Mas Candí / Ramon Jane
About
Today, just shy of 20 years on, the project lies more or less fully in Ramon and Mercè’s hands, with support from their son, Jordi. Toni and Anna Serra calved off to focus on their own projects, La Salada and Anna Serra wines, but still remain tightly connected. Case in point: Toni and Ramon compete yearly (and often win) in the Spanish Blind Tasting Championships, and when we last visited the estate, Ramon tasted us on tank samples of La Salada Roig Boig 2024, which was aging in his cellar due to space constraints over at Toni’s.
(A note on labeling: The wines labeled Mas Candí are the “Classical” wines - biodynamic, with judicious sulfur usage and an eye towards aging and hyperspecific vineyard designations – think Corpinnat. The wines bottled under Ramon Jané are more ephemeral, more natural, and slightly cheekier – think Tinc Set. )
Right now, it’s hard to overstate just how good the wines coming from Mas Candí are as Ramon stretches his wings and lets the wines talk for him. His pride and joys are the vineyards themselves, ancient gnarled things crouching throughout the hills of his village of Gunyoles where viticulture has been practiced for millenia. His farming for everything, no matter the label, is fantastic – biodynamic, hands on, and bordering on the obsessive. For Ramon, it’s clear that he’d be in the vineyards being quiet and tinkering even if the concept of wine didn’t exist – he clearly is energized and besotted with the world of growing things.
When we visited last, he excitedly showed us plots of 80 year old Xarel.lo he was nursing back to health, a vineyard of nearly extinct Mando he grafted onto old Cabernet Sauvignon, and everywhere, seas of green, uproarious with life blossoming weeks before the rest of the country. Ramon insists on tasting a wine from each vineyard we visit in the vineyard, hoping that we can taste the webs of context that connect the vines, the soil, the sun and his hand. The wines cut and dance and spin – they aren’t weightless but they don’t seem to care. The simple wines refresh and spark joy effortlessly, while the traditional sparklers with geologic amounts of aging hit the table with a T-1000 style precision and relentlessness. These wines, we notice, are listed in places of pride throughout Catalonia, nearly wherever we look. This is no small feat in a country so blessed with winemaking talent.
The old vines in his village don’t tell the entire story, as Ramon’s newest obsession is with recovering terraced vineyards in the mountains, an entire universe of vines ripped out or abandoned in the 1950s after the introduction of mechanized vineyard equipment which was vastly more suited to the less rocky and better spaced lowlands. Up here, accompanied only by his massive German shepherd. Ramon schemes to outwit the boars and deer, plots new vineyards to resurrect, and starts his pied du cuves by moonlight in abandoned stone shacks that used to house vineyard workers. He says very little up here, but cannot hide his excitement - he looks younger than he did a decade ago and is overjoyed at a new challenge. Up here, in the mountains, one gets a sense that Ramon Jané might be the most important winemaker in Catalonia.
The purest distillation of this feeling can be found in the two wines with Montombra in their names, the Blanc and the Negre. These wines are the only negociant wines in the lineup, from one of the most spectacular vineyards in Iberia, a massive terraced amphitheater in the Garraf Massif national park recently replanted after a wildfire by a local farmer named Xavi who, one would surmise, is absolutely insane. Ramon buys fruit from the southern exposure of this monstrous undertaking, and you can absolutely tell he’s furious he’s not the guy in charge of farming it, even though that in itself would be a full time job. It’s, so far, an even 50/50 percent chance they will get fruit from the vineyard in any given year, but when it does produce it’s transcendent and howlingly good. The vineyard, all 1.5ha of it, is heroically planted to Xarel.lo, Malvasia, Monastrell and Mouvedre (there are two clones, one French and one Catalan.). These wines are tasted on a stone bench overlooking the vineyard and it is so deeply clear that Mas Candí is not very much of a “resting-on-their-laurels" style estate.
This feeling persists in the cellar, massive and new poured concrete and largely, ominously empty. Ramon and Mercè and Jordi and walk around with reverence - “here is where the tanks will be,” “here is where the pallets will load” and “here is where we’ll store Coeur’s Allocation.” Everything echoes in a way that will be impossible in a few years, as reality catches up to Mas Candí’s dreams and fills up the empty spaces.
Products
Corpinnat Brut Nature
Biodynamic. 60% Xarel.lo, 20% Macabeo, 5% Parellada, 15% Sumoll; traditional method. All estate fruit. This is the flagship sparkling wine, always soft and delicate, but with good pithy grip and a salty finish. A bit of a Platonic ideal for traditional method sparkling in the Penedès. Fruit is always hand-harvested. Direct press, fermentation and resting in stainless steel. 32 months on lees in bottle, disgorged June ’21.
Corpinnat 'Indomable' Brut Nature
Biodynamic. 50% old vine Xarel.lo and 50% old vine Sumoll. Fermented in stainless steel, minumum 5 years elevage on the lees in bottle before disgorgement with no dosage. Indomable is, perhaps, Mas Candi's most assertive and amibitious work.
Corpinnat 'Prohibit' Brut Nature Rose
Biodynamic. Rosat. 100% old vine Sumoll. Calcareous soils with ocean fossils throughout; classic profile of the Alt Penedès. 48+ months on the lees. Zero dosage. One of the two biodynamic rosés made entirely from Sumoll we know of in the entire winemaking region.
Corpinnat 'Segunyola' Brut Nature
Biodynamic. 100% Xarel.lo; traditional method, Brut Nature. ‘Segunyola’ is one of the ancient names of the village of Les Gunyoles, where Mas Candí is based. This Corpinnat is perhaps their most elevated, like a Blanc de Blancs, with selections of special vineyards of Xarel.lo—estate vineyards 65 years of age, hand-planted by the vignerons’ grandparents. Fruit is always hand-harvested. Direct press, fermentation in stainless steel tank. Aged on lees in bottle for 50 months, disgorged June ’21.
Xarel.lo Desig
Biodynamic. 56 year-old bush-trained Xarel.lo, limestone @ 300 m. The Xarello for Desig grows on a limestone ridge overlooking Sant Sadurní d'Anoia which is blasted by cold winds, resulting in a long growing season. Picked, pressed, and given 24 hours of skin-contact before spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. Aged for 7 months on the fine lees in stainless steel. 580 cs produced
Xarel.lo 'La Pura'
Biodynamic. 100% Xarel.lo. Sourced from the La Pura vineyard in Mas Candí’s home of Les Gunyoles d’Avinyonet, a village situated within the Massís del Garraf, the western Penedès’ coastal, calcareous mountain range. La Pura’s 55-year-old vines are planted on rich limestone soil with ancient marine fossils–the seabed having been raised up in certain pockets of the Penedès to the earth’s surface, rendering an intense minerality comparable to that of Chablis. Hand-harvested, pressed, and given 24 hours of skin contact before spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel, then aged for seven months on the fine lees, also in stainless. Unfined, unfiltered, 20-30ppm SO2 added before bottling. Mas Candí’s most majestic bottling of old-vines, single-vineyard Xarel.lo, a white intended to demonstrate the ancient oceanic terroir of the subregion as well as the age-worthiness of Xarel.lo.
Xarel.lo QX
Biodynamic. Old-vine Xarel.lo, limestone @ 300 m. The Xarel.lo for QX comes from 4 parcels they’ve picked out as being of particularly high quality. Picked, pressed, and given 12 hours of skin contact before spontaneous fermentation. Aged on fine lees primarily in amphora as well as several 500 liter neutral barrels.
Montombra Blanc Massis del Garraf
Biodynamic. 90% Xarel.lo, 10% Malvasia di Sitges. Taken from an intensely sloped, mountaintop single vineyard in the Massís del Garraf, the western Penedès' coastal, calcareous mountain range, which is largely designated as national forest. The soils on the mountaintop vineyard are calcareous clay; the vineyard itself is comprised of old stone terraces, initially put in place by farmers all over the Garraf in the pre-phylloxera years of the Penedès (1850s-1880s). Nearly a century later, one of the massive forest fires the Garraf massif suffered during the '80s exposed the ancient stone wall structures throughout the region, inspiring a few families to attempt to re-establish this old Catalan mountain viticulture. The stone walls and vineyard were recuperated and replanted slowly by proprietor Xavier Ribes in 2004, with whom Ramón and Toni of Mas Candí partnered in 2018 to lease a solid piece of this extraordinary terraced vineyard and assist Ribes with the holistic farming of the same. The varieties are co-fermented in stainless steel, with half of the fruit done whole-cluster; the wine is then moved to 500L used barrels for élevage. (The demi-muids used previously have had Mas Candí white wines aging inside.) Unfined, unfiltered; 20-30ppm SO2 applied at bottling.
Montombra Negre Massis del Garraf
Biodynamic. 100% Monastrell. Taken from an intensely steep, ampitheater single vineyard at the top of a mountain in the Massís del Garraf. (The Massís del Garraf is the western Penedès' coastal, calcareous mountain range, largely designated as national forest.) The soils on this south-facing, dramatic ampitheater are calcareous clay; the vineyard itself is entirely composed of old stone terraces, initially put in place by farmers all over the Garraf in the pre-phylloxera years of the Penedès (1850s-1880s). Nearly a century later, one of the massive forest fires the Garraf massif suffered during the '80s exposed the ancient stone wall structures throughout the region, inspiring a few families to attempt to re-establish this old Catalan mountain viticulture. The stone walls of this vineyard were recuperated and replanted slowly by proprietor Xavier Ribes in 2004, with whom Ramón and Toni of Mas Candí partnered in 2018 to lease just under a hectare of this extraordinary site. Now Toni and Ramón assist Ribes with the terrace maintenance and holistic farming of their hectare of the Montombra ampitheater. The Monastrell/Mataró is done 2/3 whole-cluster, 1/3 destemmed, with hand and foot-pressing of some of the fruit for gentle extraction, as well as to encourage partial carbonic maceration. After seven days on the skins in stainless, it's pressed off into 500L used barrels for 9-10 months' élevage. (The demi-muids used previously have had other Mas Candí white wines aging inside.) Unfined, unfiltered; 20-30ppm SO2 applied at bottling.
Corpinnat Macabeu Brut Nature
Biodynamic. 100% old vine Macabeu from a vineyard in Font-Rubi planted in 1975. Aged on the lees for 8 years, hand disgorged October 2024.
A la Borina Metode Ancestral (Skin-Ferment)
Organic Malvasia, Garnaxta Blanca, Macabeo and Moscatel grapes were harvested by hand and crushed before a 2 week maceration on the skins. Fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks. Just before bottling, some Parellada juice was added to kick start a second fermentation. No fining, filtration or added sulphur.
Baudili Blanc (Xarel.lo/Parellada)
Biodynamic. 50/50 Xarel.lo and Parellada. From estate vineyards of calcareous clay soils. Vines between 10-25 years old. The vineyard is not tilled: true minimal intervention agriculture. Manual harvest in 10kg boxes, with selection of the grapes in the vineyard. Grapes are chilled then pressed. Fermentation in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and no additions; no SO2 added.
Baudili Negre
Biodynamic. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Xarel.lo, 20% Parellada. From estate vineyards of calcareous clay soils. Vines between 15-45 years old. The vineyard is not tilled: true minimal intervention agriculture.
Borregaire (Macabeu/Merlot)
Cabories (Red/White Field Blend)
Biodynamic. 42% Mando, 40% Sumoll, and 18% Xarel.lo. Sourced from vineyards between 10 to 50 years old on calcareous clay soils. Hand harvested, and all grapes are fermented together with some full clusters. Mando and Xarel.lo macerated for 17 days and Sumoll pressed directly. Fermented and matured in stainless steel with the lees until it was bottled. Unfiltered. No SO2 added.
Ovella Negre (Skin-Ferment)
Biodynamic. 60% Garnatxa Blanca, 40% Malvasia de Sitges. From estate vineyards of calcareous clay soils. Hand-harvested in small bins; sorting in the vineyard. All the grapes are skin-fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts for two weeks, then bottled with no additions. No SO2 added. 360 cases produced.
Tinc Set Metode Ancestral
Biodynamic. 60/40 Xarel.lo and Parellada. Method Ancestral. From estate vineyards of calcareous clay soils. Vines between 10-25 years old. The vineyard is not tilled: true minimal intervention farming. Manual harvest in 10 kg boxes, with selection of the grapes in the vineyard. Grapes are chilled then pressed. Spontaneous fermentation begins in stainless steel and then finishes in the bottle. No SO2 added.
Tinc Set Rose Metode Ancestral
Organic Xarel Lo, Macabeo, Parellada and Mando grapes were harvested by hand. Fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks. Bottled before fermentation was complete in order to create fizz in bottle (ancestral method, pet nat). No fining, filtration or added sulphur.
