A field blend of 90-year-old vines of Macabeo, Carinyena Blanca, Garnacha Blanca, and a little Garnacha Tinta. The grapes spend a week on their skins before fermenting with native yeasts. Expect citrus peel, orchard fruit, and dried herbs, with a deeper, lightly tannic texture and a savory edge.
Vinyes Tortuga
Vinyes Tortuga began with a simple question: why wait to pursue the life you really want? For Dutch couple Dido and Jurriaan, the answer was to leave their careers behind, travel the world making wine, and eventually put down roots among the rugged hills of Alt-Empordà in northeastern Spain.
Their journey took them through South Africa, Chile, Australia, France, and Spain, working harvests and learning from winemakers along the way. Dido had first become interested in natural wine while researching the subject for her master’s degree in cultural anthropology in South Africa, where she encountered a generation of young Swartland winemakers forging their own paths. Their example helped inspire the couple to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start building a life around wine.
A stint working with Catalan natural winemaker Joan Ramon Escoda proved particularly influential, reinforcing the idea that great natural wine starts in the vineyard. In 2018, Dido and Jurriaan began making wine from their own grapes after acquiring ten hectares of planted vines in the Albera natural reserve through a crowdfunding campaign. They settled right among the vineyards, building a home and winery powered by solar energy and supplied by their own well.
Today, they farm biodynamically, focusing on healthy, living soils and a diverse vineyard ecosystem. Cover crops help nourish the land, while sheep graze among the vines. Their vineyards include Garnacha, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tannat, and Barbera, with ongoing efforts to restore the existing plantings and graft vines to new varieties. The goal is to work with nature rather than against it, growing healthy grapes that can ferment without intervention.
That philosophy carries straight into the cellar. The wines are made without additives or filtration, relying on spontaneous fermentation and the character of the fruit itself. There are no shortcuts or elaborate techniques designed to make the wines conform to a particular style, just careful farming and a willingness to let each vintage find its own expression.
At Vinyes Tortuga, the vineyard isn't simply where the grapes come from. It's home, workplace, and the foundation of an entirely different way of living. The wines are the natural extension of that commitment: vibrant, individual bottles shaped by the land, the vintage, and the people who call this corner of Catalonia home.
