Winemaker Albet i Noya hopes 2015 will be a vintage year for Catalonia.
The roots of the vines surrounding the Albet i Noya winery on the western slopes of Catalonia’s Ordal mountains penetrate deep into the earth, clawing their way through clay and calcareous stone.
‘The soil here is perfect for vines,” says Josep Maria Albet i Noya, the fourth generation of his family to run this vineyard. “And this year the conditions were fantastic. I think 2015 will be a very good vintage.”
Albet i Noya, tanned with thin rimmed-glasses and a pony-tail, also hopes 2015 will be the year Catalonia starts to secede from Spain. Regional elections on Sunday are being cast as a de-facto vote on independence.
“We want to have control of our own lives, our own culture, our own language,” he says, striding between the vineyards, stopping occasionally to sample the grapes. “This is a once in a generation chance.”
AC 