VINEYARD AND SURROUNDINGS
The vineyard is located in the municipality of Canet Lo Roig, expanding over 4 hectares. It comprises three different terrains, the oldest, called La Sort, is about 70 years old; the younger ones are called Els Regalls y Molló Blanc.
The vineyard lies at 350m height approximately and at 30km from the Costa de Azahar. Our vines border with Les Moles de Xert to the West and with the mountain range called Sierra de Sant Pere, which is about 500 meters height to the East. To the North we find Rossell town bordering orographically with mountain range called Sierra Taialoia, which belongs to the natural park Tinença de Benifassà.
The gentle Mediterranean surroundings and climate, usually warm and stable, enhance our vineyards with sea breezes. Besides, due to the height and orography of the area, there is quite a broad spectrum of temperatures between day and night. Rainfall is usually of about 500mm per annum.
Our vineyards have different soil structures. Els Regalls’ main characteristic is its stony and calcareous soil, while in La Sort and Molló Blanc we have a mixed combination of soil structures with a higher concentration of clay.
THE CELLAR
Our cellar is located in the old town of Canet Lo Roig, in a centenarian house belonging to the Xiulits family. It belonged to our great grandfather where they already produced wine and “aguardientes”. We have renovated the space albeit preserving its character and the history hidden in its walls.
We work with about nine different grape varieties from different origins. The majority are Mediterranean varieties, such as Garnacha or Macabeo. We also have other varieties such as white Cariñena from our oldest vineyard, La Sort, or local varieties like Verdiguell o Embolicaire. With them we produce eight different types of wine. In each wine we seek to find the kindest expression, although complex, of the different grapes we work with.
Our wines are conceived before we pick the grapes; consequently each vine is especially looked after bearing in mind the outcome we are after in the cellar.
During the grape harvest we carry out QA tests in order to ensure that the grape is picked up at the most optimal time. Besides, we pick up the grapes manually and collect them in 20kg boxes to make certain that they arrive in perfect condition to the cellar.
Once in the cellar, our mission is to produce high quality wines with minimal intervention using the minimum amount of preservatives and other oenological products. Besides, we use wild yeasts, each of them expressing the idiosyncratic character of the vineyard they come from. Finally, we work with low levels of sulphur.
The outcome of this laborious process is wines with a pronounced Mediterranean identity: with character, structure and salinity. Wines where you’ll find the taste of El Maestrat.
PHILOSOPHY
At L’Estanquer one of our priorities is to protect the environment. Consequently, our objective is to minimise our ecological footprint as much as possible, ensuring that our activities have no negative effect on our surroundings.
It is important to highlight that two years ago we started the process of ecological transformation towards sustainable practices. Thus, we use integrated agricultural production systems that are conceived to protect the soil and biodiversity.
Also, we donate fermentation leftovers such as stems or peels to a local cattle farm to feed the animals.
Moreover, we try our best to make sure that all the products we use to round our wines are eco-friendly. For instance, along many other measures, we only use natural cork or state-of-the-art ones made with recycled sugarcane bagasse. We also use lightweight bottles in order to ensure a responsible use of glass, and all our packaging is made from recycled cardboard.
All these efforts are made because we strongly believe in respecting and preserving the ecosystem, but also to make sure that the wine that you get is a high quality product that is respectful with the environment: the distinguishing feature that reflects the identity of el Maestrat.
