Description
Wine Details
Alcohol Grade: 11.5%
Aging/ Vinification: Pre-fermentation maceration. Spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts for each variety separately, temperature-controlled, in stainless steel tanks. 20% of Xarel.lo is fermented in 425-liter chestnut barrels. Light clarification and filtration, sulfur only at bottling.
Production: 23,000 numbered bottles
Best to have it: 10-12ºC
Size: 750 ml
The Winery: Can Rafols dels Caus
Can Ràfols dels Caus is set in the rugged Massís del Garraf, a limestone and calcareous clay massif just inland from the Mediterranean in Penedès. The soils are thin—sometimes only 30-40 cm down to rock—and loaded with marine fossils and calcium carbonate, which forces vines to struggle, dig deep, and really show their character. Hot, dry summers are tempered by cooling sea breezes (“la marinada”), and rainfall is modest. The combination of exposure, elevation (often around 300m), and harsh soil gives wines here a natural freshness, minerality and tension that feel very distinct.
The winery has been in the Esteva family for generations but really came into its current form under Carlos Esteva from 1979 onwards. Farming is organic, no irrigation, and harvesting all by hand. Grapes are vinified with minimal intervention—using native yeasts, gentle handling, small batches, and letting terroir do the talking. New vineyards, old vines, local and international grape varieties all exist together, but what stands out is consistency: wines that reflect this rocky land with elegance and structure rather than power. There’s wide respect among critics for their whites in particular, for how they balance aromatic purity with real minerality.
