Gradually in the Anoia region, an area located between the DO Penedès and Pla de Bages, vineyards and wine are recovering. The outbreak of the devastating phylloxera plague in 1888 and later the civil war were the main causes of the rural exodus towards the paper industry, thus aggravating the progressive disappearance of the wine sector. With the Pla de Morei project, with organically farmed vineyards since its inception in 1997 in La Torre de Claramunt, a family has set out to recover the territory that has been their family's for several generations. It is promoted by Mercè Sangüesa and her husband Xavier Bartrolí.
In 1915 his ancestors left La Segarra (Lleida) to move to the Mas Rossinyol farmhouse, located on the Pla de Morei estate. Xavier Bartrolí's father, Pere, had to leave the farm to go work in the paper industry. For centuries and until the beginning of the 20th century, the Anoia region was a land dedicated mainly to wine monoculture.
Now the Bartrolí-Sangüesa, after “preserving, respecting and recovering” their environment, want to revalue this productive area. They have up to 85 hectares cultivated between vineyards, cereals and olive trees. For years they sold their grapes entirely to well-known Penedès wineries, but, given the serious price crisis that has been going on for many years, they decided to embark on the adventure of making wines with the help of the winemaker Edith Soler.
They already sell about 30,000 bottles of up to seven wines a year, of which they export 10%. This year they will release a new wine made with Garnacha Peluda. They have even opened up to wine tourism. In one of their proposals they offer to visit and make your own sheet of paper at the Molí Paperer Museum in Capellades. This initiative is completed with a tasting of organic wines and a picnic of km 0 products at the Pla de Morei winery.
Maria Mercè Sangüesa Millan states that they promoted their project “with the desire to represent all the families that had to leave the countryside during industrialization in search of economic and family stability to prosper.” It became one of the pioneer organic viticultures in the area. Mercè, who is part of the Regulatory Council of the DO Catalunya representing winegrowers, is bothered by being talked about wines for women.
She assures that she has never had problems in the sector for being a woman, although a representative of the Department of Agriculture of the Generalitat expressed her surprise at “being a girl who dedicated herself to planting cereals.” She says that she does not hide the way she is and that, at the same time, she does not like “very elaborate people.” She loves to walk through her vineyards, and go to see the sea in Vilanova i la Geltrú or Sitges. She confesses that “the sea relaxes me a lot.” She likes listening to music, reading and cultivating friendships, which she acknowledges is “not an easy task.” And, ultimately, she assures that she likes “to be happy.”
For this woman, wine is a way of life. In fact, a year ago she moved her home next to her vineyard from her native Capellades. She is very concerned about the effects of climate change. Last year she already lost 70% of her grapes due to drought.
Mercè Sangüesa is convinced that people are looking for fresher, less alcoholic wines, with more fruit and softer wines. Thanks to the fact that their vines are planted 450 meters above sea level in calcareous soils, which provide marked acidity, and sandy-clayey soils, which offer tension and length, they obtain wines different from those of Penedès. He defines them as “wines to enjoy.” They are marked by a sensitive salinity. She states that it is not easy at all, especially when it comes to marketing, to promote a family project like hers. Her two children also collaborate on this project. The journalist Natàlia is dedicated to the winery's communication, and Xavier, who studied Business Administration and Management, collaborates in economic management.
