The History Teacher, the Whole Cluster & the Grape That Cash Crops Forgot
In Les Coves de Vinromà, on the Mediterranean coast of Castellón, Roger Díaz — high school history teacher, vine steward, and part-time winemaker — tends three hectares of free vines on calcareous, clay-loam, and red sandstone soils, making zero-sulphite wine from 53-to-80-year-old Macabeu and Embolicaire with nothing but whole clusters and time.
Origin — 2007, the Classroom & the First Vines
Celler Les Foes is the work of Roger Díaz — a high school history teacher from Les Coves de Vinromà, a small town in the province of Castellón, on Spain's Mediterranean coast. But Roger is not merely a teacher who makes wine as a hobby. He is a vine steward — a man who, since 2007, has been planting, recovering, and preserving the indigenous grape varieties of a region that had largely forgotten them. His first vintage came in 2014 — seven years of patience between the first vine and the first bottle.
The project began as a free vines initiative — vinyes lliures — a commitment to grapes that grow without the constraints of industrial agriculture, without the homogenizing pressure of the international market, and without the chemical dependence that has defined so much of 20th-century viticulture. Roger first planted his own vines in 2007, but he also inherited old vines of Macabeu and Embolicaire — some 53 to 80 years of age — that had survived decades of neglect, their roots deep in the calcareous and red sandstone soils of the region. These were not purchased vineyards. They were gifts from the past, entrusted to a man who understood that history is not only written in books.
Les Coves de Vinromà was once a thriving wine region for hundreds of years — a landscape of terraced vineyards, dry stone walls, and family cellars where wine was made for local consumption and regional trade. But in the second half of the 20th century, the vines were largely forgotten or replaced with the cash crops du jour — almonds, olives, and whatever else the market demanded. The collective memory of wine faded. The terraces were abandoned. And the indigenous varieties — Macabeu, Embolicaire, Tardana — retreated to the margins, surviving only in the oldest, most inaccessible plots.
Roger's mission is explicitly historical — which is precisely what you would expect from a history teacher. He seeks to ensure that centuries-old winemaking methods have their rightful place in the local lexicon and collective consciousness of the region. He is not merely making wine. He is reclaiming a chapter of local history that industrial agriculture tried to erase. The bodega's success has been such that Roger has been able to reduce his teaching to part-time — the classroom and the vineyard now share his attention, and the lessons he teaches in each inform the other.
The Place — The Forgotten Comarca, the Red Sandstone & the Old Vines
Les Coves de Vinromà sits on the Mediterranean coast of Castellón, in the northern reaches of the Valencian Community — 12 kilometres from the sea, where the maritime breeze moderates the heat and the calcareous soils provide the mineral backbone that defines the wines. The estate comprises approximately 3 hectares of free vines — a small, focused, and intensely personal project. The soils are a triad of calcareous, clay-loam, and red sandstone — a geological diversity that gives the wines both structure and warmth, both minerality and generosity.
The Pouets Plot — Red Sand, Gobelet, and 1970
The Xalera vineyard is located at Pouets, in the municipality of Vilafamés, at an altitude of 250 metres on an outcrop of red sand (rodé), with a north-south orientation. The vines were planted in 1970 with a separation of two metres between stocks, pruned in gobelet (en vaso), with a low yield of 2 kilograms per plant. The plot is dry-farmed — no irrigation, no artificial hydration, just the Mediterranean rainfall and the water-retentive red sand. Agro-ecological methods are used: vegetation cover in winter, a single ploughing each year, and only sulphur powder or solution during spring — and if absolutely necessary, basic copper salts. The harvest is always by hand, in 15-kilogram baskets, from seven in the morning until noon. This is not industrial viticulture. It is agricultural archaeology.
Certified Organic, Zero Synthetic Treatments
The bodega is Certified Organic — a formal recognition of what has always been practice. Zero synthetic treatments are used in the vineyard. No pesticides. No herbicides. The vineyards have never known the touch of pesticides or herbicides — not because Roger is ideologically opposed to them (though he is), but because the old vines he inherited were already beyond the reach of industrial agriculture, and the new vines he planted were never introduced to it. The result is a vineyard ecosystem of extraordinary biodiversity — wildflowers, beneficial insects, and native grasses that compete with the vine for water and nutrients, forcing the roots to plunge deeper into the red sandstone in search of survival.
Embolicaire — The Forgotten Red of Castellón
Embolicaire — also known as Trepat in other regions — is a native red grape of extraordinary rarity, cultivated in only a handful of old vineyards across Castellón and southern Catalonia. It is a variety of late bud-break, moderate yield, and pale colour — characteristics that made it commercially unviable in an era of dark, extracted reds, but that make it ideally suited to the natural wine revolution and to a warming climate. At Les Foes, Embolicaire produces wines of wild strawberry, pomegranate, and Mediterranean herb — light in body, vivid in acidity, and unmistakably of this place. Roger has become one of its few remaining champions — a steward of a grape that the 20th century tried to forget.
Macabeu — The White Anchor of the Mediterranean
While Embolicaire anchors the reds, Macabeu — also known as Macabeo or Viura — is the white soul of Les Foes. A grape of extraordinary versatility, Macabeu can produce wines ranging from crisp and neutral to deeply textured and oxidative, depending on the soil, the age of the vine, and the hand of the winemaker. At Les Foes, the old Macabeu vines — 53 to 80 years old — produce grapes of intense concentration and low yield, giving wines of roasted apple, fennel, and a nutty, almost beer-like complexity when given skin contact. The variety is not merely a grape for Roger. It is a historical witness — a plant that has watched Les Coves de Vinromà transition from wine region to cash-crop country and back again.
Winemaking — The Whole Cluster, the Amphora & Just Grapes
Roger Díaz's cellar philosophy is as simple as it is absolute: just grapes. He describes his wines with this single phrase — not as a marketing slogan, but as a technical and moral commitment. In the cellar, no sulphur is used. No selected yeasts. No enzymes. No chaptalisation. No acidity correctors. No fining agents. No filtration. The wines are made from grape, yeast, and time — and nothing else. This is natural wine not as a trend, but as a return to the only way wine was made for millennia before chemistry intervened.
The defining feature of Roger's winemaking is whole-cluster fermentation. Roger does not have a de-stemming machine. He does not want one. All fermentations are done with whole bunches — stems, skins, seeds, and all — which contributes tannins, structure, and a spicy, herbal complexity that destemmed wines cannot replicate. The grapes are hand-harvested into 15-kilogram baskets, transported immediately to the cellar, and placed whole into fibre tanks, stainless steel, clay amphorae, or French oak barrels — whichever vessel the wine demands. Fermentation is spontaneous, triggered by the yeasts that live on the grape skins and in the vineyard air.
Long macerations are standard at Les Foes — a practice that extracts colour, texture, and aromatic complexity from the skins. The Xalera undergoes 16 days of whole-grape maceration in a fibre tank before being bottled manually without filtering. The Les Casildes — the estate's orange wine — receives extended skin contact on 100% Macabeu, producing a hazy, amber-hued wine with tropical fruit, dried citrus, black tea, and a nutty, almost beer-like finish. And the reds — whether Embolicaire, Garnacha, or the Brutal!!! blend — see maceration periods that range from 11 days to 52 days, depending on the vintage and the vessel.
The clay amphorae are central to Roger's practice. He employs the Roman technique of micro-oxygenation with clay amphorae — a method that allows the wine to breathe gently, softening tannins and stabilizing colour without the flavouring influence of oak. The amphorae also encourage long, slow macerations — the thermal inertia of the clay keeps fermentation temperatures stable, allowing the yeast to work patiently and the wine to develop complexity over weeks rather than days. Some wines are raised in stainless steel for freshness. Some in neutral French oak — 8-year-old 225-litre Tronçais barrels — for subtle texture. Some in amphora for purity. The vessel is chosen by the grape, not by fashion.
The Wines — From the Party Wine to the Brutal!!!
Celler Les Foes produces a focused but vibrant range of natural wines — whites, oranges, rosés, and reds — all made with whole-cluster fermentation, indigenous yeasts, zero added sulphites, and no filtration or clarification. The range is small, the production is tiny, and every bottle is a lesson in the history of Les Coves de Vinromà. Roger does not make wine for points. He makes wine for memory — his own, his town's, and the drinker's.
Les Foes "Xalera"
White / Orange — Vilafamés, CastellónThe estate's party wine and most approachable cuvée — 100% Macabeu (or 85% Macabeu / 15% Moscatel in some vintages) from the Pouets plot in Vilafamés. The vineyard sits at 250 metres on red sand (rodé), with vines planted in 1970, pruned in gobelet, yielding 2 kg per plant. Hand-harvested into 15kg baskets from seven in the morning until noon. The grapes undergo 16 days of whole-grape maceration in a fibre tank, with spontaneous fermentation from the grapes' own yeasts. No additions: neither sulphites, nor clearers, nor acidity correctors. Bottled manually without filtering. The result is a light, intense wine with medium acidity — bouquets of roasted apple and fennel, typical of the Macabeu. ~10% ABV. Zero sulphites. A wine for a party, hence its name.
Les Foes "Les Casildes"
Orange — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónA light-golden natural orange wine — 100% Macabeo with significant skin contact. Hazy, orange-hued, and unapologetically alive. The nose is of tropical fruit, dried citrus, and wild herbs. The palate offers light tannins, bright acidity, and a nutty, almost beer-like finish — a texture that confounds categories and demands attention. Notes of grapefruit, guava, orange peel, and peanut emerge with air. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged according to the vintage, and bottled without filtration. This is not an orange wine for the faint-hearted. It is an orange wine for the curious, the hungry, and the patient. ~13% ABV. Minimal sulphites. Unfiltered.
Les Foes "Fabulero"
Rosé / Red — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónA co-fermented field blend — Embolicaire (Trepat), Cabernet Franc, Macabeo, and Moscatel — or, in some vintages, Tempranillo, Tardana, Moscatel d'Alejandría, and Macabeo. The grapes are hand-harvested whole cluster, foot-stomped, and left on skins for 3 days before pressing. Co-fermentation — mixing red and white grapes in the same tank — is an ancient practice that Roger has revived, producing wines of extraordinary aromatic complexity and textural harmony. The result is a wine that occupies the liminal space between rosé and light red — fresh, fruity, herbaceous, and utterly drinkable. A Vi de Festa — party wine — in the truest sense. ~12% ABV. Zero sulphites. Indigenous yeast.
Les Foes "Litrona" / "Les Foes" (Garnacha)
Red — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónA 100% Garnacha of singular purity — hand-harvested, macerated with skins for 11 days in open-top polyethylene tanks, and stomped by foot for 5 minutes every day. After pressing, the wine is aged for 14 months in 8-year-old neutral 225-litre French Tronçais barrels — oak that has lost its ability to flavour, retaining only its capacity to breathe and soften. The result is a Garnacha of extraordinary elegance and restraint — red cherry, wild thyme, and a stony minerality that speaks of the calcareous soils. No new wood. No makeup. Just the grape, the stem, the skin, and the patience of a man who has no de-stemming machine and wants none. ~13–14% ABV. Zero sulphites. Unfiltered.
Les Foes "Macaraw"
Red — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónA natural red blend — Macabeu, Grenache, and Embolicaire — that defies conventional wisdom by mixing white and red grapes in a single fermentation. The Macabeu contributes acidity and floral lift. The Grenache provides red-fruit flesh and Mediterranean warmth. And the Embolicaire adds wild strawberry, herbal spice, and a pale, translucent colour that makes the wine look as light as it drinks. Whole-cluster fermented, foot-stomped, and raised with minimal intervention. A wine that proves blending across colours is not a mistake but a tradition — one that Roger, the history teacher, has resurrected from the pre-industrial past. ~12.5–13% ABV. Zero sulphites. Unfiltered.
Les Foes "Brutal!!!"
Red — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónThe wildest wine in the portfolio — a field blend of Syrah, Grenache, Embolicaire, Moscatel d'Alejandría, Tardana, and Cabernet Franc that carries the legendary black-and-yellow Brutal!!! label of the international natural wine movement. Made with 52 days of carbonic maceration in some vintages — whole bunches sealed in a tank filled with CO₂, fermenting from the inside out. The result is a wine of explosive aromatics, light body, and savage energy — raspberry, spice, leather, and a saline freshness that makes it impossible to stop drinking. Wild, highly scannable, and utterly alive. This is not a wine for the collector's cellar. It is a wine for the party, the picnic, and the moment. ~12% ABV. Zero sulphites. Unfiltered.
Les Foes "Embolicaire"
Red — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónA 100% Embolicaire — the rare, nearly forgotten native red of Castellón — from old vines of 53 to 80 years of age. Pale in colour, light in body, and extraordinary in aromatic intensity. The nose is of wild strawberry, pomegranate, rose petal, and dried Mediterranean herbs — thyme, rosemary, and a hint of sea salt from the nearby Mediterranean. The palate is fresh, vivid, and almost ethereal — a red wine that drinks like a rosé but thinks like a Burgundy. Fermented whole-cluster, aged in amphora or neutral oak, and bottled without sulphites. A wine that only a handful of producers in the world can make, because only a handful of producers in the world still grow Embolicaire. ~12% ABV. Zero sulphites. Extremely limited.
Les Foes Experimental / Limited Releases
Variable — Les Coves de Vinromà, CastellónRoger's experimental edge — small-lot cuvées that push the boundaries of what the forgotten vineyards of Les Coves de Vinromà can express. These may include extended maceration whites from old Macabeu, single-parcel bottlings from specific red-sandstone terraces, amphora-aged Embolicaire with months of skin contact, or co-fermentations that mix three, four, or five varieties in a single tank. The common thread is zero sulphites, whole-cluster fermentation, indigenous yeast, and total creative freedom guided by the vineyard and the season. These wines are not always available. When they are, they are shared with the small community of natural wine drinkers who understand that Les Foes's experiments are not diversions but genuine historical inquiries into what the calcareous and red-sandstone soils of Castellón expressed before industrial agriculture arrived.
Legacy — The Steward, the Free Vines & the Grape That Cash Crops Forgot
Celler Les Foes matters because it is one of the most historically conscious and technically rigorous natural wine projects in Castellón — the work of a high school history teacher who, since 2007, has proven that organic farming, whole-cluster fermentation, and zero sulphites can produce wines of extraordinary character and emotional depth from a region that had abandoned viticulture for cash crops. In a comarca where the collective memory of wine had been erased by almonds and olives, Roger Díaz has shown that Macabeu can be profound, Embolicaire can be saved, and the Brutal!!! label can fly from Castellón to Tokyo — all from three hectares of free vines.
His legacy is agricultural. By farming 3 hectares without synthetic treatments, by inheriting and preserving 53-to-80-year-old vines of Macabeu and Embolicaire, by planting new vines of indigenous varieties in 2007, by maintaining vegetation cover and dry-farmed gobelet pruning, and by refusing to use pesticides or herbicides on land that has never known them, Roger has created a model for Mediterranean viticulture that is closer to a living museum than to a commercial enterprise. The Pouets plot, the red sandstone, the 1970 plantings — these are not merely vineyard details. They are historical documents that Roger tends with the same care he brings to his lesson plans.
His legacy is also oenological. The Xalera — 100% Macabeu, 16 days whole-grape maceration, 10% ABV, zero sulphites, bottled manually without filtering — is a wine that almost no one else in the world makes in exactly this way, because almost no one else has these vines and this patience. The Les Casildes — orange Macabeo, hazy, nutty, beer-like — proves that skin-contact white wine can be both challenging and joyful. And the Brutal!!! — 52 days of carbonic maceration, six varieties, black-and-yellow label — demonstrates that the most serious winemaker can also make the most playful wine.
And his legacy is pedagogical. Roger is, above all, a teacher — in the classroom and in the vineyard. He teaches his students the history of Spain. He teaches his region the history of its own agriculture. And he teaches the natural wine world that the best way to make wine is to remove everything that is not grape — including, especially, the de-stemming machine. His wines are lessons: in patience, in place, in the value of what has been forgotten, and in the possibility of recovery.
From the classroom to the cellar, from the cash-crop desert to the free-vine oasis, from the first planting in 2007 to the Brutal!!! bottles that now travel the world, Celler Les Foes is a testament to what happens when a history teacher decides that the past is not dead, it is merely waiting to be pruned — and that the best way to honour the vines that survived is to make wine from them exactly as they were made before the world forgot how. The stem is intact. The yeast is wild. And the drinker is educated.