Albet i Noya is one of the Spain's leading ecological winemakers. The Albet family has been making wine at the Can Vendrell estate for four generations, but in 1982 made the move to producing ecological wines. Josep Maria Albet i Noya, who runs the winery with his brother Antoni, made it clear that the cellar's ultimate priority is to produce quality wines, rather than making ecological wines at any cost. To date the two philosophies have run hand in hand, and respecting nature's natural rhythms has if anything helped to achieve an excellent raw material from which to make the wines.

The Can Vendrell estate enjoyes a priviledged micro-climate, with lower than average rainfall for the Penedès region, and the cellar is consantly innovating to find the most appropriate techniques for the varieties cultivated. The vineyard behind Josep Maria in the photo (left) has a number of different trellis methods in the search for the most appropriate for the region. The ecological ethos behind the viticulture eschews all use of systemic chemicals, whilst fertilising is achieved by planting the vineyards with three different grasses every winter. This is ploughed back into the soil every Spring, although in exceptionally wet years (like 1997), leaving this growth in the vineyards helps to absorb excess water, thus improving the quality of the grapes harvested. Instead of spraying the vines with systemic pesticides, the organic regulations permit the use of very weak solutions of Copper hydroxide, and increasingly, the cellar is experimenting with derivatives of local wild herbs, with very encouraging results.

Albet i Noya are perhaps best known for their Col·lecció series of barrel-aged monovarietal wines, currently comprising three Criança reds (Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and new this year, Syrah) and three barrel fermented whites (Chardonnay, Macabeu, Xarel·lo). The cellar worked with single variety wines for some time, learning the characteristics of each variety, before finally producing a "cupatge" or blended wine. Reserva Martí is named after Josep Maria's son Martí, and continues the tradition of attractive labels painted by local artists used in the Col·lecció series. In this case the artist was a very young Martí himself at primary school! The wine itself is a blend of 40% Tempranillo (Ull de Llebre), 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Syrah, 2% Petit Syrah. The wine spent 12 months in oak barrels, and two years in the bottle before release. Ripe fruits and leather on the nose, in the mouth it is well structured with firm, but not overpowering tannins and a long finish.

As well as the "Collection", Albet i Noya also produce a number of other wines. Can Vendrell (the name of the Albet i Noya estate) is a young red, and they also produce a number of young single variety wines. Since 1997 they have been participating in a joint venture in the Priorat region with the Poboleda Cooperative. Two of the resulting wines: Mas Igneus FA206 and Barranc dels Closos are available at El Celler Català. They also produce an excellent cava (sparkling wine) available at this link..

Their latest release is a new wine called Lignum (from the Latin for "wood"), a blend of Garnatxa Negra, Carinyena and Cabernet Sauvignon. The first vintage was released in September 1999, and has already won a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge organised by Wine Magazine in London (as did the 1995 Reserva Martí). Other recent prizes in their long list of awards are the "1999 Grand Gold Zarzillo" (an international award from Castilla y León) awarded to the 96 Col·lecció Cabernet Sauvignon and a silver Zarzillo for the 1997 Mas Igneus FA112.