Born in Guardiola de Font-Rubí in a family of generations of winegrowers, in the Penedès area. At Mas Rossell (his birthplace); his family cultivates about 30 hectares of vines. He studied Viticulture, Oenology and Marketing at Camp Joliu, in the Baix Penedès. There he met Toni Carbó, with whom he shared his passion for the world of wine. During those years, he did internships in Bourgogne and Champagne. He was greatly influenced by the Bourgogne model, which he is most identified with and which he has been inspired by in recent years.
In 2005, together with his wife, Mercè Cuscó, they built the cellar and in 2006 the first vintage of wine came out. Celler Mas Candí is the fruit of a dream come true. From a young age he worked in his parents’ vineyards and his wish was that one day he could see the wine bottled from the vineyards that, generations after generations, his families have worked.
The winery is located in Les Gunyoles d’Avinyonet, right at the beginning of the Natural Park of the Massís del Garraf. Zone with direct influence of the sea (located about 10 km in a straight line); which provides more freshness on summer nights and tempers cold winter days. It is an area with normally lower rainfall than the Alt Penedès area where they are located, that is to say, very affected by climate change.
In Les Gunyoles, his wife’s family cultivated around 10 hectares of land that belonged to the family settled in the town since the 17th century.
When they started the winery project, they started making a wine that came from the best vineyard in Xarel·lo from each of four friends: Toni Carbó, Ramon Galimany (Toni’s cousin), Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó. They harvested the best grapes from each and put them in 4 different barrels (French Oak, American Oak, Chestnut and Acacia). This is how the QX (FOUR XARELS) was born. From the beginning, they opted for the Xarel·lo variety, which is native to the area and which they believe will be the one that will best adapt to climate change. And this is where it all started and subsequently, 3 continue in the project (Ramon, Mercè and Toni).
They mainly believe in good work in the vineyard, with the utmost respect for nature and working all the vineyards following the principles of organic agriculture. They seek a balance in the ecosystem of the vineyard and thus achieve the maximum quality of the grapes, without the addition of chemicals or fertilizers.
They seek complicity with the landscape. In the work of the vineyard, we try to reproduce the balance that exists in a forest; where the trees grow and develop without any chemical treatment and feeding on the same leaves transformed by soil microorganisms.
They work with indigenous varieties and recuperating old Catalan varieties that were cultivated before phylloxera and that were now almost extinct.
Since they started to produce, they chose the old vines of their grandparents, which are the ones that provide them with the most quality and have the least yield. The old vine, having deeper roots, has more stability in years with more adverse climate than the young ones. Currently, more than 20 hectares of their own work for the winery. They are vineyards with very little production and that produce complex and intense wines.
Throughout these years, they have shared with Toni their love of wine tasting, participating in important blind tasting competitions. This hobby has led them to travel to get to know producing areas and they usually attend wine fairs. Precisely a trip to the Dive Bouteille (France); it opened them to the world of natural wine, from which they have not been able to escape.
From that moment on, they began to make sulfite-free wines and to experiment with the elaborations. It was then that Toni Carbó started his personal La Salada project at home.
This type of wine has influenced them a lot, for this reason, they started the Ramon Jané Viticultor project, which produces wines without sulphites and to differentiate it from the wines they have always produced at Mas Candí. Both are from organic vineyards and the winery is also certified organic.
They want to convey their passion for their work and that each bottle reflects all their ideas, area, variety and their tastes.
Celler Mas Candí currently produces wines under the Denomination of Origin Penedès and Corpinnat. And from Ramon Jané Viticultor, natural wines without designation of origin.