Instinctive Wine and Living Earth

Agustí Costa and Paula Sandoval Redefine the Alt Penedès

Recovered old vines through natural and biodynamic viticulture

Agustí Costa recovers forgotten plots in the Alt Penedès to craft natural wines that express terroir and emotion. Alongside Paula Sandoval, since 2018 he has spearheaded a boutique project that champions observational viticulture and old vines against mass production.

Viticulture as an Act of Quiet Resistance

Barcelona/Newsroom, January 21, 2026

The Cal Xurriu winery was born in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia with a clear premise: to save unique plots discarded by the Cava industry from abandonment. Agustí Costa, a viticulturist from a long farming lineage, works micro-plots of between 0.3 and 2 hectares with clay, limestone, and sandy soils.
These are living estates where wild flowers, rosemary, centenarian olive trees, wild boars, and free-roaming goats coexist. This biodiversity is not decorative; it is part of an ecosystem that feeds the vineyard without the need for chemical intervention. Costa defends an agriculture where “we bring culture and cultivation to the table,” a concept that breaks the dichotomy between product and narrative. Here, wine is a direct consequence of the landscape.

Old Vines, Minimal Intervention, Maximum Expression

The philosophy of Cal Xurriu can be summarized in one phrase: let everything happen in the vineyard. In the cellar, Costa applies minimal intervention to avoid masking what the land has already expressed.

The wines—such as Instint Animal Blanc (Macabeu, Xarel·lo, Malvasia de Sitges) or Lo Primer (Sumoll from eighty-year-old vines)—are fresh, vibrant, and mineral. They transmit citrus, Mediterranean herbs, salinity, and a structure that avoids excess. Instint Animal Negre combines Merlot, Sumoll, and Petit Verdot into an elegant profile, featuring fine tannins and earthy notes reminiscent of stony soil. Xandune, a skin-fermented Chardonnay, breaks clichés with its intensity and distinct character. These are wines that do not seek to please everyone, but rather to speak honestly about the place and the moment. #Naturalwines

An Emerging Winery with a Shared Vision for the Future

Paula Sandoval, chef and co-owner of the restaurant Jazminos in Bilbao, brings a culinary sensitivity to the project that influences the balance of the wines. Together, they practice biodynamic and observational viticulture, with limited productions distributed in specialized shops across Catalonia.

Cal Xurriu is part of a new wave of natural winemakers redefining the Alt Penedès, moving away from industrial volumes to focus on wines with identity. Costa describes the land as “a land that weeps,” and his wine is a way to protect it. Each bottle is a tangible document of a resilient landscape and an agriculture that prioritizes soil life over yield. It is wine to be drunk with consciousness, not to be collected.