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 enti...

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 an...

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...

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 o...