Joan Rubió: A Return to Family Roots

Uncompromising Biodynamics and No Marketing in Penedès

The silent revolution of Penedès passes through Cal Tiques

Fifteen years as technical director at Recaredo taught Joan Rubió that the true revolution does not involve large productions. In 2015, he returned to the Cal Tiques farmhouse to prove it.

From the Prestige of Recaredo to the Family Estate

Barcelona/Newsroom, January 21, 2026

Joan Rubió led the transition to biodynamics at Recaredo between 2000 and 2015, becoming one of the most respected figures in Catalan oenology. However, the call of his ancestral land in the Cal Rubió neighborhood of Santa Margarida i els Monjos was stronger than prestige.

Together with his partner Àngels Margalef, he reclaimed the vineyards his family had worked for generations, back when they sold grapes to large Cava producers without ever bottling under their own name. The decision was clear: to craft the wines they had always dreamed of, without intermediaries or commercial concessions.

Eight Hectares of Limestone Seventeen Kilometers from the Sea

The estate consists of eight to ten hectares of vineyards on limestone soils, just seventeen kilometers from the sea. Xarel·lo dominates with 4.3 hectares, followed by Macabeu, recovered Sumoll, Malvasia de Sitges, and red varieties like Monastrell and Tempranillo.

None of this would be possible without CCPAE organic certification since 2009 and a core conviction: the vineyard must be a living ecosystem, not a controlled monoculture. Joan works with spontaneous cover crops, follows the lunar calendar, and applies biodynamic preparations to strengthen the plants. #Naturalwines

Minimal Intervention, Maximum Expression of the Penedès Territory

In the cellar, the philosophy admits no middle ground. Fermentations use indigenous yeasts, and most wines are made without added sulfites, filtering, or fining. Many whites are macerated with skins to extract structure and aromatic expression—a technique that turns Xarel·lo into a statement of intent. Aging takes place in old barrels, clay amphorae, or steel, depending on what each plot demands.

The results are mineral, fresh wines with a salinity that recalls the proximity of the Mediterranean. Essential, Tiques, or Obstinat possess the elegance of that which needs no disguise: they simply express the landscape they come from. Joan Rubió does not make natural wines for fashion; he makes honest wines because he cannot conceive of any other way to work.