Why it matters
The producer
Núria Altés grew up in Batea. Her family had farmed vines across the Terra Alta appellation for generations without ever bottling under their own name. Rafael De Haan grew up in Kent, the son of an English father and a Spanish mother, and arrived in Terra Alta not through inheritance but through wine. In 2010 they began farming her family's vineyards together and named the estate Herència Altés, the Altés inheritance in Catalan.
The estate holds 50 hectares of vineyard spread across the villages of Batea and Gandesa, at elevations between 420 and 500 metres above sea level. Twenty of those hectares are old vines, planted between the early and mid-twentieth century. The primary grapes are Garnatxa Peluda, Garnacha, and Carinyena. Both signal bottles carry the Terra Alta DO.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Terra Alta is an appellation in the far south of Catalonia, inland from Tarragona and the coast. The name translates as high land, which is accurate: the vineyards here sit well above sea level compared to most of coastal Catalonia. At Herència Altés the parcels run between 420 and 500 metres, high enough that summer nights cool quickly after hot days. That temperature swing preserves acidity in the fruit in a region that could otherwise produce very heavy, low-acid wine.
Batea and Gandesa are the two main municipalities in the estate's holdings. The Terra Alta DO covers a compact territory in the Ebro valley hinterland, historically known for big Garnacha grown for cooperatives and bulk export. The shift toward estate bottling, organic farming, and variety-specific winemaking at producers like Herència Altés represents a different use of the same land: old vines, high altitude, and grape varieties with deep local roots, worked toward lighter, fresher styles.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The old-vine parcels are worked organically. Vines planted in the early to mid-twentieth century are low-yielding by nature and by age; the fruit they produce comes in concentrated, with skins that have had decades to develop complexity. The estate's stated philosophy is minimal intervention, with vines and soils treated as the primary material rather than cellar processes.
For La Tarentina Rosé, Garnatxa Peluda grapes from vines aged 25 and 60 years are cold-macerated at 3 to 5 degrees Celsius for approximately one day, then pressed. The must is allowed to settle naturally before spontaneous fermentation begins in concrete tanks. The wine then ages for five months with regular bâttonage, the lees stirred to add body and texture without adding new oak character.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is small and built around three grapes: Garnatxa Peluda, Garnacha, and Carinyena.
La Tarentina Rosé is 100% Garnatxa Peluda, a hairy-leafed variant of Garnacha with deep roots in Terra Alta. Old vines aged 25 and 60 years. Cold maceration, concrete fermentation, five months on lees. Pale and fresh, with the texture that extended bâttonage gives without weight.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with La Tarentina Rosé. It is 100% Garnatxa Peluda, cold-macerated for one day, fermented in concrete, and aged five months on lees with regular bâttonage. Garnatxa Peluda is an old local variant of Garnacha with a hairy leaf and a long history in Terra Alta; it appears on very few labels outside the appellation. The cold maceration and brief skin contact keep the wine pale, the aromatics intact, and the acidity lively. Strawberry, lavender, and blood grapefruit on the nose; a creamy mid-palate from the lees work; a fresh, tart close. Old vines aged 25 and 60 years provide the underlying concentration.