From the atlas
De Haan Altés
At A Glance
| |
| Estate | Herència Altés |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Location | Batea and Gandesa, Terra Alta DO, Catalonia |
| Elevation | 420 to 500 metres |
| Vineyards | 50 hectares total; 20 hectares old vines (early to mid-twentieth century) |
| Farming | Certified organic (since 2015) |
| Key Grapes | Garnatxa Peluda, Garnacha, Carinyena |
| Signal Bottles | La Tarentina Rosé, Interstellar Garnacha |
The Producer
Núria Altés grew up in Batea. Her family had farmed vines across the Terra Alta appellation for generations without ever bottling under their own name. Rafael De Haan grew up in Kent, the son of an English father and a Spanish mother, and arrived in Terra Alta not through inheritance but through wine. In 2010 they began farming her family's vineyards together and named the estate Herència Altés, the Altés inheritance in Catalan.
The estate holds 50 hectares of vineyard spread across the villages of Batea and Gandesa, at elevations between 420 and 500 metres above sea level. Twenty of those hectares are old vines, planted between the early and mid-twentieth century. The primary grapes are Garnatxa Peluda, Garnacha, and Carinyena. Both signal bottles carry the Terra Alta DO.
The estate groups its wines under two collections: Living Soils and Living Wines. Solar panels supply between 50 and 60 percent of winery energy. A habitat restoration programme, begun in 2016 at the vineyard parcel called Lo Grau de l'Inquisidor, introduced native plants and wildlife measures directly into the vineyard land.
Place
Terra Alta is an appellation in the far south of Catalonia, inland from Tarragona and the coast. The name translates as high land, which is accurate: the vineyards here sit well above sea level compared to most of coastal Catalonia. At Herència Altés the parcels run between 420 and 500 metres, high enough that summer nights cool quickly after hot days. That temperature swing preserves acidity in the fruit in a region that could otherwise produce very heavy, low-acid wine.
Batea and Gandesa are the two main municipalities in the estate's holdings. The Terra Alta DO covers a compact territory in the Ebro valley hinterland, historically known for big Garnacha grown for cooperatives and bulk export. The shift toward estate bottling, organic farming, and variety-specific winemaking at producers like Herència Altés represents a different use of the same land: old vines, high altitude, and grape varieties with deep local roots, worked toward lighter, fresher styles.
Soil And Site
The packet does not supply confirmed soil type for these parcels, so no assertion is made here. What the site does provide is elevation and vine age. The 420 to 500 metre range across Batea and Gandesa is the primary moderating factor for fruit character. The 20 hectares of old vines, planted from the early to the mid-twentieth century, are the estate's core viticultural asset: deep-rooted, low-yielding plants with canopies that have adapted to the altitude and summer heat over many decades.
Lo Grau de l'Inquisidor is a named parcel within the estate's holdings. Since 2016 it has been the site of an active ecological restoration programme, with native species reintroduced and wildlife habitats supported within the vineyard boundaries.
Story
The estate began as a decision about naming. Núria's family had maintained their vine-growing land across generations but sold grapes or wine in bulk rather than bottling under a family label. When Núria and Rafael took over the vineyards in 2010 they put the family name on a bottle for the first time. Herència Altés made explicit what the land already was: a long-held inheritance, now with an address.
Five years in, in 2015, they completed the transition to organic farming and gained official certification. The choice was a commitment to the old-vine parcels they were already working: no synthetic inputs on land that predates the founding by half a century. In 2016 they pushed further, beginning habitat restoration at Lo Grau de l'Inquisidor, introducing native plants and wildlife corridors into the working vineyard rather than setting land aside. Solar panels now cover between 50 and 60 percent of winery energy consumption.
The sequence from 2010 to 2016 follows a consistent line: inherit the land, farm it without chemicals, restore what grew there before the vines. The wine range follows the same logic.
Vineyards And Cellar
The old-vine parcels are worked organically. Vines planted in the early to mid-twentieth century are low-yielding by nature and by age; the fruit they produce comes in concentrated, with skins that have had decades to develop complexity. The estate's stated philosophy is minimal intervention, with vines and soils treated as the primary material rather than cellar processes.
For La Tarentina Rosé, Garnatxa Peluda grapes from vines aged 25 and 60 years are cold-macerated at 3 to 5 degrees Celsius for approximately one day, then pressed. The must is allowed to settle naturally before spontaneous fermentation begins in concrete tanks. The wine then ages for five months with regular bâttonage, the lees stirred to add body and texture without adding new oak character.
For the Interstellar Garnacha, the fermentation is more physical: spontaneous, running for approximately 15 days with daily pigeage, the cap of skins punched down by hand to extract colour and fruit. After fermentation, the wine goes into 50-hectolitre Austrian oak foudres for six months. Large-format old oak at that volume contributes minimal flavour; its role is to allow slow, gentle oxidation without imposing a woodsy character on the fruit.
The Herència Altés Rosat uses a shorter maceration, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel with wild yeast, and four to five months of bâttonage. La Discreta is 100% Carinyena, minimal intervention, with no further cellar detail confirmed.
Wines
The range is small and built around three grapes: Garnatxa Peluda, Garnacha, and Carinyena.
La Tarentina Rosé is 100% Garnatxa Peluda, a hairy-leafed variant of Garnacha with deep roots in Terra Alta. Old vines aged 25 and 60 years. Cold maceration, concrete fermentation, five months on lees. Pale and fresh, with the texture that extended bâttonage gives without weight.
Interstellar Garnacha is the estate's red. Old-vine Garnacha, spontaneous fermentation with daily pigeage, six months in large Austrian oak foudres. Picota cherry red with a violet rim. Soft tannins, good length, the oak foudres present as background rather than flavour.
Herència Altés Rosat is a second rosé from 100% Garnatxa: shorter maceration, stainless steel, wild yeast, four to five months on lees. Lighter-method production compared to La Tarentina, oriented toward immediate freshness.
La Discreta is 100% Carinyena, minimal intervention. Carinyena is a high-acid, firm-tannic variety that historically dominated parts of Terra Alta before Garnacha became the commercial focus. La Discreta represents the estate's work with that grape, though full cellar detail is not confirmed.
In The Glass
La Tarentina Rosé rises with strawberry and lavender, followed by redcurrant, rhubarb, and raspberry, with blood grapefruit on the finish. The cold maceration kept colour pale and extraction brief, so what arrives in the glass is aromatic rather than vinous. Five months of bâttonage adds a low-level creaminess to the mid-palate without softening the freshness. The finish is clean and tart.
Interstellar Garnacha shows picota cherry on the nose with redcurrant and ripe raspberry. In the mouth the tannins are soft and rounded, with a fresh entry that opens into notes of raspberry, chocolate, and cherry, with licorice and ripe strawberry deeper in the palate. Six months in large Austrian oak foudres contributes a faint woody background without dominating the fruit. The finish holds good length for a wine fermented at this elevation with this grape.
Across both wines, the altitude of the vineyards keeps acidity higher than coastal Catalonia would produce at equivalent ripeness. The old vines concentrate the fruit without forcing extraction, and the minimal-intervention cellar work keeps the result close to what grew.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with La Tarentina Rosé. It is 100% Garnatxa Peluda, cold-macerated for one day, fermented in concrete, and aged five months on lees with regular bâttonage. Garnatxa Peluda is an old local variant of Garnacha with a hairy leaf and a long history in Terra Alta; it appears on very few labels outside the appellation. The cold maceration and brief skin contact keep the wine pale, the aromatics intact, and the acidity lively. Strawberry, lavender, and blood grapefruit on the nose; a creamy mid-palate from the lees work; a fresh, tart close. Old vines aged 25 and 60 years provide the underlying concentration. A single bottle covers the estate's grape focus, its cellar method, and what Terra Alta altitude does to a warm-climate variety.
Anecdote
Núria Altés's family had been growing grapes in Batea for as long as anyone in the family could account for. They sold the fruit or the wine in bulk, as most growers in Terra Alta did, and there was no Altés label on any bottle. In 2010, Núria returned to the family vineyards with Rafael De Haan, who had driven across from Kent years earlier on a wine-led instinct about this inland corner of Catalonia. The family land was there; the question was what to do with it. They decided to bottle it and put her family's name on the front. They called the estate Herència Altés, the Altés inheritance, which was precise: this was the family holding, kept across generations, now given a label for the first time. The name was as plain as they could make it. There was no other argument to make.
Final Word
Herència Altés farms 50 hectares of Terra Alta land, 20 of them old vines, from the two villages of Batea and Gandesa. Organic farming since 2015, habitat restoration since 2016, solar energy covering more than half of winery consumption. The wines are made with minimal intervention and extended lees contact, and they carry the altitude of the land into the glass. La Tarentina Rosé, from old-vine Garnatxa Peluda, is the clearest single bottle: an unusual grape, a specific method, and a place that most wine drinkers have not yet formed an opinion about.
Sources
- https://www.herenciaaltes.com/en/pages/nosotros
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/9322401/
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/2006501/
- https://www.herenciaaltes.com/en/
- https://www.herenciaaltes.com/en/products/herencia-altes-rosat
- https://www.herenciaaltes.com/en/products/herencia-altes-interstellar-2022