Buil & Giné is a family winery in Gratallops founded in 1996 by Xavier Buil Giné, heir to a family that had farmed olives and almonds in the area for generations; his grandfather, Joan Giné, was among the first to turn to viticulture in the 1950s and 60s, supplying grapes to the local cooperative. The house's first wine, Giné Giné, reached the market in 1997, and in 2002 Xavier built his own winery, combining tradition and technology.
The estate farms roughly twenty hectares of vineyard—twelve in Priorat and eleven in Montsant—on slate (llicorella) soils, with red varieties including garnacha, carignan, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah and tempranillo, and whites including macabeo, viognier and pedro ximénez. Under oenologist César Torrijos, the winery produces around 250,000 bottles a year under labels such as Giné Rosat, Joan Giné (barrel-aged white and red) and Pleret, following a philosophy inherited from grandfather Joan: wine is made in the vineyard, worked with respect for nature without renouncing knowledge.
Besides the winery, Buil & Giné runs a small hotel, the Amics restaurant, and a year-round wine tourism centre, where visitors can take the audio-guided "Bath of the Vines" walk through the slate estate, ending with a tasting of four wines.
Imatge: Josep Salvany i Blanch · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: builgine.com · turismepriorat.org · prioratwines.nl