Evolving Towards Our Origins
Loxarel is the creation of Josep Mitjans — fifth-generation winemaker, amphora pioneer, and Xarel·lo devotee — and his wife Teresa Nin, at Masia Can Mayol in Vilobí del Penedès. Founded in 1985 when Josep was just sixteen years old and produced his first 1,000 bottles of Cava, the estate now spans roughly 40 hectares across two distinct terroirs: the limestone slopes of Vilobí, inherited from Josep's grandmother, and the higher, clay-rich plateau of El Plà de Manlleu, from Teresa's family. Certified organic by CCPAE and biodynamic by Demeter, Loxarel is a founding member of Terra Dinàmica, the association of biodynamic producers in Catalonia. The name itself is an inversion — Loxarel is Xarel·lo reversed — a declaration of intent from a winery where more than half the vines are planted to this indigenous Catalan variety. In 2018, Josep led Loxarel out of the DO Cava and into Classic Penedès, refusing to accept a regulatory framework that would not allow him to sell a wine aged 109 months on its lees without disgorging. That wine — the 109 Reserva Brut Nature — sleeps in a Republican anti-aircraft shelter built during the Spanish Civil War, released with its original cork and staple, as if pulled directly from the cellar floor. From the beeswax-lined amphorae of Extremadura to the ozone-water treatments in the vineyard, from the skin-contact A Pèl to the Garnatxa Blanca sparkling, Loxarel proves that a fifth-generation family winery can be simultaneously deeply rooted and radically original — that the way forward is to evolve towards one's origins.
The Fifth Generation & the 1,000 Bottles
The story of Loxarel begins with a teenager and a U-turn. In 1985, Josep Mitjans — then just sixteen years old and the fourth generation of his family to farm vineyards in Vilobí del Penedès — made his first 1,000 bottles of Cava. It was a modest beginning, but it marked a radical departure: the Mitjans family had been bulk-wine growers for generations, selling their grapes and juice to larger houses, and Josep's decision to bottle under his own label was a rebellion against the anonymity of the tank. That first Cava was the seed of what would become one of the most original and fiercely independent wineries in the Penedès — a family project that now produces roughly 320,000 bottles per year, split evenly between sparkling and still wines, and distributed across 24 distinct cuvées.
The family legacy deepened with the arrival of Teresa Nin, Josep's wife and the sister of Ester Nin — one of the most celebrated winemakers in Priorat. Teresa brought her own family's vineyards into the project: roughly 20 hectares in El Plà de Manlleu, one of the highest areas in the appellation, with clay-rich soils and a cooler climate that complement the limestone terroir of Vilobí. Together, Josep and Teresa united two Penedès bloodlines under one roof — or, more accurately, under one masia: the historic farmhouse of Can Mayol, which has been the family's home and cellar for generations.
The name Loxarel is itself a manifesto. It is Xarel·lo spelled backwards — a playful inversion that conceals a serious intent. More than half of the vineyards in Vilobí are planted to Xarel·lo, and for Josep, this variety is not merely a grape but the soul of the estate. At a time when the Penedès was being invaded by international varieties — Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon — Loxarel doubled down on the indigenous, building its identity around a grape that many considered suitable only for Cava blending. The result is a winery that has become synonymous with Xarel·lo in all its forms: sparkling, still, skin-contact, amphora-aged, and even a sherry-style oxidative wine called Himen.
The family's commitment to the land deepened in the early 2000s, when they switched to organic farming, and later to biodynamics — certified by Demeter and CCPAE. Josep is a founding member of Terra Dinàmica, an association of Catalan biodynamic producers who meet every three months to prepare and share biodynamic preparations. The philosophy is summed up in the words that guide the estate: "We evolve towards our origins, always guided by biodynamics and the moon cycle." This is not nostalgia; it is a conviction that the future of the Penedès lies not in industrial scale or global imitation, but in the recovery of indigenous varieties, the health of the soil, and the rhythms of the natural world.
"We evolve towards our origins, always guided by biodynamics and the moon cycle."
— Loxarel
Vilobí & El Plà de Manlleu
Vilobí del Penedès sits in the heart of the Catalan wine country, roughly fifty kilometres west of Barcelona and six hundred metres above sea level. It is a landscape of rolling limestone hills, Mediterranean sunshine, and the cooling influence of the nearby Prelitoral mountain range — a terroir that has been shaped by millions of years of marine sedimentation, producing the calcareous soils that give Xarel·lo its signature acidity and mineral backbone. The Loxarel estate is divided between two distinct properties: the original Masia Can Mayol in Vilobí, with approximately 20 hectares of mainly limestone soils inherited from Josep's grandmother; and the El Plà de Manlleu vineyards, another 20 hectares from Teresa's family, situated at higher altitude with richer clay soils and a cooler climate that provides natural acidity and slower ripening.
The farming is certified organic and biodynamic — Demeter and CCPAE — and conducted with methods that respect the delicate balance of the Penedès ecosystem. Josep uses ozone water as a preventive treatment in the vineyards, a pioneering technique that reduces the need for copper and sulfur while protecting the vines from fungi and bacteria. The biodynamic preparations are made in collaboration with Terra Dinàmica, and the estate maintains a living, self-sustaining ecosystem across its 40 hectares: spontaneous vegetation cover, biodiversity corridors, and the kind of soil health that only decades of organic management can achieve. Goats are used to de-leaf the vines — a gentle, organic alternative to mechanical or chemical defoliation that also contributes to the compost cycle.
The climate is Mediterranean with continental touches — hot, dry summers that ripen the grapes to full phenolic maturity, but cool nights and altitude that preserve the acidity essential for both sparkling and still wines. The diurnal temperature shift is particularly pronounced in El Plà de Manlleu, where the higher elevation and clay soils produce wines of greater freshness and tension. The Vilobí vineyards, with their limestone and lower altitude, produce wines of greater body, mineral depth, and Mediterranean warmth. Together, the two terroirs provide Josep with a palette of textures and flavours that allows him to craft everything from the taut, mineral Amaltea to the rich, amphora-aged Xarel·lo d'Àmfora.
The varieties are a mix of indigenous Catalan grapes and carefully chosen internationals — though the indigenous always dominate. Xarel·lo — the estate's signature, namesake, and obsession — accounts for more than half of the Vilobí plantings and appears in sparkling, still, skin-contact, and amphora expressions. Macabeo and Parellada — the traditional Cava trio — provide the blending backbone for the Classic Penedès sparkling wines. Xarel·lo Vermell — a rare, red-skinned, late-ripening mutation of Xarel·lo indigenous to the Penedès — is the star of the LXV range and the MM and 999 rosés. Garnatxa Blanca — the great Mediterranean white — produces a single-varietal still wine and a rare sparkling expression. Garnatxa and Cariñena — the classic Mediterranean reds — form the backbone of the amphora-aged Ops and the A Pèl Negre. And the internationals — Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Tempranillo — are vinified separately and with respect, but always in service of the estate's larger vision: to prove that the Penedès can produce world-class wine from its own grapes, on its own soils, in its own voice.
Loxarel is located at Masia Can Mayol in Vilobí del Penedès, with a second estate in El Plà de Manlleu. Founded in 1985 by Josep Mitjans at age 16. ~40 hectares total: 20 hectares limestone in Vilobí (inherited from grandmother) and 20 hectares clay-rich at higher altitude in El Plà de Manlleu (Teresa's family). Certified organic and biodynamic (Demeter, CCPAE). A founding member of Terra Dinàmica.
Vilobí: calcareous limestone soils at ~600m, warm, mineral, Mediterranean — ideal for structured Xarel·lo and long-aged sparkling. El Plà de Manlleu: higher altitude, clay-rich soils, cooler climate — ideal for fresh acidity, slower ripening, and still wines of tension. Together they provide a complete palette: body and mineral depth from Vilobí; freshness and elegance from El Plà.
Certified organic and biodynamic. Ozone water used as preventive vineyard treatment. Goats employed for organic de-leafing. Spontaneous vegetation cover. Biodiversity corridors. Biodynamic preparations shared through Terra Dinàmica. The goal is not merely sustainable farming but the regeneration of a living soil that can support the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations of Mitjans stewardship.
The cellar incorporates a Republican anti-aircraft shelter built beneath the Vilobí aerodrome during the Spanish Civil War. This underground space — cool, dark, and silent — became the foundation of the Loxarel cava ageing programme. The 109 Reserva Brut Nature ages here for 109 months (over nine years) on its lees, undisturbed and undisgorged, released with its original cork and staple. History provides the architecture; time provides the wine.
Amphorae & the Undisgorged Bottle
The guiding philosophy of Loxarel is expressed in a single, paradoxical motion: evolving towards our origins. This is not a rejection of modernity but a deeper application of it — a belief that the most advanced winemaking is the winemaking that most faithfully returns to the principles of the pre-industrial cellar. Josep Mitjans is a pioneer of amphora ageing in Catalonia, having discovered terracotta vessels at a wine fair in Italy and immediately recognised their potential for Xarel·lo. He commissioned an artisan producer in Extremadura — where earthenware jars have been crafted since the 18th century — to create a range of amphorae between 720 and 1,000 litres, all coated with beeswax or pitch to prevent oxidation while allowing the wine to breathe. The result is a range of wines — Xarel·lo d'Àmfora, Ops, and the upcoming pet-nat — that possess a texture and mineral clarity that stainless steel and oak cannot replicate.
The A Pèl range represents the estate's natural wine face — à pel meaning naked, stripped, without artifice. These are wines made with zero added sulfites, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, and minimal intervention. The A Pèl Xarel·lo is given skin-contact fermentation, producing a wild, textural, and slightly oxidative white that captures the untamed side of the variety. The A Pèl Negre is a blend of Garnatxa and Merlot, part aged in 500-litre oak barrels, that proves red wines can be made without sulfur and still achieve depth and stability. A third A Pèl wine — a pet-nat that begins fermentation with skins in amphora and finishes in bottle — is in the pipeline, representing the next evolution of the estate's natural wine philosophy.
The Classic Penedès sparkling wines are the estate's most public face — and its most political statement. In 2018, Josep led Loxarel out of the DO Cava, refusing to accept a regulatory framework that prohibited the sale of extended-age sparkling wine without disgorgement. The 109 Reserva Brut Nature — a Xarel·lo-dominant blend aged for 109 months in the Civil War shelter — is released with its original cork and staple, undisgorged, as if pulled directly from the cellar floor. The Reserva Familiar ages for 42 to 48 months and is sold in traditional packaging that honours the family's bulk-wine past. The Amaltea — a Brut Nature of Xarel·lo, Macabeo, and Parellada — is the estate's calling card, aged for a minimum of 15 months on lees and expressing the clean, mineral, biscuit-and-green-apple character that defines the best Classic Penedès. The range also includes a rare Garnatxa Blanca sparkling, the Refugi (Xarel·lo and Chardonnay), and two rosés — the playful 999 and the more refined MM — both blends of Xarel·lo Vermell and Pinot Noir.
The still wine portfolio is equally diverse and equally Xarel·lo-centric. The LXV range explores Xarel·lo Vermell — the red-skinned mutation — in both white and rosé versions, producing wines of unusual colour, texture, and aromatic intensity. The Garnatxa Blanca single-varietal is a Mediterranean white of weight and saline freshness. The reds include Eos (Syrah), Loxarel 790 (Cabernet Sauvignon), Mas Cargols (Pinot Noir), and 790 Pecats (a red blend). The Himen is perhaps the most original: a Xarel·lo made in a sherry-style, oxidative and nutty, that proves the variety's extraordinary versatility. The cellar is not a factory; it is a working farmhouse where amphorae, used barrels, stainless steel, and the silent darkness of the Civil War shelter each play their part in a single, unified vision: to let the Penedès speak through Xarel·lo.
Amphorae, Zero Sulfites & 109 Months on Lees
The guiding principle of Loxarel's winemaking is that the vessel should serve the grape, not impose upon it. Their approach — organic and biodynamic farming, hand-harvesting, indigenous yeast fermentation, amphora ageing in beeswax-lined Extremaduran terracotta, zero sulfites for the A Pèl range, minimal sulfur for the Classic Penedès, extended lees ageing in a Civil War air-raid shelter, and refusal to disgorge when the wine demands otherwise — is not a rejection of tradition but a deeper application of it. The amphora allows the wine to breathe while respecting the fruit. The used barrels provide structure without masking flavour. The stainless steel preserves freshness. The underground shelter provides the silence and darkness that long-aged sparkling wine requires. And the undisgorged bottle — with its original cork and staple — is a statement that some wines are not meant to be cleaned up, polished, or standardised. Each vessel is a tool, and each wine is a different combination of tools, all aimed at the same goal: to let Xarel·lo and the Penedès speak in their own voice, with their own accent, from a family that has been tending vines for five generations and will continue to evolve towards its origins for the sixth.
Classic Penedès, Amphorae & A Pèl
Loxarel produces approximately 320,000 bottles per year from 40 hectares of organic and biodynamic vineyards in Vilobí del Penedès and El Plà de Manlleu, divided into three distinct lines: Classic Penedès — the traditional-method sparkling wines that honour the indigenous trio while pushing the boundaries of ageing and disgorgement; Amphorae — the terracotta-aged expressions that Josep pioneered in Catalonia, capturing the textural and mineral depth that only earthenware can provide; and A Pèl — the zero-sulfite, skin-contact, and natural wines that represent the estate's most radical and honest face. The portfolio spans sparkling, white, orange, rosé, and red — all united by a common character of biodynamic integrity, Xarel·lo centrism, and the unmistakable signature of a fifth-generation family that left DO Cava to protect its convictions. The following represents the core cuvées as they have emerged from Josep Mitjans' conviction-driven winemaking at Masia Can Mayol.
"We evolve towards our origins, always guided by biodynamics and the moon cycle."
— Loxarel
Xarel·lo Reversed & the Civil War Shelter
To understand Loxarel, one must understand that it is not merely a winery; it is a palindrome of intent — a name spelled backwards to indicate a philosophy turned inside out. At a time when the Penedès was racing towards international varieties, industrial scale, and the homogenisation of Cava, Josep Mitjans chose to reverse direction — to evolve towards his origins. The name Loxarel is not clever marketing; it is a declaration of faith in Xarel·lo, the grape that has grown in Vilobí for centuries, that carries the memory of the Mediterranean in its thick skins, and that possesses a natural resveratrol content and phenolic structure almost unique among white grapes. The identity is defined by this reversal: what others discarded, Loxarel embraced; what others blended anonymously, Loxarel celebrated; what others sold in bulk, Loxarel bottled with pride.
The identity is also defined by architecture and history — the Republican anti-aircraft shelter built beneath the Vilobí aerodrome during the Spanish Civil War. This underground space, carved from fear and war, has been transformed into a cathedral of patience, where the 109 Reserva sleeps for 109 months, undisgorged, undisturbed, and utterly uncompromising. The shelter is not a romantic backdrop; it is a functional cellar — cool, dark, silent — and its presence in the winery's daily life is a constant reminder that history provides the foundation, but the family provides the future. The 109 is not merely a wine; it is an argument — a proof that a regulatory body cannot dictate when a wine is ready, and that some bottles must be released with their original cork and staple, as if pulled directly from the earth, because that is the only honest way.
The future of Loxarel is tied to the continued health of its two terroirs — the limestone of Vilobí and the clay of El Plà de Manlleu — and to the deepening of biodynamic practices across both estates. The Classic Penedès range will continue to grow, as more producers leave Cava and seek the terroir-specific freedom that Classic Penedès provides. The amphora programme will continue to expand, with new vessels from Extremadura and new experiments in clay ageing. The A Pèl range will continue to push the boundaries of zero-sulfite winemaking, with the pet-nat in amphora representing the next frontier. The LXV range will continue to rescue Xarel·lo Vermell from obscurity. And the fifth generation — Josep and Teresa's children — will inherit not merely a winery but a philosophy: that the way forward is to evolve towards one's origins, always guided by biodynamics and the moon cycle.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — Loxarel stands as a compelling alternative, not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values amphorae from Extremadura over new French oak, undisgorged bottles over cosmetic clarity, ozone water over chemical fungicides, goat de-leafing over mechanical stripping, Xarel·lo Vermell over Chardonnay, Classic Penedès over DO Cava, 109 months on lees over nine-month minimums, zero sulfites over standardised stability, the Civil War shelter over a stainless steel tank farm, and the specific voice of Vilobí's limestone and El Plà's clay over the standardised replication of a global style. Loxarel is not merely making wine; it is proving that a teenager's first 1,000 bottles can become a 320,000-bottle manifesto, that a name spelled backwards can become a brand synonymous with quality, that an anti-aircraft shelter can become a wine cathedral, that amphorae can revolutionise a region, and that the simplest philosophy — evolving towards our origins — is often the most profound. From the 1985 Cava to the 2024 amphora pet-nat, from Vilobí limestone to El Plà clay: all united in one bottle, one family, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of organic, biodynamic, amphora-aged, zero-sulfur, passionately honest Xarel·lo from the heart of the Penedès.
Josep Mitjans — fifth-generation winemaker, founded Loxarel at age 16 in 1985 — and Teresa Nin, his wife and sister of Priorat's Ester Nin. Together they united two Penedès bloodlines: 20 hectares of Vilobí limestone (Josep's grandmother) and 20 hectares of El Plà de Manlleu clay (Teresa's family). Two soils, one philosophy. This is a winery where the personal and the professional are inseparable, and the wine carries the quiet signature of a family that has refused to sell its grapes in bulk for four decades.
Josep discovered amphorae at an Italian wine fair and became a pioneer of terracotta ageing in Catalonia. The 720–1,000L vessels from Extremadura — beeswax-lined, pitch-sealed — produce wines of texture and mineral clarity that oak cannot replicate. Meanwhile, the 109 Reserva Brut Nature ages for 109 months in a Civil War shelter, released undisgorged with original cork and staple. This is not marketing; it is methodology. The amphora and the undisgorged bottle are tools in a single mission: to let Xarel·lo speak without interference.