Spain · Priorat

Mas Foraster

A family-run Montblanc estate making Trepat- and Macabeo-led wines from its own vineyards in Conca de Barberà.

The producer

Mas Foraster farms and vinifies estate fruit in Montblanc, within Catalonia’s Conca de Barberà DO. Trepat is the red thread, with Macabeo alongside it; spontaneous fermentation and minimal sulfite additions keep the wines focused on the grapes and their individual vineyard and ageing choices.

The family estate has documented vineyards and olive groves from 1828, while the modern winery began with its first wine in 1998. Start with La Moto for a Trepat-led red of fruit, herbs and spice, with moderate body and an easy, savoury flow across the palate.

Known for

Estate-grown Trepat and Macabeo from Montblanc, made with spontaneous fermentation.

Notable facts

The story

The first wine and the family that continued it

Josep Foraster planned the renovation of the family winery and made its first wine in 1998. He died in 1999, only a year after that first vintage. His sister Julieta continued the project with her husband, Josep Lluís, keeping the new cellar in operation after his death. Julieta’s son, Ricard Sebastià Foraster, had studied oenology and took over the winery in 2005. Within seven years, the project moved from Josep’s first bottling through Julieta and Josep Lluís to Ricard, whose work continues the family’s estate-grown Trepat and Macabeo wines.

From the atlas

Mas Foraster

At A Glance

Mas Foraster is a family-run estate in Montblanc, within Catalonia’s Conca de Barberà DO. Its vineyards supply all of the winery’s grapes, so Trepat and Macabeo travel from the family’s own land into bottles made with spontaneous fermentation and minimal sulfite additions.

The Producer

The estate’s central grape is Trepat, a native variety closely associated with Conca de Barberà. Mas Foraster uses it alongside Macabeo, turning estate-grown fruit into a range of wines that separates different vineyard identities and ageing choices rather than treating every Trepat bottling alike.

Place

Montblanc places Mas Foraster inside the Conca de Barberà DO, where Trepat is a regional grape rather than an occasional addition to a blend. That local relationship matters in the glass: Trepat-led wines provide the producer’s main red-wine thread, while Macabeo gives the range another white-grape register.

Soil And Site

The Mas Foraster property has documented vineyards and olive groves from 1828. Today, every grape used by the winery comes from that estate, linking the land under vine directly to the fruit fermented in the cellar rather than to purchased parcels from elsewhere in the appellation.

Story

The family estate is older than its modern winery. Josep Foraster, born in 1960, planned a renovation and made the first wine in 1998. That decision changed the role of the property: fruit from a long-established farm began to leave Montblanc as Mas Foraster bottles, with Trepat and Macabeo at the centre of the work.

Vineyards And Cellar

Mas Foraster farms organically and works only with estate fruit. Spontaneous fermentation lets naturally occurring yeasts begin the ferment, while minimal sulfite additions keep the cellar approach measured. Together, those choices put the emphasis on ripe grapes, fruit character and the differences between individual Trepat wines rather than a heavily standardised cellar signature.

Wines

The range is built around several Trepat wines, each with its own composition, vineyard identity and élevage. That architecture matters because Trepat is not presented as one fixed flavour: bottle choices can move the grape through different fruit, herb and spice expressions, and ageing can alter body, texture, tannin and finish.

La Moto is one of the named wines in the portfolio. Its documented vineyard, vinification and ageing details make it a useful example of the estate’s bottle-by-bottle approach, while published notes on the 2023 show red fruit, herbs and spice in a wine of moderate weight.

Macabeo forms the other main grape foundation at Mas Foraster. Alongside the Trepat bottlings, it keeps the range connected to the estate’s local varieties while giving the cellar a white-wine voice as well as its red one.

In The Glass

La Moto 2023 opens on fruit with herbal and spicy notes rather than dense oak character. On the palate it is moderate in weight and easy to drink, with the fruit and spice carrying through the finish. That shape suits a Trepat-led wine made from estate fruit: aroma arrives first, then a lighter-bodied, savoury-edged palate rather than a heavy tannin frame.

Across the Trepat range, look for the effect of different vineyard identities and ageing choices in the balance of fruit, spice, texture and grip. The wines are connected by grape and place, but the producer’s own material treats each bottling as a separate expression rather than a label change alone.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Mas Foraster La Moto. It is a named estate wine with a documented vineyard and cellar story, and its 2023 profile is concrete: fruit, herbs, spice and moderate body, with an easy-drinking palate. It introduces Trepat through flavour and texture while leaving room to explore the producer’s other Trepat bottlings afterwards.

Anecdote

Josep Foraster planned the renovation of the family winery and made its first wine in 1998. He died in 1999, only a year after that first vintage. His sister Julieta continued the project with her husband, Josep Lluís, keeping the new cellar in motion after Josep’s death. Julieta’s son, Ricard Sebastià Foraster, had studied oenology; in 2005 he took over the winery. The modern Mas Foraster project therefore passed from Josep’s first bottling to Julieta and Josep Lluís, then to Ricard within seven years.

Final Word

Mas Foraster is worth seeking out for estate-grown Trepat from Montblanc, made by a family that turned a long-held vineyard property into its own bottled-wine project in 1998. La Moto offers a direct first taste of that Trepat-led work: red fruit, herbs, spice and moderate weight.

Sources

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