Herència Altés

Manifesto

“I remember when I was a little girl that the sound of the tractors at dawn marked the beginning of the grape harvest and that for days all the streets of the town smelled of grape juice. It was my parents and, above all, my grandparents, who passed on to me the values of being from such a place, and like an old vine, with my feet rooted to the earth, I grew up and loved my surroundings.

When Rafa appeared in my life we wanted to give wine form to this land of stones, of dry land, of old vines, of hospitable and cheerful people, of cierzo and garbí. I will never forget the feeling of opening the doors of our winery for the first time, at that moment we started a project that not only praises my ancestors and a way of cultivating the land, but is also symbolic of the town where I was born and grew up.

We want our wines to be a reflection of their terroir. It is the vines and the land where they rest that are the absolute protagonists that fill our bottles so that when someone in our house, or on the other side of the world, tastes our wines and closes their eyes, they feel the same aromas that I felt when I was a little girl at the beginning of the grape harvest.”

Núria Altés

Altés Estate

Organic wines born from the love for a land and the commitment to take care of it.

Herència Altés is a family winery in Terra Alta dedicated to the cultivation of vineyards and the production of fresh and elegant wines.

We are committed to organic agriculture and to a way of working that is sustainable and respectful of the environment, which promotes a rich biodiversity that, in turn, helps us to strengthen our soils and our environment. Caring for our natural and historical heritage, preserving old vineyards and dry stone margins, allows us to continue growing and making wines so that future generations can continue to enjoy the land and its fruits.

We work with the native varieties, emphasizing the Garnacha grapes and highlighting the Garnacha Blanca, the flag and insignia of our land. We elaborate our wines in the most natural and respectful way possible and always looking for the maximum honesty and varietal elegance.

When you taste our wines, they transport you to a place, Terra Alta; a character, our terroir; and a way of making, Altés Inheritance.

In the field

We work all our estates manually and organically, always with the utmost respect for the environment and for the natural and cultural heritage. We understand vineyard cultivation as part of the ecosystem since it is this balance between agriculture and the environment that is capable of guaranteeing the well-being of the vineyards and combating the threats facing agriculture. All our work is aimed at respecting and maintaining this balance.

In 2015, we started the transition to organic farming and, as of today, all our vineyards are certified organic. In addition, we practice agroecology, using alternative techniques to keep the vineyards healthy and help generate life in the soils and in the territory.

In an environment with low rainfall and a terroir poor in organic matter, as is the case of Terra Alta, we understand the soil as an ally to nourish the plants. For this reason, we respect the soil structure as much as possible and make rational decisions by adapting to the particularities of the climate. Thus, depending on the wind blowing or the humidity, we opt for one methodology or another, always thinking of enhancing the richness of each soil.

We seek to maintain and perpetuate the viticultural legacy of old vineyards, enhancing the subway richness: deep and strong roots that endure over the years. With this purpose, we work most of our vineyards in goblet form and without irrigation, so that our cultivation adapts to the drought conditions of the territory and strengthens the roots.

But our winemaking project goes further: through our environmental project, we promote, on the one hand, the protection of our landscape, formed by a mosaic of small agricultural plots interspersed with margins of “dry stone” and forest cuttings, and, on the other hand, the recovery of biodiversity, native fauna and flora often threatened by unsustainable practices or displaced by foreign species.