It’s rare that we find a winemaker who focuses all of his attention, all of his energy, on one grape variety—but that’s exactly what Enric Soler does, in the Penedès, with that region’s most noble... Read More

It’s rare that we find a winemaker who focuses all of his attention, all of his energy, on one grape variety—but that’s exactly what Enric Soler does, in the Penedès, with that region’s most noble grape, Xarel-lo.

Enric was working as a sommelier in Barcelona until the death of his grandfather inspired him to pack up and move back to his ancestral homeland, where his grandfather had planted vines in the 1940s. He embarked on a deeply personal project to create three different wines from three different plots of Xarel-lo, planted at different times and on different soil types.

Predominantly known as one of the three main grapes blended into Cava, Xarel-lo (cha-rel-lo) produces incredibly aromatic and complex still wines. Enric’s are unlike any other Spanish white wine we know—bright and herbal, with notes of citrus and fennel, but deeply concentrated. In each of his cuvées runs a minerality that belies the inherent richness of the grape. We can’t get enough!

Each plot is farmed biodynamically, and minimalism is the name of the game both in the vineyards and in the cellar. A keen sense of balance, honed by Enric’s somm years, is the defining feature of his wines.