Castell del Remei

Castell del Remei is a century-old winery located on a historic estate of the Costers del Segre Designation of Origin, where the first vestiges of winemaking activity date back to 1780.

It is the oldest winery in Catalonia in the production and labeling of fine aged wines, and also the first Catalan winery built according to the Bordeaux-type model of a château surrounded by vineyards.

It is nourished by grapes from the estate and vineyard plots in the nearby mountains. It is run by its owner, the viticulturist Tomás Cusiné, a renowned winemaker, and considered one of the best wine assemblers in the country.

The characteristics of Castell del Remei, as a wine property, are as interesting as its long history and together with the heritage value of the complex they complete an unparalleled complex in the wine-growing regions of southern Europe.

The property is located in the municipality of Penelles, in the La Noguera region, in Lleida, about 120 km from Barcelona.

The estate, ideal for wine production, has a Mediterranean-continental climate: wide thermal oscillation, with very cold winters and hot summers; low rainfall and medium humidity. In this region, winds from the west and northwest predominate, which are accentuated in spring. The most precious of them is the marinade, which arrives on hot summer afternoons to cool the grapes. Another of the climatic singularities of the area is the persistent fogs in winter.

The soils on the property are predominantly clay-calcareous. The vineyard plots are located on the bed of the inland sea that occupied a good part of the Central Depression during the Cenozoic era and are located on fertile soils of mostly alluvial composition. The winery has about 100 hectares of vineyards on its property. The cultivation of most of the vineyard (80%) takes place in vineyards in the mountains near the Castle, with an altitude (between 700 and 800 meters), on soils with a loamy texture (loamy loam or clay loam) with abundant presence of gravel, which allow good drainage.

As for the varietal composition, it includes the native vines (Grenache, Tempranillo, Cariñena, Drilling, Malvasía and Macabeo) to which were added those of French origin that Castell del Remei introduced to the peninsula in the 19th century (Cabernet sauvignon, syrah, chardonnay, white sauvignon).

The average age of the vines is over 25 years and the vineyards are trained in trellises, according to the double cordon system (Royat Double), with a planting density of between 4,000 and 5,000 plants/hectare.

The original facilities of the winery comprise a total area of 5,500 m2 and are distributed in six attached warehouses, built on stone, with a wrought iron structure and walls up to 100 cm wide.

Currently, the aging rooms house approximately 1,000 barrels (50% French and American oak), while the winemaking area is equipped with thermoregulated stainless steel tanks, pneumatic presses and other state-of-the-art technical tools that allow produce more than one million bottles of wine annually.

Castell del Remei carries out ecological and sustainable management of the entire estate. Furthermore, treatments are minimized to promote the vegetative development of the strains.

In this sense, it is worth noting that Castell del Remei promotes research in the fields of viticulture and oenology in a clear commitment to ecology and innovation.