It is here that Joan Ignasi Domènech and his wife Rita Nogueroles, together with their two sons Edgar and Marc, felt ‘a balance, a magnetism and a landscape that we had not found either in Priorat or in other areas of Montsant, with nature expressed at its maximum potential’. They left behind their environmental consultancy in Barcelona to create Vinyes Domènech, one of the most unique wineries in the world, near Joan’s hometown of Falset.

In 2002, the family also began its commitment to Garnacha, specifically the peluda clone, of which there are only 70ha in Catalonia. It is a more acidic variety of Garnacha, with thicker skin and greater aromatic intensity. It was a decision that no one understood at the time, when fashions leaned towards the international varieties.

Their dedication to Garnacha extended beyond their own estate: in 2011, they founded the Terra de Garnatxes association to study and promote this variety. A result of its efforts was the analysis of 3,000 unoaked Garnacha wines from Sardinia, Navarra, Aragon, Roussillon and Catalonia to help define the aromatic characteristics of this variety. All of them had the following descriptors in common: red and black fruit, blood orange, balsamic notes, medicinal herbs, liquorice and plum.

By 2015, Vinyes Domènech’s Teixar – the winery’s top-tier estate wine, initially produced in 2004 soon after the founding of the estate – was the first 100% Garnacha wine to obtain the Vi de Finca Qualificada indication, the highest honour in Catalan wine. It is a single-vineyard wine produced from a 2.91ha plot on limestone soils. Grapes are fermented in old foudres with native yeasts and an ageing process that they deem ‘as gentle as possible’ and that lasts about 12 months.

As you will see in the tasting notes that follow, the Teixar style has been modified ever since. It started with foudres for fermentation and ageing, and the wines became more ethereal and delicate. Today, it is a singular wine that reflects the biodiversity of its origin, a marvel at around €60 retail price in Spain and which, as Joan Ignasi himself sums up, is ‘the legacy of our winemaking tradition of the Garnacha Peluda, which is now in the hands of our sons Edgar and Marc’.