The Xapallà cellar
Cava ageing in the modernist cellar
Fermenting vats
Barrel hall
The Cellar

The Can Vendrell modernist cellar was built in 1925 and houses the principal vinification processes. The new Xapallà cellar next door was finished in August 2004 and houses the temperature-controlled warehouse, the barrel hall and a new bottling plant.

Organic winemaking

Organic wine is largely wine from organically grown grapes, but the regulations primarily limit the quantity of sulphur dioxide that can be used, approximately half the levels permitted in a conventional cellar. This means that the Can Vendrell cellar is required to maintain a level of hygiene far superior to that of a conventional cellar. Nonetheless, once more we can see that the key to making great wines lies in the quality of the raw materials: the grapes.

By working only with grapes in optimum sanitary coonditions, Albet i Noya are able to work largely without using SO2. In the case of the red wines, it is not used until the wines have completed the malolactic fermentation, and so are practically finished. As far as whites are concerned, a small quantitiy of SO2 is added during the first clarification. All yeasts used are indigenous to the Penedès region.

The fermenting vats have an inert gas system (a mix of nitrogen and CO2) to prevent potential alterations in the wine. Once again, the emphasis is on prevention rather than cure: as the wine cannot be chemically corrected, the hygiene of the cellar is key to avoiding disappointments. The whole cellar is cleaned using high pressure hot water (up to 90°C) instead of chemical products.