Oriol Rossell has launched El Carro Gros 2013, a red wine which represents the winery’s excellence. The event has taken place in Cal Cassanyes estate. There have been people related to the world of wine like journalists, distributors, sommeliers… El Carro Gros is made it with three varieties of grapes (50% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Merlot) from his vineyards at Sant Marçal (Penedès).

During the day, the assistants have visited the vineyards where the varieties which are used to elaborate the wine grow. Later, the wine has been introduced in front of the country house of Cal Cassanyes. There has been a cart which the peasants used as a commercial transport some decades ago. While the visitors were tasting the wine, the Oriol Rossell director, Toni Rossell, and the winery’s oenologist, Salvi Moliner, has explained the elaboration process of this wine and the reason to choose this name.

El Carro Gros is a wine fermented in 300 litres winesinks, without seeding yeasts and doing the hand-operated “pigeage”. It is doing a 20 days maceration and a 16 months of ageing in wineskins made of French, Vicard, Saury and San Martin oak wood. The wine is not filtered before bottling. It ages 12 months in the bottle.

The assistants have been able to do the cupage of the 2014 vintage in different teams. The visit has finished with a lunch.

The origins of El Carro Gros’ name are two elements linked with the winery: the peasant tradition and the human towers. During the 20th century, the Penedès region was full of this kind of cart which peasants used to transport wine and other products. Moreover, El Carro Gros is an expression the “castellers” (people who make human towers) used when they made a “4 de 8”. This construction was one of the most difficult ones during that time.