were edited from the European Cellars website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: European Cellars.