Pla de Bages: wine in the shadow of Montserrat

Wine since Roman times, inland Catalonia

The Pla de Bages, among mountain formations as well known as Montserrat, holds the earliest signs of vine and wine from Roman times: at the villa of La Feliu (Sant Fruitós de Bages) the paving of a large stone was found, the base of an old press from the 4th–5th centuries. It was the most inland region of Catalonia where the vine was properly grown and wine properly made —the Bages supplied wine to the mountain lands, in exchange for wheat and other farm goods.

The vine jars and huts —dry-stone structures linked to making wine right in the field— are one of Bages' peculiarities, evidence of a time when, in the Middle Ages, wine was made directly in the vineyard. In the region's northern part, numerous vats carved into the rock are still preserved.

Picapoll, a symbol of identity

The native white variety is Picapoll, which has become a symbol of Bages identity. Among reds, they are recovering black Picapoll, Sumoll and the and Mandó

—the same varieties we already work with other Mediterranean producers at Terroir Radical— which are helping to establish the area's singular profile.

Why we're not there yet

The climate is Mediterranean continental at mid-mountain altitude: scarce rainfall, sharp temperature swings and clay-loam, calcareous soils —ideal conditions for growing vines, quite similar in spirit to what we already know from the Alt Camp or Terra Alta.