Can Ràfols dels Caus

In 1979, Carlos Esteva decided to go and live on his grandfather’s country estate, Can Ràfols dels Caus. After buying out the shares of his brother and sister, he embarked on the slow process of restoring the old building, which was in a semi-derelict condition.

At the same time, he regenerated the farming of the vineyards by introducing new varieties and planting methods (trellising), placing his bets on the viability of producing wines entirely on the estate, and making wines with a distinct character so as to establish the name of the estate as a mark of unreserved quality.

Carlos Esteva was one of the few wine growers who lived on the estate, fighting to achieve his goals within a framework of sustainability and out of respect for the natural heritage of the countryside and architectural heritage of the buildings.

Only 50 hectares of this 455-hectare estate are vineyards, 2 hectares being used for olive groves, 1 hectare for almond orchards and the rest for woodland, scrubland and rocky terrain. The size of the single vineyards ranges from 0.15 hectares (the smallest) to 2 hectares (the largest). We only plough the land in winter to ventilate the soil, and we allow a certain amount of grass to grow in the vineyard to enhance the retention of moisture and presence of Nitrogen, in order to fix what little soil we have, as well as encouraging the proliferation of earthworms, insects and other beneficial life forms.

We prune short, leaving only the fruiting buds that the vine will be able to mature successfully. We do not use any insecticides, and as a result, have a healthy population of native insects which regulate possible attacks and blights. We carry out our green pruning toward the end of spring and full leaf pruning at the end of summer. We harvest our grapes by hand and it takes the grapes just 15-20 minutes to reach the cellar from the vineyard following harvesting, thus avoiding any unwanted oxidation, bruising or uncontrolled fermentation.

Besides healthy grapes, to make a great wine you need a combination of intuition, good taste and experience to make the crucial decisions regarding the wine’s production, storage and aging. Just like an artist when he decides what to do with his colours. We do not chaptalize our wines, nor do we use selected yeasts. What is essential in winemaking is to get the most out of the vine, thereby allowing the quality of the grapes and the production methods to speak for themselves, without using any additives.

Every grape-picking season is a new adventure for the wine grower, and just as no two seasons are the same, no two wines are alike. At Can Ràfols dels Caus, we have experimented extensively with different wines and grape varieties, striving to make wines with good aging potential. In keeping with our personal taste, we tend toward the creation of create fine wines, which are natural, elegant, and with a marked personality, simultaneously embodying the expression of the fruit, the land and man’s intervention.

We believe that it is vital to protect our ancient culture and natural habitat by respecting and improving our surroundings, and searching for equilibrium to produce the best wines possible. We use arid-farming methods without any irrigation and we adjust our production levels to balance out the amount of wine we make from the vineyards. We use natural farming methods: the small amount of manure we use is organic, 25% of the grapes are grown on the bush and the rest are trellised high to gain the maximum leaf exposure to the sun. We sulphur dust the vineyards only when necessary and use only the minimum amount of phyto-sanitary products in cases of extreme necessity. We carry out green pruning, harvest the grapes by hand and select the healthy grapes directly from the vine.