Monastrell

Roger lives in a once thriving winemaking area, Les Coves de Vinromà, but during the 1970's most of the vineyards were uprooted for more profitable crops. This also meant that the old winemaking traditions nearly got lost, but Roger, being a history teacher and all, decided to revive the old traditions in his Valencian area. Nowadays, he is making wine from a few forgotten rootstocks, but most of his production comes from newly planted vines. His vineyards have never seen chemicals, and he is adament about taking good care of the land.

In the old bush vines of Alicante works natural vigneron Rafa Bernabé. The white varieties are planted close to the sea, where they rely on it's cooling breezes, whilst the red grapes are found soaking up the sun further inland. Varieties are Moscatel, Merseguera, Garnacha Peluda and Monastrell. He harvests early, particularly for the white varieties in order to ensure freshness in the wines. In the winery, his methods are simple: no added yeasts and no added SO2 where possible.