~120 Years
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95% Grenache Noir & 5% Muscat d’Alexandria
pH 3.20
4.3 H₂SO₄
ALC% 12
Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂
1000 Bottles produced
A naturally sparkling rosé made from 30-year-old Grenache Noir (95%) and 60-year-old Muscat d’Alexandria (5%), both grown on pure slate soils. The grapes are co-macerated for thirty-six hours, then pressed and fermented in stainless steel before resting on their full lees. Bottled just days before fermentation finished, following the ancestral method, creating a vibrant, naturally sparkling wine with a deep rosé colour reminiscent of traditional wines from the region. Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂. ‘Contraban’ pays homage to the historic illicit trade across the Pyrenees between Roussillon and Empordà during Franco’s dictatorship.
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(Currently Resting)
70% Garnacha Roja & 30% Macabeu
pH 3.27
4.15 H₂SO₄
ALC% 13
Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂
3125 Bottles produced
A distinctive Empordà white made from Garnacha Roja (70%) and 50-year-old Macabeu (30%), sourced from two small vineyard parcels at 30–100m elevation on rare slate soils. The grapes are vinified separately, with one day of skin contact before gentle pressing and fermentation in stainless steel at moderate temperatures. The wines are blended after fermentation to balance the different ripeness levels of each parcel. Naturally expressive with a subtle oxidative character typical of Garnacha Roja, it is unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂, preserving its purity and sense of place.
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100% Garnatxa Roja (Grenache Gris)
pH 3.23
4.20 H₂SO₄
ALC% 12
Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂
1965 Bottles produced
Mas dels Fils is made from a single 50-year-old vineyard of Garnatxa Roja, or Grenache Gris, an increasingly rare variety known locally as Lledoner Roig. Recovered from old parcels in Rabós d’Empordà and planted on slate soils, the vines were originally cultivated for rancio production. Destemmed and given two days of skin contact before pressing and fermentation in stainless steel, the wine follows RIM’s minimal-intervention approach, using indigenous yeasts, unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂. The result is a vibrant amber wine with aromatic lift, texture and distinctive phenolic grip.
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100% Carignan
pH 3.31
4.30 H₂SO₄
ALC% 13.5
Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂
1689 Bottles produced
A powerful and deeply expressive 100% Carignan from exceptionally old vines, including 50 and 120-year-old parcels planted on slate soils. Low-yielding vines produce concentrated fruit with remarkable depth, acidity and balance. Destemmed and macerated for twelve days with gentle daily pigeage, the wine is fermented in stainless steel before being aged equally in stainless steel and 10-year-old American oak barrels. Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂, it captures the intensity and mineral character of old-vine Carignan and the distinctive terroir of Empordà. Named in honour of Jan, an 80-year-old local vigneron who tends the vineyard with Jordi.
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70% Carignan & 30% Garnacha Tinta
pH 3.27
4.25 H₂SO₄
ALC% 13,5
Unfined, unfiltered and with zero added SO₂
5460 Bottles produced
A vibrant blend of 60-year-old Carignan (70%) and 30-year-old Garnacha Tinta (30%), destemmed and macerated on skins for twelve days with gentle daily pigeage before pressing. Half is fermented and aged in stainless steel, while the remainder spends four to six months in 10-year-old American oak barrels before being blended and bottled. Luminous and expressive, it shows balsamic and spicy aromas alongside fresh strawberry and cherry. Juicy and elegant on the palate, with balanced acidity, well-integrated tannins and a medium-bodied structure that makes it wonderfully fresh, approachable and made for sharing.
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100% Carignan
pH 3.31
4.30 H₂SO₄
ALC% 12.5
20 ppm SO₂ added at bottling
1250 Bottles produced
Made from high-quality 50-year-old Carignan sourced from two vineyards bordering a small river, where alluvial soils and cooling influences create a lighter, more elegant expression of this classic Empordà variety. The grapes are destemmed and macerated on skins for ten days, with gentle daily pigeage by hand before pressing. Fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel to preserve purity, freshness and varietal character. Unfined and unfiltered, with a maximum of 20 ppm SO₂ added at bottling. ‘Velles Vides’ means ‘old vines’ in Catalan, celebrating the local farmers who have preserved Carignan as a defining part of Empordà’s rural heritage.
WINEMAKER:
Jordi Esteve
REGION:
Rabós d’Empordà, Spain
Founded:
2013
Farming:
Organic, Minimal Intervention
Size:
10 Hectares
Vine Age:
When we first drove into Alt Empordà from the French side, crossing the border from France into Spain, it’s hard to miss that it’s a landscape that truely stays with you. The vineyards here feel ancient—because they are—but also fragile. Terraces long abandoned, villages half-quiet, and the occasional presence of the Tramuntana wind sweeping in off the Mediterranean. This is one of the most historic wine regions in Catalonia, and for a long time, one of the most overlooked.
Just outside the small village of Rabós, about half an hour from Girona, we met Jordi Esteve—a winemaker whose work captures both the past and future of Empordà wine. Spending time with Jordi, walking the vineyards and sharing meals, it quickly became clear that this is more than a winery. It’s a deeply personal project rooted in place, community, and tradition.Jordi returned to Rabós (where he gained initial celler experience in his youth) in 2013 after years working abroad, including time in California and Chile. But it was here, back in his family’s village, that things truly clicked.
The wines themselves are unmistakably Mediterranean. The reds are structured, savoury, and alive, with a raw energy that reflects the wind, the heat, and the mineral soils of the region. The whites—when available—are rare and layered, while the rosés completely defy expectation: textured, serious, and built for the table rather than the beach. These are wines that demand food—olive oil, garlic, seafood, grilled meats—and come alive in that context.
What also struck us during our visit is Jordi’s connection to the village itself. This isn’t an isolated winery—it’s part of a living culture. From shared meals to local traditions, there’s a sense that the wines are just one expression of a broader Catalan way of life. Even the vineyards come with stories, including those passed down from his neighbour and mentor, whose legacy continues to shape the project today.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, he turned to the people who had never left—the older generation of growers and farmers who still carried the knowledge of how things were always done. What followed was years of listening, learning, and slowly earning trust.
Today, Jordi farms around ten hectares of old vine vineyards—some of them incredibly old and no longer commercially viable by modern standards, but full of character. These Vides Velles (“Old Lives”) vines produce low yields but intensely expressive fruit, forming the foundation of his small-production, natural wines from Empordà.
In the cellar, the approach is refreshingly straightforward. Traditional basket pressing, fermentation in stainless steel, minimal interventions or manipulation—just careful, patient winemaking that allows the vineyard to speak. Jordi’s philosophy, as he told us over lunch, is simple: “I just follow the grapes where they want to go.”
Alongside his dry wines, Jordi has also been instrumental in reviving Empordà’s historic sweet wines—working with old solera barrels and documenting pre-phylloxera cellars across the region. Tasting these wines with him was one of the most memorable moments of our visit: a direct link between past and present, and a glimpse of where this project might go next.
As importers, we’re always looking for wines with a strong sense of identity—wines that reflect not just a place, but a person and a philosophy. What Jordi is doing here in Empordà is exactly that. These are honest, characterful Spanish wines with deep roots and a clear point of view.
For anyone exploring natural wine from Catalunya, Spain, old vine wines, or the emerging story of the Empordà region, this is a producer worth knowing—and one we’re incredibly proud to represent here in Australia.