Costa del Maresme Negre Criança · 2010

Located to the north-east of the city of Barcelona and edging the Mediterranean coast, Alella is one of Spain's smallest wine-growing areas. The proximity to this main city has meant that in the last 40 years the area under plantation has diminished due to the ever-increasing pressure of urban development. Its wines, mainly whites made from the indigenous grape variety Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo), were great favourites of the Barcelona upper classes. In the 1920s, Cava began to be produced which is still exported all over the world today. Vineyards have been planted on the hillsides of the mountainous coastline and the typical soil, called sauló, a whitish granite-sand that helps to retain the heat, provides the wines with their minerality.