Celler Cal Pla, in Porrera, traces its roots to a family of farmers and winegrowers from the village whose documented lineage goes back to the mid-17th century; the name comes from the house the family received next to the village church, which in time gave the winery its name. Among the family's ancestors was Jaume Montlleó Montlleó, who in June 1893 was the first to detect phylloxera in Porrera and who also took part in drafting the Bases de Manresa (1892), an early Catalan constitutional text.
Since 1996 the winery has been run by Joan Sangenís, a trained oenologist, and his wife Cristina Grau, who moved production toward estate-bottled wine under labels such as Mas d'en Compte, Planots and Cal Pla, after decades of selling wine in bulk. The family farms six properties in the Porrera municipality, around 50 hectares of old vines - some a century old - planted mostly with Carignan and Grenache, with small plots of varieties uncommon in the area such as Picapoll Blanc and Trepat Blanc. In 2017 they began a project to build a new winery at Mas d'en Compte and restore the farmhouse there.
Winemaking combines traditional methods with modern oenological technique, using cement and stainless-steel tanks alongside oak barrels of different sizes. The winery offers vineyard visits and wine tastings by appointment.
Imatge: Enfo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: cellercalpla.com · prioratwines.nl · cellercalpla.com