Terra Personas was founded in 2006, when the Dutch couple Ruud and Jacqueline Persoon settled in the south-east of DO Montsant, near El Molar, and bought a roughly ten-hectare property — known as the 'finca Personas' — spread across old stone terraces above the Siurana river valley, bordering DOQ Priorat. The estate's farmhouse, Mas d'en Panxo, still holds underground ceramic wine vats testifying to an earlier winemaking past, and the building served as a hospital during the Spanish Civil War.
On old Garnacha (Grenache) and Carignan vines, some planted as far back as 1972, Ruud Persoon added Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, dry-farmed among the olive trees and pruned for low yields. Around the vineyards the family also restored Arbequina olive trees, from which the estate produces an extra virgin olive oil.
The winery makes the white Terra Blanca (100% Grenache blanc), the young reds Terra Vermella and rosé Terra Rossa, and the aged Terra Negra, matured around eleven months in French oak and limited to about 4,000 bottles. Over the years the wines have picked up recognitions including a double gold at the China Wine Awards (2012), silver at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (2012), and rising scores in the Guía Peñín.
Imatge: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sources: web.archive.org · web.archive.org · web.archive.org