{"id":17017,"date":"2021-09-22T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/?p=17017"},"modified":"2021-09-22T15:17:25","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T13:17:25","slug":"vins-el-cep-story-vineyards-friendship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/en\/magazine\/vins-el-cep-story-vineyards-friendship\/","title":{"rendered":"Vins El Cep, a story of vineyards and friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Forty years ago, four winemaking families joined forces to add value to their work and close the circle of cava and wine production. They are the first producers of biodynamic cava in the world.<\/b><\/h3>\n

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Vins El Cep<\/span><\/a> winery is located in the northern part of the Alt Pened\u00e8s region, within the DO Cava for sparkling wines and the DO Pened\u00e8s for still wines. The winery is located at <\/span>Can Llopart de les Alzines<\/span><\/i> estate in the Espiells area of Sant Sadurn\u00ed d’Anoia. Theirs, is a story of <\/span>neighbourliness, friendship and vindication of the work of the farmer,<\/b> the winegrower who wants to add value to its work, and who wants to close the circle of cava and wine production.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maite Esteve, partner and manager of Vins El Cep, represents one of the four families that founded Vins El Cep in 1980. They are now the second generation (three daughters of three different founding partners, plus one of the original founders). Maite defines the project as “a story of vineyards, wine and friendship”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The four families have a long winemaking history, and one of them has documents dating back to 1448 that already mention vineyards on their property. “We come from viticulture. Forty years ago, the four friends decided to give value to their work, as grapes were not valued and <\/span>the efforts made in the vineyard did not have an impact on the price paid for grapes<\/b>. In fact,” she adds with concern, “this still hasn’t changed much”.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Caring for people and the environment<\/b><\/h3>\n

Maite proudly tells us that their innovative ways, always seeking natural balance, led them to introduce biodynamic techniques in the vineyard: “We were the first in the area to practice biodynamics and to bring out <\/span>Claror, the first biodynamic cava in the world<\/b>“. Although they were not the first to practise organic farming, they have been doing it for many years on their four estates, and she tells us that they did it for three reasons: “First, thinking about people who work the land and the vineyards; second, thinking about land and plants, to recover balance in nature, the biodiversity; and third, to obtain a quality product, as natural as possible”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The introduction of organic crops is part of their philosophy of doing their bit in the face of the climate emergency which, she states, worries them. That is why a few years ago, they introduced the use of photovoltaic energy. “<\/span>We have adapted our operation to the solar schedule.<\/b> We live in a rural area, and we don’t have a very good electricity service, so we decided to use photovoltaic energy instead of a transformer. We produce all the energy we consume ourselves,” she says.<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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