‘Cartoixà de Vinyes Velles’

Cartoixà AKA Xarel-lo, Tarragona, Spain

Tanca Els Ulls means ‘close the eyes’ in Catalan, alluding to the wild leap of faith it takes to build a winery from scratch! Francesc Boronat works out of Nulles, a tiny village of 480 people where he’s the only active winemaker in the area with his vines surrounded by fennel, rosemary, oranges and olives. He organically farms the land his grandfather cared for a century ago with a focus on the regional grapes that make the “Gold Coast” of Tarragona so incredibly special. From a single vineyard of 80 year old vines, grapes were hand-harvested & underwent 20 days of skin contact with some stem inclusion, followed by ageing on the lees in stainless and amphora for 6 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulphur. Pink pepper, blood orange, ruby grapefruit & salty seaspray against the cliffside. Enjoy this peculiar & pretty wine with a crunchy salad & acerbic wit.