Abadal

Founded by Valentí Roqueta in 1983, Bodegas Abadal has its headquarters in the old family estate, the stone witness of a winemaking tradition that goes back more than nine centuries. Pioneering the production of quality wines in Pla de Bages, at the very centre of Catalonia, the Abadal winery owns 127 hectares of vineyards in the town of Santa María d'Horta d'Avinyó. A typically Mediterranean landscape farmed following environmentally friendly procedures, it is a tapestry of vineyards, olive and almond trees which coexist gracefully. The climate, though, has a strong Continental influence which brings the Abadal wines a rather original and elegant character. Particularly, the red wines exhibit a clear Atlantic streak that separates them from its fruit-driven, sun-baked, purely Mediterranean counterparts.

Though most of its wines include international varieties, the Abadal winery has invested a lot of time and effort in recovering some interesting local grapes, such as the reds Sumoll and Mandó, and the White Picapoll. As a result, the winery now produces some outstanding single varietal wines which feature among Catalonia's most fascinating and successful examples of heritage grape recovery.

• Year of foundation: 1983
• Address:  Finca Masies D´Avinyo
• City: Santa María d'Horta d'Avinyo
• Province: Barcelona
• Zip code: 08279
• Country: Spain
• Phone number: 34 938 743 511
• www.abadal.net
• Guided visits? Yes
• Wine tourism services? Yes