Location & History
Alta Alella is a family-run project, the achievement of a venture that started more than twenty years ago.
The vineyards and winery are located just North of Barcelona, on the Alella appellation (D.O.). In fact, from the hilly vineyards, one can admire a fantastic view over Barcelona and its famous monuments: The Sagrada Familia, Mont Juic, etc.
Despite being on the edge of a rather urban area, Alta Alella is located within a protected area, a natural park known as the “Serralada de Marina”.
The history of the cellar began when the entrepreneur and enologist, Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets Camps, and his wife, Cristina Guillén Soldevila, bought an estate in the area, the Can Genís. Just on hills above the Mediterranean Sea, which bathes the coast just 2 kilometres away from the vineyards, the couple started restoring the estate. They refurbished the country house, recovered old vines (some of them being more than 50 years old), and built a new cellar in a modern style where they work hard to produce wines which have a clear vocation for purity and transparency.
In 1991, Alta Alella planted its first vineyards with the local grape variety, Pansa Blanca, more-often referred to as Xarel-lo. A variety that’s known by wine connoisseurs for its common contribution to a typical Cava sparkling wine blend. They also planted Mataró, which hadn’t been grown here since phylloxera hit the area.
Ten years later, in 2001, the 6 hectares of soil spread on terraces and slopes were ready to bear the fruit which would produce the first wines.
Since, Alta Alella has grown. The winery now manages about 17 hectares (42 acres) of its own vineyards around the winery, and buys fruit from contractors they supervise the grape production of. In total, it’s about 60 hectares within the DO Alella and DO Cava that are under Alta Alella’s control.
Read on to Page 4: 'The Vineyard'Back to Article 1st Page