Wines that sprout in unusual places: from the city of Barcelona to the peaks of the Pyrenees

If you take the car, go up the road that connects Vallvidrera with Molins de Rei and follow it to kilometer 5. You will find a signposted detour that announces the Can Calopa de Dalt farmhouse. This is the only wine produced in the Barcelona municipality. The vineyards are actually owned by Barcelona City Council, but they are managed by L'Olivera, a worker-led cooperative and social initiative that produces organic wines and oils. They began the adventure in 1974 in Vallbona de les Monges, and in 2010, they took on the challenge of restoring these vineyards on the northern slopes of the Collserola mountain range, still within the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district. "It's an open initiative in the city where you can experience the values and benefits brought by peri-urban agroecology projects," says Pau Moragas, production manager at L'Olivera.

Today, they not only grow vineyards with historic Catalan grape varieties. They also have a small flock of sheep, a field of Arbequina olive trees they rescued from an abandoned mountain estate, and a vegetable garden where they've revived a local tomato variety: the Mandón. "The goal is to gradually build a farmhouse with different crops, a small portion of livestock production, a tasting area, and a space where visitors can come and discover what Can Calopa is all about," he explains.

The project's origins date back to the early 2000s with Mayor Joan Clos. After visiting several European cities, he realized that many of them had vineyards right next to the city, such as Lausanne, Paris, and Vienna, and wanted to replicate it in Barcelona. "He contacted a winemaker from Priorat, Josep Lluís Pérez, and they built the project: they wanted to make a wine with various Mediterranean varieties," Moragas explains. The first vintages were released between 2003 and 2005.

Getting the vineyard to flourish wasn't easy. "Agricultural production in a peri-urban environment is very complicated, almost heroic," warns L'Olivera's production manager. He points out that there isn't a socioeconomic environment geared toward agriculture, that administrative procedures are complicated, and that they must protect the crops from animals such as wild boar, some birds, and insects: "We also have the added risk of vandalism," he says. "Peri-urban agriculture will only survive if citizens actively defend it by choosing their products."

High-altitude wines

Few people know it, but Pallars has historically been a wine-producing region. Although vineyards disappeared from the landscape of the Pyrenean valleys for much of the 20th century, vines have been sprouting again for a couple of decades. Against the backdrop of climate change, several Catalan wineries decided to replant vineyards in this area of the Alt Pirineu, and today some of these initiatives have ended up in the hands of the farmers who worked there. The result: small wineries rooted in the region that produce unique, high-quality wines. The climatic conditions of Pallars—with cool nights and warm days—favor a slow and balanced ripening of the grapes. This combination preserves the acidity of the wines and enhances their aromas and color, a quality that is increasingly attracting interest among sommeliers. The high altitude of the vineyards, which are often located above 1,000 meters, also contributes.

In this context, projects with an innovative and youthful approach, closely linked to the region, have emerged. This is the case of the Batlliu winery in Sort. "Here we enjoy a climate with sufficient rainfall so that we don't need to irrigate, but we have a steep terrain, which makes cultivation more expensive," Josep Maria Rabasa, the winery's manager, explains to ARA. Their vineyards have taken root between 900 and 1,200 meters above sea level and are surrounded by mountains in the peripheral area of the Aigüestortes and Sant Maurici National Park, which reach close to 3,000 meters. This situation has a direct impact on the grapes. "They have a high aromatic potential, an intense flavor, and a slow ripening," he describes. Although they work with Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Viognier varieties, they participate in an initiative to recover ancestral varieties from the Pyrenees with the Catalan Wine Institute (INCAVI).

Another example is the El Vinyer winery in Fígols de Tremp. It was founded in 2014, after years of growing grapes in the area for other projects. Eva Carmona, the winemaker and driving force behind the winery, also notes that the local climate affects the wine produced. "The temperature contrast between day and night—which can exceed 20 degrees—allows the plant to rest at night and retain the acidity and aromas of the grapes," she explains. Fifteen minutes from the Terradets reservoir, in the Barcedana Valley, the wine of another project springs forth: Celler Miquel Roca. After several generations of producing wine for personal consumption, in the early 1990s Miquel Roca decided to dedicate himself to the production and sale of bulk wine. In 2015, his daughter, Sílvia Roca, trained in viticulture and oenology, took over the reins of the family project. "In our valley, the temperature is still a few degrees cooler than in other areas of the region," he notes. "We manage to make fresh and subtle wines, easy to drink, and with one goal: to reflect the character of the land."

Increasingly recognized

To promote wineries like these, the Tremp City Council launched the program To your taste, food from Pallars, which is committed to promoting regional agri-food production. In the specific case of wine, they have created the Vins del Pirineu platform, which brings together local wineries and gives them visibility. They also organize technical seminars, tasting sessions, library events, and food festivals like Cordevi. All of this serves to highlight the uniqueness of a landscape—and a wine—with its own unique personality. In Pallars Sobirà, there is a similar initiative, called Sobirà Dinàmic, which promotes local products to boost its economy.

"The wines of Pallars are generating more and more interest," explains Roca. The Batlliu de Sort winery corroborates this, adding: "We are also highly regarded by specialized critics," notes Rabasa. "In recent years, we have noticed that wines from Pallars and the Pyrenees are beginning to gain a foothold and that their quality is being valued more," adds Carmona, of El Vinyer.

Aging underwater

In Catalonia, some wines are aged in oak barrels, some in clay amphorae, and others spend months in concrete tanks. But in Cala Jóncols, a small cove within the Cap de Creus Natural Park, they decided to try something else: submerging them at the bottom of the sea.

The origin of the idea lies in the Hotel Cala Jóncols, a modest establishment run by the Gómez Fernández family since 1955. They have always been connected to the sea: first selling the fish they caught and, later, running their own diving center. One day, they decided to bring the marine world to wine as well. In 2009, when the season ended, they took all the wines on their restaurant's menu, placed them in a steel cage, and submerged them in water. Thus began a pioneering underwater aging project, the first in Spain.

After twelve months underwater, they recovered their bottles. The results surprised them: refined tastes, distinct textures, and an unexpected ability to evoke the landscape from which they came. Since then, with each new dive, they have learned new things, refined techniques, and shared the project with the most adventurous clients. The result is a wine that is vinified on the ground but matures at the bottom of the sea. The submerged bottles can be purchased in their online store and range in price from €55 to €180.