The Wine trade is not always about meticulous research andchance encounters often lead to the best new contacts. Indigo staffer Olly met the charmingly hirsute Joan Escoda at a tasting in Madrid on a stand next to an impeccably dressed Burgundian wine maker. On tasting, his Pinot Noir it turned out to be the best we had encountered from Spain, bar none. The style of the wines is very real and it wasn’t much of a surprise when we found out that Joan is a true biodynamicist farmer, with olives, almonds, cows, horses, chickens and other assorted poultry, enabling him to meet his compost needs’ in-house’. Use of constant vegetation cover, no chemicals at all allows the vineyards to stay humid in a dry Mediterranean climate. Biodynamic treatments are used and the wines are not filtered, stabilized or fined. To complete the natural vibe, no sulphur is used.

La Llopetera is the aforementioned Pinot, Les Paradetes is a blend of local Sumoll, Carignan and Grenache, and Coll de Sabater is a Merlot/Cabernet Franc blend. Beautiful labels too.

Visit their website: www.celler-escodasanahuja.com