The House of the Fox
Mas Guineu Vinyaters is the creation of Pep Guilamany and Lorena Lacueva — a young winegrowing couple who, in 2021, transformed a 450-year-old family estate in Torrelles de Foix from a bulk-grape supplier to the great Cava houses of the Penedès into a fiercely independent natural wine project. Spanning approximately 70 hectares at 400 metres altitude in the upper Foix River Basin, sheltered by the Font-rubí mountain range and surrounded by forest, the estate is a century-old agricultural project with its own character, where people are transient and the farmhouse endures. The name itself — Guineu, the fox in Catalan — is the spirit animal of a place that has belonged to no one and to everyone since 1574. The philosophy is non-negotiable: minimum intervention in the vineyard, indigenous yeasts only, zero added sulfites, and work with the skins. From the 1918 brick cups and 1950s chestnut barrels that still serve as the cellar's backbone, to the skin-macerated Parellada of La Guineu del Clot and the co-fermented Monastrell-Parellada of Dos Mons Roig, Mas Guineu proves that the most honest wine is made not by conquering history but by surrendering to it — one indigenous yeast, one grape skin, one century-old stone at a time.
Pep & Lorena & the 450-Year-Old Handshake
The story of Mas Guineu begins not with a business plan but with a document from 1574 — the first written record of the Guilamany family living at the Mas Marquès, the original name of the estate. For four and a half centuries, the family has cultivated these lands without interruption, passing the stewardship from one generation to the next like a silent inheritance. Around 1750, the property took the name it carries today: Mas Guineu — the House of the Fox — a creature that prowls the forested margins of the estate, that appears in Catalan folklore as a trickster and a survivor, and that embodies the elusive, self-willed character of a place that has never been fully tamed by any single generation. It belongs to no one, yet to everyone at the same time.
For most of those centuries, the Guilamany family were what Catalans call vinyaters — not winemakers in the modern sense, but vineyard keepers, grape growers, custodians of the land. They sold their fruit in bulk to the great Cava houses of the Penedès, and the estate's oldest Chardonnay vineyard — one of the most ancient in Catalonia — was planted not for the family's own cellar but to satisfy the industrial demand of a distant buyer. The original farmhouse had its own small cellar inside, but in 1890, as France reeled from the phylloxera crisis and demand for Catalan wine exploded, the family built the current winery outside the house walls. The first two cups — fermentation vats built of brick in 1918 — still stand in use today, joined by chestnut barrels added in the 1950s and cement tanks in 1975. This is not a modern cellar; it is a palimpsest of agricultural history, each layer of infrastructure recording a different chapter of the estate's relationship with the wine trade.
The transformation came with the current generation. Pep Guilamany — Josep, in the Catalan tradition — took the reins of the family estate with the support of his partner, Lorena Lacueva, and together they made a decision that was both an act of love and an act of rebellion: they would stop selling their grapes to the great Cava houses and start making their own wines, under their own names, with their own convictions. In 2021, they produced their first vinifications, and the estate that had been a bulk supplier for centuries became a bottle project overnight. The four principles that govern their work are carved in stone: minimum intervention in the vineyard; indigenous yeasts only; wines without added sulfites; and work with the skins of the grapes. This is not a marketing strategy; it is a moral framework, a promise that the wine in the bottle will be nothing more — and nothing less — than the transparent transformation of grape into wine.
The years that followed were cruel. The Penedès suffered an extreme drought that killed many old vines and tested the resilience of even the most deeply rooted estates. Mas Guineu suffered — old vines died, yields plummeted, and the land that had sustained the Guilamany family for centuries seemed to turn against them. But Pep and Lorena were not discouraged. They continued, vintage after vintage, making more and better wines, refining their craft, and deepening their relationship with the 70 hectares that roll across the upper Foix basin. The drought did not break their project; it forged it. In an era of climate uncertainty, they have learned to listen to the land with a patience that only centuries of continuity can teach.
"Mas Guineu is a century-old agricultural project with its own character, where people are transient; it is the estate and the farmhouse that endure."
— Mas Guineu Vinyaters
The Foix Basin & the Font-rubí Mountains
Torrelles de Foix sits in the upper basin of the Foix River, at the heart of the Alt Penedès, sheltered by the Font-rubí mountain range and surrounded by forest that has never been cleared for industrial agriculture. The estate rises to 400 metres above sea level, with a southeast orientation that offers a panoramic view of central Penedès and the sacred silhouette of Montserrat on the horizon. This is high Penedès — les alçades del Foix — a zone of altitude, wind, and calcareous clay soils that sits midway between Barcelona and Tarragona, caught between the river's headwaters and the Mediterranean's moderating influence. The climate is Mediterranean with continental touches: hot, dry summers that ripen the grapes to full maturity, but cool nights and altitude that preserve the acidity essential for wines of freshness and longevity.
The soils are clay over limestone rock — classic Penedès viticultural soils that retain moisture through the dry summer months while providing the mineral backbone and drainage that keep the vines healthy and stressed in equal measure. The clay provides water retention and body; the limestone provides structure, salinity, and the chalky freshness that distinguishes the best wines of the region from their warmer, flatter counterparts. The altitude — 400 metres — places Mas Guineu above the worst of the summer heat, and the forest that surrounds the estate acts as a natural air conditioner, channelling cool air down the slopes and maintaining a diurnal temperature shift that slows ripening and concentrates flavour. The result is a terroir that produces grapes of small berry size, thick skins, and natural acidity — ideal for the skin-contact, zero-sulfite winemaking that Pep and Lorena practise.
The farming is conducted with minimum intervention — not certified organic or biodynamic in the formal sense, but governed by a philosophy of respect and observation that predates both certifications. The goal is to maintain the health of the soil and the vine through natural means, to avoid chemical inputs, and to allow the ecosystem of the estate — the forest, the foxes, the birds, the insects — to participate in the vineyard's defence. The old vines are bush-trained and hand-pruned, and the younger plantings are managed with the same attention to detail that the Guilamany family has applied for four and a half centuries. The extreme drought of recent years has forced a reckoning: some old vines have died, others have been replanted, and the family has learned to adapt their farming to a climate that is no longer as forgiving as it once was.
The varieties are a mix of indigenous Catalan grapes and historical plantings — a living archive of the Penedès' viticultural history. Parellada is the queen of the estate, occupying roughly 28 of the 70 hectares — the great white variety of high-altitude Penedès, usually relegated to Cava blending but here given the starring role. Macabeo — another Cava workhorse — is vinified with skin contact and lees work to reveal a depth that industrial blending obscures. Xarel·lo — the great Catalan white — is fermented and macerated in old American oak barrels, producing a wine of texture and breadth. Monastrell — the Mediterranean red of power and perfume — is co-fermented with Parellada in a radical blend that captures the estate's dual identity. Syrah — a relative newcomer — is given extended fermentation in old open barrels, producing a natural red of surprising elegance. Merlot — planted for historical demand — finds new expression in an ancestral sparkling wine. And the ancient Chardonnay — one of the oldest plantings in Catalonia — remains as a living monument to the era when the family sold grapes to others, now waiting for its moment in the estate's own cellar. This is not a monoculture; it is a curated garden where each variety tells a different story of the Guilamany family's relationship with the land.
Mas Guineu Vinyaters is located in Torrelles de Foix, in the upper Foix River Basin, Alt Penedès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Documented Guilamany family presence since 1574; named Mas Guineu since ~1750. ~70 hectares at 400 metres altitude, sheltered by the Font-rubí mountain range and surrounded by forest. A century-old agricultural project turned natural wine estate in 2021.
The vineyards sit on clay soils over limestone rock at 400 metres altitude, with southeast orientation and panoramic views of central Penedès and Montserrat. The clay retains moisture and provides body; the limestone provides structure, salinity, and chalky freshness. Altitude and forest shelter provide natural cooling and diurnal temperature shift. Classic high-altitude Penedès terroir.
Farming governed by minimum intervention, respect, and observation. No chemical inputs. Bush-trained old vines, hand-pruned. Forest ecosystem participates in vineyard defence. Adaptation to extreme drought and climate change. The goal is not merely sustainable farming but the preservation of a 450-year-old relationship between one family and one place.
The cellar is a living museum: the first two brick cups built in 1918 still in use; chestnut barrels added in the 1950s; cement tanks installed in 1975. The original farmhouse cellar was inside the house; the current winery was built outside the walls in 1890 to meet French demand during the phylloxera crisis. This is not a modern cellar; it is a palimpsest of agricultural history.
The Four Principles & the Transparent Cellar
The guiding philosophy of Mas Guineu Vinyaters is expressed in four non-negotiable principles that govern every decision from pruning to bottling: minimum intervention in the vineyard; indigenous yeasts only; zero added sulfites; and work with the skins of the grapes. This is not a reaction against modernity; it is a return to the oldest possible methodology — a conviction that the wine should be nothing more than the transparent transformation of grape into wine, with no additives, no corrections, and no masks. Pep and Lorena describe themselves as integral winegrowers — their mission is to transform the fruit of the vines they cultivate into wine with the greatest possible transparency, seeking to reflect in each bottle the singularity of their land, maintaining a commitment to authenticity and sustainability.
The white wines are the estate's most distinctive expression — not because they are treated as whites in the conventional sense, but because they are given skin contact and lees work that reveals the hidden depth of varieties too often dismissed as simple or neutral. The La Guineu del Clot — 100% Parellada — is a young white with good maceration on the skins and extended lees contact, producing a wine of texture, phenolic grip, and surprising complexity from a variety that the industrial Cava houses use merely as a blending component. The La Guineu dels Bancals — 100% Macabeo — receives the same treatment: skin contact, lees ageing, and zero sulfites, producing a wine of wild herbs, citrus freshness, and mineral clarity that redefines what Macabeo can achieve when handled with patience and honesty. The La Guineu del Prat — 100% Xarel·lo — is fermented and macerated in an old 500-litre American oak barrel, adding a layer of textural breadth and subtle woody spice to the variety's natural acidity and almond-like bitterness. These are not simple, fruity, easy-drinking whites; they are structured, gastronomic, and deliberately challenging — wines that demand food, conversation, and attention.
The red wines honour the Mediterranean heat and the estate's clay-limestone soils with equal honesty. The Dos Mons Roig — 50% Monastrell and 50% Parellada — is the estate's most radical and original creation: two varieties harvested on the same day, destemmed, and co-fermented together, producing a wine of startling freshness, red-fruit brightness, and savoury depth that captures the dual identity of the estate — the red heat of Monastrell and the white altitude of Parellada, united in a single vessel. The Syrah — vinified as a monovarietal with a month or more of fermentation in an old open barrel — produces a natural red of surprising elegance, meaty depth, and spice, handled with the same zero-sulfite, indigenous-yeast philosophy as the whites. The Menhir Negre — likely from Monastrell or a similar Mediterranean variety — carries the name of the ancient standing stones that dot the Catalan landscape, a reminder that the wine is rooted in a history far older than the current generation.
The sparkling wines represent the estate's most recent evolution and its connection to the ancestral traditions of the Penedès. In 2023, Pep and Lorena produced their first ancestral-method sparkling wine — a co-fermentation of Merlot and Xarel·lo, white and red grapes together, bottled during fermentation to capture natural effervescence without disgorgement, filtration, or added sulfites. They also produced a white sparkling wine with at least 15 months of ageing before disgorgement — a wine that bridges the gap between the estate's natural wine philosophy and the traditional-method heritage of the region. These are not industrial Cavas; they are pet-nats and extended-age sparkling wines made with the same four principles that govern everything else: indigenous yeasts, zero sulfites, skin contact, and minimum intervention. The cellar is not a laboratory; it is a 1918 brick cup, a 1950s chestnut barrel, and a 1975 cement tank, working in concert to let the Foix basin speak in its own voice.
Indigenous Yeasts, Zero Sulfites & Skin Contact
The guiding principle of Mas Guineu's winemaking is that the wine should be a pure reflection of the grape, the soil, and the vintage — expressed through four non-negotiable rules: minimum intervention in the vineyard, fermentation with indigenous yeasts only, zero added sulfites, and work with the skins of the grapes. Their approach — natural viticulture, hand-harvesting, spontaneous fermentation, skin maceration for whites, lees ageing, co-fermentation of red and white varieties, ageing in 1918 brick cups, 1950s chestnut barrels, and 1975 cement tanks, and bottling without filtration, clarification, or sulfur — is not a rejection of tradition but a deeper application of it. The brick cups provide breathability and history. The chestnut barrels add structure without masking flavour. The cement tanks preserve freshness and minerality. And the old American oak barrel for the Xarel·lo provides texture without the vanilla bomb of new wood. Each vessel is a tool, and each wine is a different combination of tools, all aimed at the same goal: to let the upper Foix basin speak in its own voice, through its own grapes, with its own accent — from a family that has been tending vines since 1574.
The Guineu, the Dos Mons & the Menhir
Mas Guineu Vinyaters produces a small, focused portfolio from approximately 70 hectares of family vineyards in Torrelles de Foix, divided into three distinct lines: the Guineu range — the skin-contact, lees-aged white wines that redefine Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel·lo through the estate's four principles; the Dos Mons range — the co-fermented and ancestral-method wines that push the boundaries of variety blending and sparkling tradition; and the Menhir range — the structured, terroir-expressive reds and whites that carry the name of the ancient standing stones. All wines are made with indigenous yeasts, zero added sulfites, minimum intervention, and work with the skins. The portfolio spans white, orange, red, and sparkling — all united by a common character of transparent winemaking, historical continuity, and the unmistakable signature of a family that has surrendered to the land rather than conquering it. The following represents the core cuvées as they have emerged from Pep and Lorena's conviction-driven winemaking in the upper Foix basin.
"Integral winegrowers, with the mission of transforming into wine the fruit of the vines we cultivate, with the greatest possible transparency."
— Mas Guineu Vinyaters
The Fox & the 450-Year Promise
To understand Mas Guineu Vinyaters, one must understand that it is not merely a winery; it is a 450-year promise kept in liquid form, a family that surrendered to the land, and a fox that has outlived every generation. The Guilamany family has been present on this estate since 1574 — not as owners in the modern sense, but as custodians, as transient chapters in a story written by the farmhouse, the forest, and the Foix River. The name Guineu — the fox — is not a marketing logo; it is the spirit animal of a place that has always been wild, elusive, and self-willed. The fox appears in the margins of the vineyard, in the folklore of the region, and in the imagination of the estate: a creature that belongs to no one, yet to everyone.
The identity is defined by continuity and rupture — the continuity of four and a half centuries of uninterrupted cultivation, and the rupture of 2021, when Pep and Lorena decided to stop selling their grapes to the great Cava houses and start bottling their own truth. This is not a rejection of the past; it is a deeper application of it. The 1918 brick cups, the 1950s chestnut barrels, and the 1975 cement tanks are not museum pieces; they are working tools, still in use, still shaping the wine that flows from the estate's indigenous yeasts and zero-sulfite philosophy. The identity is also defined by humility — the humility of the vinyater who knows that the land will outlast him, that the drought will test him, and that the only honest response is to continue, vintage after vintage, with greater care and less intervention.
The future of Mas Guineu is tied to the continued health of its 70 hectares, the deepening of natural viticultural practices, and the gradual expansion of a portfolio that now speaks to the natural wine enthusiast, the curious drinker, and the historian alike. The Guineu line will continue to redefine Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel·lo through skin contact and lees work. The Dos Mons line will continue to push the boundaries of co-fermentation and ancestral-method sparkling. The Menhir line will continue to honour the ancient stones with wines of structure and terroir expression. And the old Chardonnay — one of the oldest in Catalonia, planted to satisfy an industrial buyer — will eventually find its place in the estate's own cellar, a final reclamation of a history that was never fully the family's own. The brick cups will continue to breathe, the chestnut barrels will continue to age, the cement tanks will continue to hold, and Pep and Lorena will continue to walk the 400-metre slopes of Torrelles de Foix, tasting grapes and deciding which variety will speak for the next vintage — with the same four principles that have defined their project from the beginning: minimum intervention, indigenous yeasts, zero sulfites, and work with the skins.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — Mas Guineu Vinyaters stands as a compelling alternative, not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values 450 years of family continuity over a boardroom of consultants, 1918 brick cups over stainless steel tank farms, indigenous yeasts over inoculation, zero sulfites over standardised stability, skin contact over cosmetic clarity, co-fermentation over varietal purity, the fox over the brand, and the specific voice of the upper Foix basin over the standardised replication of a global style. Mas Guineu is not merely making wine; it is proving that the most honest wine is made not by conquering history but by surrendering to it — that a family can tend vines for four and a half centuries and still find something new to say, that Parellada can be a flagship rather than a blending component, that a Monastrell-Parellada co-ferment can redefine freshness, that zero sulfites can produce wines of startling complexity, and that the simplest philosophy — the greatest possible transparency — is often the most profound. From the 1574 document to the 2024 vintage, from the bulk tank to the bottle, from the Cava house to the natural wine bar: all united in one bottle, one family, one fox, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of natural, hand-made, zero-sulfur, skin-contact, passionately honest wine from the 400-metre heart of the Foix River Basin.
The Guilamany family has been present at Mas Guineu since 1574 — not as owners but as custodians. The estate belongs to no one, yet to everyone. People are transient; the farmhouse and the land endure. Pep and Lorena are merely the current chapter of this story, leading the estate and the winery with the same humility that guided their ancestors. This is a winery where the personal and the historical are inseparable, and the wine carries the quiet signature of a family that has surrendered to the land rather than conquering it.
Four non-negotiable principles govern every decision: minimum intervention in the vineyard; indigenous yeasts only; zero added sulfites; and work with the skins. This is not marketing; it is methodology. The wines are as natural as they come — spontaneously fermented, unfiltered, unclarified, and purely expressive of the Foix basin. The 1918 brick cups, 1950s chestnut barrels, and 1975 cement tanks are not romantic backdrops; they are working tools in a cellar that seeks transparency above all else. A proof that the simplest rules often produce the most complex wines.