Blau Cel 2016

High up in the sky, a worried-looking coyote is clinging to a faltering Acme ‘Mars-or-Bust’ space rocket. ‘Bust’ is the clear winner. Far below him is a crazy quilt of cartoon farmland, and his look turns to one of resignation as he realises that as soon as he's fallen into it, the rocket will follow, landing on his head. Never mind, coyote, at least you're landing in Moisès Virgili's wonderfully higgledy-piggledy vineyards in Tarragona, and you can now spend your days happily running round tending to the differing needs of all the little plots, and making this aromatic, white fruited, refreshing and entirely Mediterranean organic white. It's got to be better than the Grand Canyon!

Moisès Virgili took over the family vineyards, which they had owned for several generations, in 2010. Drawing on experience gained in a number of wineries, both in Spain and further afield, he took control of all the vines and had both the vineyards and the cellar certified organic. He created Celler 9+ in 2010, with a view to creating a range of different wines from the wide range of family vines.

The vineyard parcels are all quite different from each other, some facing in different directions to others, and soil types varying, often from one row to the next. Great care and control is exercised over all of the vines, with meticulous attention being paid to each plot's differing soil, fertility and grape varietal requirements. Nutrient plants may be placed between rows where soil is less fertile, or plants may be pruned green during the growing season to reduce yield and increase quality, to give just two examples.

Winemaker Moisès Virgili was born in La Nou de Gaià, Tarragona, amid the vines and various other crops owned by his family. An agronomic engineer specialising in oenology, he worked in wineries in South Africa and Chile, as well as in other Denominatiónes de Origen in Catalonia before coming back to take the helm of the family farm.

Grapes for Blau Cel are hand harvested and vinified using the fewest possible additives and a very low sulfite content. The different grape varieties are vinified separately. The wine is florally aromatic with soft white fruit flavours and a refreshing acidity wholly redolent of its Mediterranean origin.