Costador
The Costador project is a one-man show by Franquet Ruiz, who founded the estate in 2014. Joan’s family is from Priorat and his wife is from the Conca de Barbera area, and their families have historically and permanently been involved in viticulture. Joan was a successful manager of a food company in Catalonia, but constant business trips and a lion’s workload had an extremely negative impact on his health. Due to excessive stress, Joan broke both his feet and spent almost 10 months learning to walk again. After recovering, he decided to leave the food company and devote all his attention and time to wine production and working with vineyards. To this day, Joan has his own space in the building of the oldest cooperative in Catalonia, built in 1894, which was given to him by the EU Agricultural Authority for protecting his business project. That is, the building is owned by the state, and all the other equipment: amphorae, barrels, foudres, vats, press - everything is the property of Joan.
Joan's goal is to find and restore forgotten vines located at significant altitudes above sea level, sometimes reaching 900 meters. There is also an emphasis on varieties at risk of extinction, such as Sumoll Blanc. No one had made wine from this variety on a commercial scale until Joan was the first to release such a wine in 2014. All the vineyards are between 60 and 110 years old, and all plots are cultivated according to organic principles and not too radical biodynamics.
Joan's goal is to find and restore forgotten vines located at significant altitudes above sea level, sometimes reaching 900 meters. There is also an emphasis on varieties at risk of extinction, such as Sumoll Blanc. No one had made wine from this variety on a commercial scale until Joan was the first to release such a wine in 2014. All the vineyards are between 60 and 110 years old, and all plots are cultivated according to organic principles and not too radical biodynamics.
