Mariona Vendrell and Albert Canela fell in love while studying winemaking in Tarragona and started Succés Vinícola in 2011 at the tender age of 20. Based in the hills of Conca de Barberà, south-west of Barcelona in Catalonia, the couple organically farms vineyards owned by Albert's family while fostering deep-rooted connections with old-time growers organically farming older vineyard sites in Sarral and Barberà de la Conca. Daring to push boundaries of what's considered possible in the region and willing to take a different path, the focus is kept on native varieties such as: Trepat, Parelleda and Ull de Llebre (Catalunya name for Tempranillo), which have sustained the region for generations. The wines are youthful, energetic, pure expressions of the history of Catalonia that are fantastic to drink or spend hours contemplating.
That is exactly what this wine made us do, which was think. We are used to Parellada used in cava, but the still wine of the grape is something that really blew our minds. The wine is beautiful. Succés Vinícola is amongst the first producers to make a still Parellada and is arguably a benchmark producer for the grape. Traditionally one of the main grapes for Cava, Parellada is a late-ripening variety that likes high altitudes (it only thrives above 400 meters). Albert and Mariona write: "For both of us, this wine was a first experience (experiència in Catalan) because we had never made a white wine. Therefore, we decided to name the wine Experiència."
2021 Succés, Experiència Parellada, Conca De Barbera Spain
- All work is done by hand in the predominantly old, bush-vine vineyards; grapes are picked to retain freshness but not at the expense of flavor and fruit, and only indigenous yeasts are used.
- White wines get a little skin contact, and all the wines have a texture that reflects a true sense of place.
- Sulfur is rarely used but both Mariona and Albert (who between them share all the work in the estate vineyards, winery and marketing) maintain that they are not radical on this issue: "faced with a challenging vintage, we would not hesitate to use sulfites".
