Spain · Priorat

Celler de L'Encastell

A family estate in Porrera, DOQ Priorat, farming 10 hectares of llicorella slate since 1999 and producing Marge, a Garnacha-led red blend macerated, fermented and oak-matured to a dark, spiced, mineral profile.

The producer

Celler de L'Encastell sits in Porrera, one of the villages at the heart of DOQ Priorat in southern Catalonia. Carme Figuerola and Raimon Castellví founded it in 1999 on 10 hectares of llicorella, the fractured slate and quartzite bedrock that forces vine roots deep, compresses yields and concentrates phenolics into fewer, smaller grapes. The winery is now a second-generation project: Isabel Castellví and Marta Conde are the winemakers, running an estate that produces between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles a year from those same 10 hectares.

Marge is the wine the estate centres on, a Garnacha-led red that brings together Garnatxa, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon and in some vintages Merlot and Syrah. The grapes are destemmed, macerated on their skins for 15 days, fermented in stainless steel and matured for 12 months in a combination of French and American oak. The result across documented vintages is dark fruit, integrated spice, soft tannins and a long mineral finish that traces back to the slate beneath the Mas d'en Ferran and Els Arbres vineyards where the fruit is grown.

Known for

Garnacha-led Priorat red from estate llicorella vineyards in Porrera

Notable facts

The story

Ten Hectares, One Bottle

When Carme Figuerola and Raimon Castellví acquired their 10 hectares in Porrera in 1999, Priorat's modern reputation was barely a decade old. The appellation had been almost abandoned after phylloxera and rural depopulation stripped the steep llicorella terraces of their workers and, eventually, their vines. A small group of producers had begun remaking it in the late 1980s, and by the time the Castellví Figuerola family arrived, the DOQ designation had been established and the slopes were coming back into cultivation. They chose to work only their own land, which set a ceiling that never moved: the range would be as large as those 10 hectares allowed, and no larger. That decision is still the shape of the estate today, a generation later, with the same vineyards, the same appellation and one wine carrying the whole argument.

Ten Hectares, One Bottle

When Carme Figuerola and Raimon Castellví acquired their 10 hectares in Porrera in 1999, Priorat's modern reputation was barely a decade old. The appellation had been almost abandoned after phylloxera and rural depopulation stripped the steep llicorella terraces of their workers and, eventually, their vines. A small group of producers had begun remaking it in the late 1980s, and by the time the Castellví Figuerola family arrived, the DOQ designation had been established and the slopes were coming back into cultivation. They chose to work only their own land, which set a ceiling that never moved: the range would be as large as those 10 hectares allowed, and no larger. That decision is still the shape of the estate today, a generation later, with the same vineyards, the same appellation and one wine carrying the whole argument.

From the atlas

Celler de L'Encastell

At A Glance

The Producer

Celler de L'Encastell sits in Porrera, one of the villages at the heart of the DOQ Priorat appellation in southern Catalonia. Carme Figuerola and Raimon Castellví founded it in 1999 on 10 hectares of the broken slate soils that define almost everything Priorat does well. The winery is now a second-generation project: Isabel Castellví and Marta Conde are the winemakers today, running an estate that turns out between 25,000 and 30,000 bottles a year.

That is a deliberately modest scale. In an appellation where reputation is built on scarcity and site, ten hectares on llicorella keeps the range focused rather than stretched. Marge is the wine the estate is known for, a Garnacha-led red blend that has been the consistent output since the beginning.

Place

DOQ Priorat is a small, landlocked appellation in the Tarragona province, enclosed by mountains and cut through with steep terraced slopes. It holds one of only two DOQ designations in Catalonia, the higher level of Spanish appellation law, which requires measurably lower yields and stricter controls than the standard DO tier.

Porrera is a village in the northern part of the appellation, and the slopes surrounding it carry the llicorella soils that Priorat is built on. Llicorella is a fractured slate and quartzite rock, dark grey to black, which drains rapidly, forces vine roots deep, and returns very little back to the surface in yield. The consequence in the glass is concentration: low-volume fruit grown under stress on mineral-rich rock, which is why Priorat reds almost always read as dense, dark and structured rather than light or fruit-forward.

Garnacha (Garnatxa in Catalan) and Cariñena are the traditional grapes of the appellation. Both handle the heat and the thin, stony soils well, and Garnacha in particular builds ripe, expansive fruit on slate without losing the grip that the rock contributes.

Soil And Site

The two vineyards confirmed for Marge are Mas d'en Ferran and Els Arbres, both on llicorella. The slate here is not surface stone scattered over clay: it is the bedrock itself, fractured into irregular shards and platens that sit just below the thin topsoil. Vines cannot spread roots laterally and instead push vertically through the rock fissures to reach water. That effort compresses yields and concentrates sugars and phenolics into fewer, smaller grapes. The mineral character that appears in Marge, the long mineral finish documented across multiple vintages, traces directly to the interaction between root depth and mineral-laden slate.

Story

Priorat's modern era began in the late 1980s, when a small group of producers from outside the area arrived with a conviction that the appellation's abandoned terraces, its llicorella slopes and its old Garnacha vines were capable of serious wine. The region had been largely forgotten after phylloxera and rural depopulation in the mid-twentieth century. What followed was a rapid revaluation: by the mid-1990s, Priorat was internationally known, the appellation rules had been tightened, and new estates were appearing on slopes that had gone unworked for decades.

Carme Figuerola and Raimon Castellví founded the winery in 1999 on 10 hectares in Porrera. Choosing to build around estate fruit rather than bought-in grapes was a decision that set the ceiling: the range would only ever be as large as those 10 hectares allowed. The next generation, Isabel Castellví and Marta Conde, inherited both the vineyards and that constraint, and Marge has remained the single documented wine the estate centres on.

Vineyards And Cellar

For Marge, the grapes are destemmed on arrival and macerated on their skins for 15 days. Skin contact at that length draws colour, tannin and the aromatic compounds from the grape solids into the juice: the soft tannin and dark fruit character in Marge across vintages is partly a consequence of that extraction window. The juice ferments at a controlled temperature in stainless steel, which preserves aromatic freshness, and then passes through malolactic fermentation, converting sharp malic acid to softer lactic acid and smoothing the wine's texture.

After that, Marge goes into a combination of French and American oak barrels for 12 months. French oak tends to add fine-grained tannin and restrained wood spice; American oak contributes more coconut and vanilla character. Using both keeps the oak from dominating the fruit and produces the spice and integrated tannin balance that the wine consistently shows.

Wines

Marge is the estate's documented flagship, a Garnacha-led red blend that draws on Garnatxa, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon and in some vintages Merlot and Syrah. The Garnacha component anchors the blend: in Priorat, Garnacha on slate builds ripe dark fruit, body and warmth, with the mineral grip from the rock holding the wine from becoming loose or overripe. Cariñena adds acidity and tannic backbone, and the international varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in the 2020, fill out the mid-palate and add darker spice.

The blend percentages shift between vintages. The 2020 was 50% Garnacha, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cariñena and 5% Syrah. The 2021 simplified toward Garnatxa, Cariñena and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Garnacha lead and the mixed-oak maturation remain constant. Production stays within 25,000 to 30,000 bottles annually across the range.

No other wines from the estate are documented in the research for this page.

In The Glass

Marge opens with dark fruit: blueberries, blackberries and dried plum in the 2021, with Damascus cherry and redcurrant in the 2020. The spice arrives close behind, cinnamon and cardamom in the 2021, clove and bitter cocoa in the 2020, with smoke and mineral running through both. On the palate the wine is full and concentrated, the tannins soft and well-integrated from the 15-day maceration and the oak maturation, the acidity present enough to keep the weight in balance. The finish is long and mineral, that slate character arriving late and staying. The Garnacha gives the density, the Cariñena keeps the acid line from disappearing, and the oak adds spice without pushing the fruit to the background. Marge reads as a wine built for early drinking but with enough grip and mineral depth to reward two to five years in the cellar.

A Bottle To Understand It

Marge is the bottle to start with, and the current vintage is the right choice. It is a Garnacha-led red from 10 hectares of Priorat slate, macerated for 15 days on the skins, fermented in stainless steel and matured for 12 months in French and American oak. The fruit is dark and concentrated, the tannins soft, the finish long and mineral. It is approachable from release but holds for a few years. No other wine from the estate is documented, so Marge is both the introduction and the full argument: this is what 10 hectares of llicorella in Porrera, farmed by a family since 1999, produces when the method is direct and the grape is Garnacha.

Anecdote

The research packet for Celler de L'Encastell does not contain a single sourced episode. The available facts confirm the founding year, the founders, the vineyards and the method across three vintages, but no specific event, decision or moment has been documented with sufficient detail to write a sourced dinner-table story. Publishing an invented anecdote would breach the WoW source contract. This slot is held pending a sourced episode from the producers directly or from a verified interview or profile.

Final Word

Celler de L'Encastell is a compact, family-run Priorat estate with a clear argument: 10 hectares of llicorella in Porrera, a Garnacha-led blend macerated and oak-matured to a consistent profile, and a second generation now making the wine. Marge is the whole story in a single bottle. Start there.

Sources

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