Our first steps with natural wines
It all started in 2008 in the heart of Bordeaux at the prestigious St. Emilion estate when the owner of a quint bar suggested that we try an odd looking wine made by a local friend.
That turbid, hazy liquid was so dierent from everything we had tasted during our time in France that it sent shockwaves through our bodies and souls.
We asked the owner of the bar what is was and he casually replied “C’est du Vin Naturel, bien sûr”. We then returned to Spain to start our own project as winemakers but the memory of that stz Years passed and the seed planted by that captivating natural wine in St Emilion began to grow. We could resist no longer. We began to make our very own natural wines. That seed has now blossomed into a personal project dedicated to producing stripped-back, honest wines that truthfully express our countryside, heritage and people. Vibrant wines from living vines.
The Casa Balaguer Team
Marta Ribera
Born in Villena and raised into a family of vine growers Marta is the heart and soul of the Casa Balaguer project. For generations her family have tended vines in Alicante but it was Marta’s vision and determination that turned all those years of experience into today’s fully functioning winery when she decided to restore the old 18th Century House, Casa Balaguer.
A passionate animal lover Marta has always had nature close to her heart. She is as comfortable looking after animals as she is vines and treats both with the same love and attention. Already a qualied biologist she completed her eonolo-gy studies at the University of Valencia in 2004 and has trained all over the world including several harvests in Haut Medoc. It was there that she met Andres and together were bitten by the natural wine bug.
Andres Carull
Andrés has been a wine-lover from an early age. In fact even as
early as 12 when sneaking a sip from his grandfather’s glass
during local festivals. A trained guitarist, if it wasn’t for his love of grapes Andrés would probably be playing in a band! The dyna-
mism behind the Casa Balaguer project Andrés brings bags of experience and never-ending energy.
Although a qualied eonologist at the University if Valencia, Andrés’s education in nature, plants and the vegetative cylce started long before that. As a child he would regularly accompany his parents and grand parents while pruning, tending and harvesting their orange trees. This passion for nature inevitably led to grapes and when he met and joined forces with Marta the Casa Balaguer project was born.
