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Tag: mònica

Wine bars and restaurants and Wine of the Week

Intriguing blend from Penedès

Published 2. October 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

We spent three days in Sitges, using this picturesque seaside town as our base for a wine journey through Catalunya. One evening, we visited Hibou, a relatively new wine bar with an interesting selection of wines. Among those recommended as part of a wine flight was Les Forques 2024 from Mas Candí, that is based in Penedès.

Mas Candí was established in 2005 by Ramon Jané and his wife Mercè Cuscó, with Toni Carbó as a close collaborator. Based in Les Gunyoles, near the Garraf Massif, the estate builds on generations of family winegrowing, with a commitment to organic viticulture, indigenous grape varieties and minimal intervention in the cellar.

The wine is an intriguing blend, with monastrell accounting for half the grapes, accompanied by cabernet sauvignon and small quantities of sumoll, mandó and mònica. The vineyards lie on calcareous clay soils with gravel, near Avinyonet del Penedès, on the edge of the Garraf Massif. The grapes are harvested by hand, followed by cold maceration and spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel with regular punch-downs. The wine subsequently spends twelve months in 300-litre French oak barrels.

Les Forques 2024 (Mas Candí)

Deep cherry-red colour with violet reflections. The nose combines ripe blackberries, cherries and wild strawberries with Mediterranean herbs, floral nuances, a little cocoa and gentle spice. The palate is generous and distinctly Mediterranean, yet surprisingly fresh, with lively acidity, supple tannins and a savoury, slightly mineral finish. A characterful red that balances ripeness and freshness beautifully – and a very enjoyable discovery at Hibou.

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Wine of the Week

Rosé with real drive

Published 7. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Penedès may be best known for sparkling wine, but away from the larger cava houses there is another side to the region: old vineyards, local varieties and a growing generation of growers looking back to traditional Catalan farming and winemaking.

Celler La Salada is the personal project of Toni Carbó and Anna Serra, based around the family vineyards near El Pla del Penedès. Toni, also one of the founders of Mas Candí, started La Salada in 2012, working with vineyards that have been in his family for generations and have never been subjected to intensive chemical farming. Today the approach is organic and biodynamic, with minimal intervention in the cellar and no additions, including sulphur.

Roig Boig – roughly “crazy red” in Catalan – is certainly an unconventional rosé. The 2021 is a field blend bringing together red and white Catalan varieties, including sumoll, roigenc, mandó, cannonau, mònica, torbat, parellada and xarel·lo. The grapes are harvested by hand and the wine is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, without added sulphur – very much in keeping with La Salada’s philosophy of allowing vineyard and fruit to speak with as little cellar manipulation as possible.

Roig Boig 2021 (Celler La Salada)

In the glass it is a striking, slightly hazy pale pink with touches of salmon and orange. The nose is immediately lively: wild strawberry, cranberry and redcurrant, followed by citrus peel, dried Mediterranean herbs, wild flowers and a faintly earthy, stony note. On the palate it is light and wonderfully energetic, with tart red berries, pink grapefruit and a distinctly mineral edge. Bright acidity gives it real drive, while a gentle phenolic grip adds texture. Bone-dry, fresh and slightly wild, with a savoury, herbal finish that makes the next sip almost inevitable.

Price: Medium

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