The vineyard on the airfield
On the site of a Spanish Civil War airfield, Enric Soler’s grandfather planted Xarel·lo in 1945.
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Securely packed and insured against breakage and loss.
One click adds all six to your basket. You can remove or swap single wines there.
One click adds them all to your basket. You can remove or swap single wines there.
- Improvisacio 202440,50 €
- Istiu 202442,49 €
- Espenyalluchs 202148,00 €
- Espenyalluchs 202255,00 €
- Espenyalluchs 202460,00 €
- Nun Vinya dels Taus 202489,00 €
- Espenyalluchs 202148,00 €
- Improvisacio 202440,50 €
- Istiu 202442,49 €
Our pick
I would start with Soler’s Espenyalluchs 2021. It is five years old and part of both sets.
From the wine letter
On the site of a Spanish Civil War airfield, Enric Soler’s grandfather planted Xarel·lo in 1945. After his death the vineyard passed in 2004 to his grandson, who had been named Spain’s best sommelier in 1997. So Soler knew exactly what a good white wine tastes like, but he had yet to make one. “I had to learn everything about wine production,” he told the journalist Amaya Cervera. “But I was comfortable with the sensory aspects.”
Since then he has been making still, age-worthy whites from Xarel·lo. He thought it “crazy” that such a good variety was used almost exclusively for sparkling wine. He has worked biodynamically since 2005 and today farms four hectares with Mercè García. Here are all six wines we have from him.
The wines in this letter
The Xarel·lo grows on three parcels, including Sisqueta, whose vines are about as old as those in his grandfather’s vineyard next door. Soler aged the whole of the 2024 vintage for nine months on the lees in large casks from the Austrian cooperage Stockinger. Luis Gutiérrez gave it 93 points in the Wine Advocate and called it tender and ethereal. With lemon and thyme roast chicken.
40,50 €incl. VAT
Half of the Istiu is Xarel·lo from vines over fifty years old beside the house, the other half Malvasia de Sitges, planted in 2020. The Malvasia fermented in a concrete egg and the Xarel·lo in barrel, and the two were blended only a month before bottling. For Luis Gutiérrez of the Wine Advocate it is very fresh and precise, as well as elegant and approachable. With sea bream and fennel.
42,49 €incl. VAT
On this slope at 400 metres in Torrelles de Foix, Soler grafted the vines with budwood from his grandfather’s vineyard. They grow on clay covered with small pebbles. Decanter found flint, delicate herbs and fresh citrus, and even then praised “so much poise and purity”. With grilled prawns.
48,00 €incl. VAT
2022 was hot and dry, yet the wine stayed at 12.5%. Miranda Franco tasted smoke and spice alongside citrus, white flowers and ripe apple, with an invigorating salinity, and gave it 94 points. With sea bass ceviche.
55,00 €incl. VAT
2024 brought drought. The young vines were pruned a second time in February, and from late June came rain and mildew. In the end the harvest stretched to four of the oldest 300-litre barrels, with nine months on the lees. In the Wine Advocate Luis Gutiérrez wrote “This is nothing short of spectacular” and gave it 95 points. With pan-fried turbot.
60,00 €incl. VAT
The Nun comes from the Vinya dels Taus in Sabanell, his grandfather’s vineyard. The bush vines from 1945 grow without irrigation on sand, silt and clay at around 250 metres. It is fermented and aged for nine months in barrels from Burgundian cooperages, a quarter of which were new in 2024. With porcini risotto.
89,00 €incl. VAT