Alella family winery with Pansa Blanca and White Grenache, Menorca vineyards, revived sweet and fortified styles, and sparkling wines.
The producer
Celler Marfil's Alella winery is in a modernist building designed by Jeroni Martorell, a disciple of Antoni Gaudí. Xavier Garcia, the technical director and owner, is trained as a geologist, agricultural engineer and winemaker. Grapes from Alella and Menorca are vinified at this cellar. The range includes wines from Pansa Blanca and White Grenache, historic sweet and fortified wines, and sparkling wines.
Known for
Alella whites and revived historic styles
Notable facts
Jeroni Martorell designed the modernist building in central Alella that houses Celler Marfil.
All grapes from Alella and Menorca are vinified at the Alella winery.
Garnella is a variety being recovered in Alella.
Marfil has been the winery's flagship brand since the 1920s.
The story
Garcia Revives Forgotten Styles
Since 2001, Xavier Garcia has led Celler Marfil's work. He is trained as a geologist, agricultural engineer and winemaker, and serves as the winery's technical director and owner. He recovered traditional styles that had been forgotten for decades and developed new bottlings. The winery's wines draw on Alella and Menorca, including Pansa Blanca and White Grenache whites, sweet and fortified wines, and sparkling wines. Marfil is the winery's flagship brand in Alella. All the grapes are vinified at the Alella winery.
From the atlas
Celler Marfil
Celler Marfil is a family winery in Alella with a modernist cellar, vineyard sources in Menorca, and a range that revives historic wine styles.
At A Glance
Field
Detail
Appellation
D.O. Alella
Home
Alella
Main grapes
Pansa Blanca, White Grenache, Red Grenache and Syrah
Flagship brand
Marfil
Vineyard sources
Alella and Menorca
The Producer
Celler Marfil is based in a modernist building in central Alella, designed by Jeroni Martorell, a disciple of Antoni Gaudí. The winery was founded in 1906 at the heart of D.O. Alella. Grapes from 22 hectares of plots in Alella and Menorca, including five hectares of vineyards on Menorca, are vinified at the Alella winery.
Xavier Garcia, the winery's technical director and owner, is trained as a geologist, agricultural engineer and winemaker. He has led Celler Marfil's work, recovered traditional styles forgotten for decades, and developed new bottlings. The winery's flagship brand, Marfil, was Barcelona's reference white wine during the twentieth century and was exported worldwide.
Place
Celler Marfil sits 15 kilometres from Barcelona, while its vineyards occupy slopes and terraces on the Maresme coast facing the Mediterranean. Alella's plots have granitic sauló soils under a Mediterranean climate. The wines have freshness, saline notes and ageing potential from those soils.
Wines
There are around a dozen wines from Alella and Menorca. Whites from Pansa Blanca and White Grenache represent the D.O. Alella style in the house range. The selection also includes historic sweet and fortified wines and sparkling wines within the appellation. Sweet wines are sweet, fortified wines use added spirit to raise alcohol, and sparkling wines contain bubbles.
The named bottlings include Nura Blanc, Ivori La Finka and Nura Negre, all from the 2022 vintage. Nura Blanc and Ivori La Finka are white wines, Nura Negre is red, and Ivori La Finka carries the Alella appellation.
Final Word
Celler Marfil also uses Moscatel, Macabeo and Garnella, a variety being recovered in Alella.