One of the 12 dedicated winegrowing areas in Catalunya, about an hour away from Barcelona. The road trip takes us along beautiful places with views on the famous mountain of Montserrat . Manresa is the capital and in the center of the 14 wineries in this area.

Pla de Bages is one of the smaller winegrowing areas in Catalunya but this hasn´t been always so. Production in this area has fallen about 95% over the last century for a number of reasons. Besides the philoxera plague it was industrialisation that took the biggest toll on the wine production. Lots of people started working in the factories and vineyards were replaced with other crops.

Competition from the new world wines forced another move from the remaining winegrowers. Foreign grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and chardonnay were planted, replacing the autochthonous varieties and losing more and more of their own identity.

Fortunately, the last 10 years some big changes have been made. Like many of the Spanish winegrowing areas also in Pla de Bages winegrowers started to realise that the best way to sell wines is not to copy new world wines but to distinguish itself with the unique characteristics of the area.

Pla de Bages has a Mediterranean climate with continental influences. An average temperature of 13 degrees Celsius and more than 2.400 hours of sun yearly. With only 500 to 600 mm of rain each year this is an exceptional area for growing grapes.  The yield is low but this has a positive effect on the quality of the grapes.

Picapoll is the autochthonous grape in the area which has made a comeback in the last years.(see also Grape facts)  Pla de Bages now produces very good wines and have just started to become popular. Wine factory organises trips to Pla de Bages with visits to two wineries. Interested? Go to the page what we do for more information.