When asked if he ever questioned whether he’d become a winemaker Assis Suriol laughs, “really, really, really, really?  No.”  Assis is a quintessential Catalan ‘Pagès,’ a farmer whose fidelity to place defines his work.  For Assis, the goal is simple: “If I can give better land to my daughter, it’s as easy as that.  It’s not important that it’s wine or wheat or whatever, the important thing is to live here and to make that organic, biodynamic and sustainable.”  Located in the Alt Penedès, Assis’ father, Francesc, had the vineyards certified organic in 1998 but Assis tells us they have always practiced ancestral Catalan agriculture that goes well beyond organics:  “the way we are farming 300 years ago or 400 years ago without any biodynamic explanation.”

​

The Suriol cellars are known for long-aged, old vine bottlings but Assis started the ‘Azimut’ project “to make the bridge between the farmers and the customers” and to “make wines as close as we can to the grape.”  The idea is to offer clean, fresh and entirely crushable wines that speak for themselves without need of a natural wine decoder ring.  These are tingling, vibrant, brut nature cavas made only from traditional grapes that are super accessible and priced for casual enjoyment!

​

​