The Bird Whisperer, the Natural Cava & the Ornithological Hand
El Celler de les Aus — The Cellar of the Birds — is one of Catalonia's most poetic and pioneering natural wine projects, born from the family estate of Alta Alella in the DO Alella, just north of Barcelona. Founded by Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets and now led by his daughter Mireia Pujol-Busquets, it is a project where every wine is named after a bird that haunts the richly biodiverse Serralada de Marina Natural Park — the forested coastal mountains that shelter the vineyards from the cold Tramontana winds. Organic from day one in 1992. Zero sulfites. Zero added yeast. Zero added sugar. In the early 2000s, Josep Maria partnered with a friend to create one of Spain's first natural Cavas — using only the must of Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo) to trigger the second fermentation, with no external sugar, no external yeast, and no SO₂ whatsoever. The result was a wine of seafoam-like delicacy and electric purity that proved Cava could be natural, honest, and alive. Today, father and daughter produce a small flock of cuvées — Bruant, Tallarol, Capsigrany, Merla, Aus, Puput — each one a love letter to a bird, a grape, and a landscape that refuses to be tamed by the urban sprawl of Barcelona.
The Family Estate, the Natural Cava Pioneer & the Bird-Named Hand
El Celler de les Aus is not a standalone winery in the conventional sense. It is a project within a project — an experimental wing born from Alta Alella, the family estate founded by Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets and his wife Cristina Guillén in 1991 in the hills of Alella, a historic wine region being slowly swallowed by the urban expansion of Barcelona. From the very beginning, in 1992, Alta Alella was farmed organically and certified — a radical decision at a time when the Catalan wine industry was still dominated by chemical agriculture and industrial Cava production. Josep Maria was not content to follow the rules. He wanted to understand them, then transcend them.
The real turning point came in the early 2000s, when Josep Maria partnered with a friend to attempt something that had never been done in Spain: a natural Cava. The challenge was immense. Traditional Cava production relies on a cocktail of additions — external yeasts for the second fermentation, external sugar (liqueur de tirage) to feed those yeasts, and sulfur dioxide at every stage to stabilise the wine. Josep Maria eliminated all three. He used only the must of Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo) to trigger the second fermentation in the bottle — no added sugar, no added yeast, no SO₂. At first, the wine was called NU — a name that spoke of its nakedness, its purity, its refusal to wear the makeup of conventional winemaking. Many years later, it was renamed Bruant, after a local bird — the first step in a naming convention that would eventually define the entire project.
The process of making wine without SO₂ was new for Josep Maria. He began with Pansa Blanca and named the first still wine Tallarol — another bird. Over time, the project grew, and the need to separate Celler de les Aus from Alta Alella became clear. The two cellars were in different locations, and the wines were made with different philosophies. The separation allowed each to speak with its own voice: Alta Alella as the organic family estate, and Celler de les Aus as the zero-sulfite, bird-named laboratory where Josep Maria and, increasingly, his daughter Mireia could push the boundaries of what Catalan wine could be. Mireia now runs both projects — bringing a new generation's energy to her father's pioneering vision.
The bird names are not a marketing gimmick. They are a statement of place — a reminder that the vineyards of Alella sit within the Serralada de Marina Natural Park, a protected coastal mountain range that is home to dozens of bird species. Each wine is named after a bird that lives in the park: Bruant (the bunting), Tallarol (the warbler), Capsigrany (the shrike), Merla (the blackbird), Aus (birds in Catalan), Puput (the hoopoe). The names are a covenant with the landscape — a promise that the wine in the bottle carries the DNA of the forest, the sea breeze, and the winged creatures that patrol the vines. As one writer observed, these are "delicate zero-sulfur sparkling and still wines" — wines that seem to float rather than land, to sing rather than speak.
Alella, the Serralada de Marina & the Sauló Hand
Alella is one of Catalonia's smallest and most threatened wine regions — a DO of only 227 hectares and 9 wineries, clinging to the hills between the Mediterranean Sea and the urban sprawl of Barcelona. It is a region with a long and noble history — known and appreciated since Roman times, when Pliny and Martial called the wines Laietana. In the Middle Ages, Alella was the favourite wine of Barcelona. In the early 20th century, it was the wine of the Catalan bourgeoisie. But the relentless expansion of the Maresme coast has devoured vineyard after vineyard, reducing the DO to a fraction of its former size. For El Celler de les Aus, Alella is not merely a location but a act of resistance — a refusal to let the last hills of a historic wine region disappear beneath concrete.
The Serralada de Marina is the mountain range that defines Alella — a small coastal range that acts as a protective screen against the cold Tramontana winds from the north, while capturing the humid sea breeze from the Mediterranean and allowing it to settle over the vines. This unique microclimate creates conditions of exceptional freshness and balance — the sea breeze turns into humid air that sits on the vines, providing water balance and preserving acidity even in the hottest summers. The vineyards are planted on slopes facing the sea, at elevations that range from near the coast to over 200 metres, with a patchwork of exposures that gives each parcel its own character.
The soil of Alella is known as Sauló — a sandy granite of decomposed granite and silica that is poor in organic matter and remarkably free-draining. The Sauló forces the vine roots to dig deep in search of water and minerals, creating wines of marked minerality, elegance, and freshness. It is a soil that does not forgive laziness — low in nutrients, demanding in care, but rewarding in the glass with a transparency and purity that heavier clay soils cannot match. For the Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo) that defines Alella, the Sauló is the perfect partner — a soil that highlights the grape's natural acidity and aromatic delicacy, rather than masking it with weight or power.
Alella is a DO of only 227 hectares and 9 wineries, located in the Maresme region just north of Barcelona. It is one of Catalonia's most historic wine regions — praised by Pliny and Martial in Roman times, favoured by the medieval courts of Barcelona, and the preferred wine of the Catalan bourgeoisie in the early 20th century. But urban expansion has reduced the DO to a shadow of its former self. For El Celler de les Aus, farming organically in Alella is an act of cultural preservation — a refusal to let the last vineyards disappear beneath apartment blocks. The family's commitment to the region is not merely agricultural but political: a statement that the land has value beyond real estate, and that the wines of Alella deserve to survive.
The Serralada de Marina is a small coastal mountain range that shelters the Alella vineyards from the cold Tramontana winds while capturing the humid Mediterranean breeze. This creates a unique microclimate of exceptional freshness — the sea air settles over the vines, providing natural water balance and preserving acidity. The range is also a Natural Park, home to dozens of bird species that give the Celler de les Aus cuvées their names. For Josep Maria and Mireia, the Serralada is not merely a geographical feature but a spiritual home — a place where the forest, the sea, and the vineyard coexist in a delicate balance that their wines seek to express. The bird names are a covenant with this landscape: a promise that each bottle carries the soul of the park.
Sauló is the distinctive soil of Alella — a sandy granite of decomposed granite and silica, poor in organic matter and remarkably free-draining. It forces vine roots to dig deep for water and minerals, creating wines of marked minerality, elegance, and freshness. The Sauló does not produce heavy, powerful wines; it produces transparent, precise wines that speak of place with clarity and delicacy. For Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo), the Sauló is the ideal partner — a soil that highlights the grape's natural acidity, white flower aromatics, and citrus precision without adding unnecessary weight. The result is wines that are fresh, silky, full-bodied, and unmistakably Alella — a taste of sandy granite and Mediterranean breeze that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world.
Alta Alella and Celler de les Aus have been certified organic since 1992 — a pioneering commitment in a region where chemical agriculture was the norm. But Josep Maria and Mireia have gone further: they operate a natural seed study and selection practice that discovers the most resistant seeds to mildew and drought — a forward-looking response to climate change that seeks to preserve the genetic diversity of Catalan grape varieties for future generations. This is not merely sustainable farming; it is regenerative viticulture — a recognition that the vineyard is part of a larger ecosystem, and that the health of the soil, the vines, and the birds are inseparable. The family's philosophy is distilled in their own words: "We constantly want to improve and delve deeper into organic agriculture, to obtain the purest grapes and wines."
Zero Sulfites, Pansa Blanca Must & the Natural Cava Hand
The winemaking philosophy of El Celler de les Aus is one of radical purity and poetic restraint — a system that eliminates not merely the obvious industrial additives but the very assumptions of conventional winemaking. Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets did not set out to make "natural wine" as a category or a trend. He set out to make Cava without additions — and in doing so, discovered a path that led far beyond Cava into a world of zero-sulfite still wines, rare indigenous varieties, and pét-nats that capture the spontaneous energy of young fermentation. The guiding principle is simple and profound: the purest expression of the grape, obtained through the deepest commitment to organic agriculture.
The natural Cava is the project's founding achievement and its most technically demanding wine. Traditional Cava requires the addition of sugar and yeast at bottling to trigger the second fermentation — the process that creates the bubbles. Josep Maria eliminated both. Instead, he uses only the must of Pansa Blanca (Xarel·lo) — fresh, unfermented grape juice — to feed the indigenous yeasts already present in the wine. The result is a second fermentation that is entirely self-sustaining: no external sugar, no external yeast, no sulfur at any stage. The wine ages on its lees for 15 to 24 months — far longer than the minimum required for Cava — developing a complexity and finesse that rivals the finest grower Champagnes. The first version was called NU — naked, pure, unadorned. Later, it became Bruant, named after a local bird, and the ornithological naming convention was born.
The still whites are made with the same zero-sulfite philosophy. Tallarol is 100% Pansa Blanca — the first still wine Josep Maria made without SO₂, and the wine that taught him that the grape, if farmed organically and handled with care, needs no chemical protection. The grapes are hand-harvested, gently pressed, and fermented with indigenous yeasts at low temperature. The wine is aged on fine lees until bottling, developing a texture of surprising depth and a character that combines fresh citrus with the sandy minerality of the Sauló soil. Capsigrany is a different creature entirely: a Cava made from Pansa Rosada, a rare pink-skinned mutation of Pansa Blanca of which only 5 hectares remain in the world. The wine is a whisper of a grape on the verge of extinction — a pink-skinned ghost that produces Cava of extraordinary delicacy and aromatic complexity.
The reds and pét-nats expand the project's range into unexpected territory. Merla is made from Mataró (Monastrell) — a variety more commonly associated with the hot, dry vineyards of the Mediterranean interior than the coastal hills of Alella. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged without sulfur, it is a red of surprising freshness and Mediterranean herb character — a wine that proves the Sauló soil can tame even the most sun-loving grapes. Aus is a pétillant naturel — a barely sparkling wine made by bottling the fermenting must before the first fermentation is complete, capturing the energy of young yeast in a bottle of fine, natural bubbles. And Puput is a pét-nat of exuberant charm — florals, green apple, and fennel aromas with a subtle background of green almond, light and refreshing, perfect as an aperitif. All are united by a single principle: no additives, no sulfites, no compromises — only the bird, the grape, and the truth of the Serralada de Marina.
Zero Sulfites, Pansa Blanca Must & the Covenant of the Bird
The guiding principle of El Celler de les Aus is that the wine must be as pure as the bird that names it — and the bird that names it must be as free as the wine in the bottle. The organic farming in the Serralada de Marina provides healthy, complex grapes with robust indigenous yeast populations. The Sauló soil provides minerality and freshness. The sea breeze provides humidity and balance. And the zero-sulfite winemaking provides a wine that is entirely unmediated — a direct translation of grape, place, and vintage into liquid. The natural Cava, made with Pansa Blanca must instead of sugar and yeast, is the technical masterpiece that proves what is possible when convention is abandoned. The still wines, made with the same absence of additions, prove that purity is not a style but a philosophy. And the bird names — Bruant, Tallarol, Capsigrany, Merla, Aus, Puput — are not labels but promises: that each bottle carries the soul of the Serralada de Marina, the freedom of the birds, and the stubborn conviction of a family that has refused to let Alella disappear. For Josep Maria and Mireia, this is not dogma but the only way they know how to work — one bird, one vintage, one honest bottle at a time.
Bruant, Tallarol, Capsigrany & the Honest Hand
The El Celler de les Aus portfolio is a flock of wines as diverse as the birds of the Serralada de Marina — a collection of cuvées that span natural Cava, still white, red, and pét-nat, all united by certified organic farming, zero sulfites, indigenous yeast fermentation, and a philosophy of radical purity that privileges the voice of the grape over the hand of the winemaker. Every wine is named after a bird — a covenant with the landscape that reminds the drinker that the vineyard is part of a living ecosystem, not an industrial factory. Production is small and highly allocated, with rare varieties like Pansa Rosada limited to microscopic quantities. The cuvées are distributed through specialist natural wine importers worldwide, appearing in natural wine bars, discerning restaurants, and shops across Europe and the Americas.
The Bird Whisperer, the Disappearing DO & the Catalan Crown
El Celler de les Aus is not merely a winery; it is an act of cultural preservation and poetic resistance — a project born from a family estate that has refused to let the last vineyards of Alella disappear beneath the concrete of Barcelona's endless expansion. In an era when the Catalan wine industry was dominated by industrial Cava, chemical agriculture, and the homogenisation of taste, Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets demonstrated that the most profound wines sometimes come from a tiny DO of 227 hectares, made with no sulfites, no added yeast, no added sugar, and named after the birds that sing in the coastal mountains. He has proven that Cava — often dismissed as an industrial product — can be natural, honest, and alive when the second fermentation is triggered by nothing more than fresh grape must. That Pansa Blanca — Alella's indigenous white grape — can produce wines of seafoam-like delicacy and sandy mineral depth without a single milligram of sulfur. That Pansa Rosada — a pink-skinned ghost with only 5 hectares left in the world — deserves to be preserved in a bottle of natural Cava rather than forgotten in a catalogue of extinct varieties. And that a wine named after a bird carries more truth than a wine named after a marketing consultant.
The legacy of El Celler de les Aus is the legacy of the father who pioneered and the daughter who continues. Josep Maria did not inherit a natural wine philosophy; he invented one — first by making Alta Alella organic from day one in 1992, then by eliminating sulfites entirely, then by creating Spain's first natural Cava, and finally by naming every wine after a bird as a covenant with the Serralada de Marina. Mireia now runs both Alta Alella and Celler de les Aus, bringing a new generation's energy and vision to her father's revolutionary foundation. Their seed study and selection practice — discovering the most resistant seeds to mildew and drought — is not merely a response to climate change but a gift to the future: a genetic library of Catalan grape varieties that will outlast the current generation of vines. And their commitment to the DO Alella — a region reduced to 227 hectares and 9 wineries — is a political act as much as an agricultural one: a refusal to let history disappear beneath asphalt.
The future of the project is tied to the future of natural wine in Catalonia and the survival of its smallest DOs — to the growing recognition that the country's greatest viticultural asset is not its volume but its human capital and its biodiversity: the vignerons who have the courage to farm organically, to ferment without additions, to bottle without sulfites, and to name their wines after the birds that share their vineyards. As the Bruant continues to prove that natural Cava can rival Champagne for purity and finesse, as the Tallarol demonstrates that zero-sulfite Pansa Blanca can be as fresh and mineral as the finest white Burgundy, as the Capsigrany preserves the last breath of a grape variety on the verge of extinction, and as the Merla, Aus, and Puput bring new voices to the chorus of Catalan natural wine, Josep Maria and Mireia remain what they have always intended to be: a father and daughter, farming the last hills of Alella, making wine without sulfites or additions, naming each cuvée after a bird of the Serralada de Marina, and proving that the best wines are made by those who listen to the land, the sea, and the winged creatures that patrol the vines — one bird, one vintage, one honest bottle at a time.
"We constantly want to improve and delve deeper into organic agriculture, to obtain the purest grapes and wines."
— Josep Maria & Mireia Pujol-Busquets, El Celler de les Aus, Alella