Two Hectares & Twenty-Two Metres
Nini Vins is the vision of Gaetano Pellisa — a one-man, two-hectare natural wine project in Rasquera, deep in the Tierras del Ebro of southern Catalonia. Since 2006, Gaetano has cultivated his vineyards ecologically, without chemicals, irrigation, or external grapes, working entirely by hand across a micro-estate of Garnacha Blanca, Garnacha Negra, Macabeo, and Syrah. The cellar philosophy is absolute: indigenous yeasts only, zero added sulfites, no filtration, no clarification, and no additives of any kind. Fermentations happen spontaneously in old wooden barrels or stainless steel, producing wines that are vibrant, raw, and unapologetically expressive of the rugged, stony, sun-baked hills of Ribera d'Ebre. But Gaetano did not stop at the cellar door. In a marriage of ancient intuition and modern innovation, he became one of the first natural wine producers in the world to age his wines underwater — submerging bottles at 22 metres depth in the Mediterranean for a full year, where pressure, darkness, and constant temperature transform the wine in ways that no barrel or tank can replicate. From the land to the sea, from the 2006 ecological vineyard to the 22-metre depth, Nini Vins proves that the smallest estates can produce the most profound wines — and that the Mediterranean is not merely a climate but a cellar.
Gaetano Pellisa & the Two Hectares
The story of Nini Vins begins not with inheritance or investment but with a slow, deliberate choice to remain small. In 2006, Gaetano Pellisa began cultivating vineyards in Rasquera — a picturesque village perched in the rugged hills of the Ribera d'Ebre, where the Ebro River basin opens toward the Mediterranean — with a conviction that has only deepened over two decades: that the best wine comes from the smallest scale, the most intimate knowledge, and the most honest labour. For years, Gaetano farmed his two hectares ecologically, selling grapes or tending the land in relative anonymity, until the pull of the cellar became irresistible. He decided that the fruit of his own hands, grown on his own stony soils, deserved to be transformed into wine by his own instincts — not by a cooperative, not by an industrial buyer, and not by any recipe that required cultured yeasts, sulfur, or filtration.
The estate is intentionally minuscule — roughly two hectares — a decision that is both practical and philosophical. At two hectares, Gaetano can know every vine personally. He can prune each plant according to its individual health, harvest each cluster at its optimal moment, and sort every bunch by hand before it enters the cellar. There are no employees, no consultants, no marketing team. The entire project is the work of one man and his partner, supported by the land that has sustained the Pellisa family in Rasquera for generations. This is not a business model designed for growth; it is a life model designed for authenticity. The yields are deliberately low, the work is entirely manual, and the goal is not volume but verdad — truth in liquid form.
The name Nini Vins carries a personal, familial resonance — a nickname, a whisper, a private name that became public. It is not a grand estate title or a historical reference; it is an intimate signature, a reminder that this winery is an extension of a person rather than a corporation. The project is Gaetano's life, his passion, and his stubborn refusal to accept that wine must be industrial to be legitimate. From the beginning, he committed to three non-negotiable principles: ecological viticulture without chemicals, autonomous winemaking without purchased grapes, and absolute transparency in the cellar without additives or manipulation. These principles are not marketing slogans; they are the architecture of his daily existence — the reason he rises before dawn to prune, the reason he ferments in old barrels rather than new oak, and the reason he refuses to filter, clarify, or sulfite his wines.
The turning point came when Gaetano looked beyond the vineyard and saw the Mediterranean Sea — not as a boundary, but as a possibility. Inspired by the ancient intuition that wine evolves differently in the darkness and pressure of the deep, he began experimenting with underwater ageing, submerging bottles at 22 metres depth for a full year. This was not a gimmick; it was a natural extension of his philosophy of minimal intervention. If the best cellar is one that changes the wine as little as possible while allowing it to evolve, what better cellar than the sea — constant temperature, total darkness, no oxygen, and the gentle pressure of 22 metres of water? The experiment became a signature, and Nini Vins became known not only for the purity of its land wines but for the singularity of its sea wines — bottles that carry the memory of both the stony hills of Rasquera and the silent depths of the Mediterranean.
"The mission is to create authentic natural wines that express with purity the unique character of the Tierras del Ebro, while deeply respecting nature and the balance of the ecosystem."
— Gaetano Pellisa, Nini Vins
Rasquera & the Tierras del Ebro
Rasquera sits in the Ribera d'Ebre — the Ebro River basin — a region of southern Catalonia where the mighty Ebro has carved a landscape of rugged hills, steep terraces, and stony soils over millennia. This is not the gentle, rolling Penedès of Cava fame; it is a harder, drier, more uncompromising terrain, where the Mediterranean climate meets the continental influence of the Iberian interior. The village itself is picturesque — a cluster of stone houses clinging to hillsides that have been cultivated since before recorded history — and the vineyards that surround it are small, fragmented, and often planted on slopes too steep for machinery. Gaetano's two hectares are scattered across these hills, exposed to the sun, ventilated by the wind, and rooted in soils that demand resilience from both vine and vigneron.
The soils are stony, poor, and free-draining — classic Mediterranean viticultural soils that stress the vines, reduce yields, and concentrate flavour in the small berries that survive. The stones retain heat during the day and release it at night, moderating the temperature shift and aiding ripening, while the poor nutritional content forces the roots to plunge deep in search of water and minerals. There is no irrigation at Nini Vins — a deliberate choice that Gaetano considers essential to the expression of his terroir. The vines must struggle, and that struggle must be tasted in the wine. The result is fruit of intense colour, thick skins, and natural acidity that belies the heat of the region — grapes that are small in quantity but monumental in quality.
The climate is Mediterranean with continental touches — hot, dry summers with intense sunlight that ripens the Garnacha and Syrah to full phenolic maturity, but cool nights that preserve the acidity essential for balanced, fresh wines. The proximity to the Ebro River provides a moderating influence, and the altitude of the hillside vineyards — though not extreme — offers enough elevation to catch the breezes that prevent the worst of the summer heat from baking the fruit. The result is a terroir that produces wines of surprising freshness and mineral clarity for such a warm region — wines that taste of the sun but also of the stone, of the herbs that grow wild between the rows, and of the dry, dusty air that defines the Ribera d'Ebre in summer.
The farming is ecological and self-sufficient — not certified organic in the bureaucratic sense, but governed by a philosophy of respect and observation that predates certification. Gaetano uses no herbicides, no pesticides, no synthetic fertilisers, and no chemical treatments of any kind. Some biodynamic preparations are employed, but the overall approach is one of ecological balance and autosufficiency: the vineyard is treated as a living organism, and the vigneron's role is to support its natural defences rather than replace them with industrial inputs. The work is entirely manual — pruning, ploughing, harvesting, sorting — and the harvest is carried out bunch by bunch, selecting only the fruit that has reached perfect maturity. The goal is not merely to farm sustainably but to farm autonomously — to create a closed system where the vineyard feeds the wine, and the wine feeds the vigneron, with nothing entering from the outside world except sunlight, rain, and the occasional biodynamic preparation made from the land itself.
Nini Vins is located in Rasquera, in the Ribera d'Ebre region of southern Catalonia, Tarragona, Spain. Founded by Gaetano Pellisa, who has worked the vineyard ecologically since 2006. ~2 hectares of micro-estate vineyards. A pioneer of natural underwater wine ageing and a benchmark for zero-sulfite, indigenous-yeast, unfiltered natural wine in the Tierras del Ebro.
The vineyards sit on stony, poor, free-draining Mediterranean soils in the Ribera d'Ebre hills. Classic viticultural soils that stress the vines, reduce yields, and concentrate flavour. Heat-retaining stones moderate night temperatures. The poor nutritional content forces deep root penetration, extracting minerality and complexity from the subsoil. No irrigation.
Ecological viticulture without herbicides, pesticides, or synthetic treatments. Some biodynamic preparations used. Autosufficient farming philosophy. No irrigation. No external grapes. All work performed manually — pruning, ploughing, harvesting, sorting. The vineyard is treated as a living organism. The goal is a closed, self-sustaining system where the land provides everything the wine requires.
Nini Vins pioneered the ageing of natural wines underwater in the Mediterranean. Bottles are submerged at 22 metres depth for one year, where constant temperature, total darkness, absence of oxygen, and hydrostatic pressure create a unique evolution. The sea becomes an extension of the cellar — a natural, minimalist, and ancient environment for transformation.
Zero Sulfites & the Sea
The guiding philosophy of Nini Vins is expressed in four absolute prohibitions: no added sulfites, no filtration, no clarification, and no additives of any kind. This is not a reaction against modernity; it is a return to the most ancient possible methodology — a conviction that wine is the transparent transformation of grape into liquid, and that any intervention beyond the natural fermentation is a distortion of the vine's message. Gaetano's approach is described in his own words as the pursuit of authentic natural wines that express with purity the unique character of the Tierras del Ebro — wines that are vibrant, genuine, and free from artificial interventions, reflecting a commitment to quality, conscious innovation, and artisanal tradition.
In the cellar, the methodology is as simple as the philosophy is rigorous. Harvest is entirely manual, and every grape that enters the winery is hand-selected. Fermentation relies exclusively on indigenous yeasts — the wild yeasts that live on the grape skins and in the vineyard air — with no cultured inoculations, no temperature manipulation, and no enzymatic additions. The wines are fermented and aged in old wooden barrels or stainless steel tanks, depending on the vintage and the variety. The old barrels provide breathability and gentle micro-oxygenation without imposing oak flavour; the stainless steel preserves freshness and primary fruit. The choice of vessel is determined by the grape, not by fashion. Macabeo and Garnacha Blanca often see steel to maintain their crystalline acidity; Garnacha Negra and Syrah may see old wood to develop texture and earthy complexity.
The commitment to purity extends to the finishing. The wines are bottled unfiltered and unclarified — cloudy or clear depending on the vintage, but always alive. The lack of filtration preserves the living texture of the wine, the lees, and the microscopic vineyard life that continues to evolve in the bottle. Sulfur is never added — not at harvest, not during fermentation, not at bottling. This demands absolute cleanliness in the cellar, perfect grape health in the vineyard, and a willingness to accept that each bottle will be slightly different from the next. The result is a portfolio of wines that are raw, expressive, and full of life — wines that change in the glass, that evolve in the bottle, and that carry the unmistakable signature of a man who has touched every vine, every barrel, and every bottle himself.
The underwater ageing programme is the most distinctive expression of the estate's innovative spirit. Gaetano submerges bottles at 22 metres depth in the Mediterranean for a full year, where four unique conditions transform the wine: constant temperature (approximately 15°C year-round), total darkness, absence of oxygen, and the gentle pressure of the water column. The sea does what no cellar can — it matures the wine with a slowness and completeness that land-based ageing cannot replicate. The tannins soften, the fruit deepens, and a saline, mineral complexity emerges that speaks directly of the Mediterranean's influence. This is not a gimmick or a tourist attraction; it is a natural extension of the estate's minimalist philosophy. If the goal is to let the wine evolve with the least possible human interference, what better environment than the sea — a cellar carved by nature, maintained by nature, and flavoured by nature? The underwater wines are released alongside their land-aged counterparts, offering drinkers the rare opportunity to taste the same wine transformed by two different terroirs: the stony hills of Rasquera and the silent depths of the Mediterranean.
Indigenous Yeasts, Zero Additives & 22 Metres Underwater
The guiding principle of Nini Vins' winemaking is that the cellar should be invisible and the sea should be audible. Their approach — ecological farming without chemicals, hand-harvesting into small boxes, natural fermentation with indigenous yeasts, ageing in old wood or stainless steel, zero added sulfites, no filtration, no clarification, no additives, and underwater maturation at 22 metres for one year — is not a rejection of tradition but a deeper application of it. The old barrels provide breathability without masking flavour. The stainless steel preserves freshness and minerality. The lack of filtration keeps the wine alive. And the Mediterranean provides a cellar of constant temperature, total darkness, and gentle pressure that no human architecture can replicate. Each vessel is a tool, and each environment is a terroir, all aimed at the same goal: to let the Ribera d'Ebre speak in its own voice, through its own grapes, with its own accent — from a man who has been tending two hectares of vines since 2006, and who has learned that the best way to improve wine is to do less.
The Land, the Sea & the Raw Truth
Nini Vins produces a minuscule, artisanal portfolio from approximately two hectares of ecologically farmed vineyards in Rasquera, divided into two distinct expressions: the Land Wines — the zero-sulfite, unfiltered, spontaneously fermented wines that capture the rugged, stony, sun-baked character of the Ribera d'Ebre; and the Sea Wines — the same wines after one year of underwater ageing at 22 metres in the Mediterranean, where pressure, darkness, and constant temperature transform texture, tannin, and mineral complexity. The varieties are Mediterranean to the core: Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo for the whites; Garnacha Negra and Syrah for the reds. All wines are estate-grown, hand-harvested, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and bottled without filtration, clarification, or added sulfites. The portfolio is small by necessity — two hectares cannot produce more than a few thousand bottles — but each wine is a complete expression of Gaetano's conviction that transparency is the only virtue that matters. The following represents the core cuvées as they have emerged from Gaetano Pellisa's hands-on, one-man winemaking in the Tierras del Ebro.
"The mission is to create authentic natural wines that express with purity the unique character of the Tierras del Ebro."
— Gaetano Pellisa, Nini Vins
The Micro-Estate & the Mediterranean Cellar
To understand Nini Vins, one must understand that it is not merely a winery; it is a life reduced to two hectares and twenty-two metres — a life in which the vigneron is also the winemaker, the cellar hand, the bottler, and the diver who retrieves his own wines from the sea floor. Gaetano Pellisa is not an entrepreneur seeking market share; he is a man who has chosen to remain small in a world that rewards scale, to remain pure in an industry that demands compromise, and to remain alone in a region that has forgotten the meaning of artisanal. The identity of Nini Vins is defined by this solitude: one man, two hectares, four varieties, and a sea that serves as his second cellar. There are no employees, no investors, no marketing department. There is only Gaetano, his partner, and the land that has sustained them since 2006.
The identity is also defined by duality — the duality of land and sea, of stone and salt, of the Ebro basin and the Mediterranean depth. The land wines are raw, stony, sun-baked, and wild — expressions of the poor soils and the hot winds that define the Ribera d'Ebre. The sea wines are deeper, softer, more saline, and more complex — expressions of a year spent in darkness and pressure, where the wine evolves not through human intervention but through the slow, ancient rhythms of the underwater world. This duality is not a marketing strategy; it is an honest reflection of Gaetano's two educations — the education of the vineyard, learned over two decades of ecological farming, and the education of the sea, learned through experimentation, intuition, and the courage to submerge his own work in waters that could destroy it.
The future of Nini Vins is tied to the continued health of its two hectares, the deepening of ecological practices in a climate that grows hotter and drier every year, and the gradual evolution of a portfolio that now speaks to both the natural wine enthusiast and the curious drinker who wants to understand what the Mediterranean tastes like at 22 metres depth. The Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo will continue to prove that the white varieties of the Ribera d'Ebre can achieve freshness and mineral clarity without sulfur or filtration. The Nini Jove and Nini Crianza will continue to capture the youthful and aged expressions of Garnacha Negra, Syrah, and Cabernet. The Submarí line will continue to push the boundaries of what underwater ageing can achieve with natural, zero-sulfite wines. And the two hectares will continue to be farmed by hand, without chemicals, without irrigation, and without any external input — a closed system of sun, stone, grape, and sea.
In an age of increasing industrialisation in wine — of global varieties, engineered yeasts, and corporate consolidation — Nini Vins stands as a compelling alternative, not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a deeper modernity: one that values two hectares over two hundred, one man over a team, indigenous yeasts over inoculation, zero sulfites over standardised stability, unfiltered wine over cosmetic clarity, old barrels over new oak, the sea over the cellar, 22 metres over 22 months in tank, and the specific voice of Rasquera's stony hills over the standardised replication of a global style. Nini Vins is not merely making wine; it is proving that the smallest estate can produce the most profound bottle, that one man can be a complete winery, that the Mediterranean can be a cellar, that underwater ageing can transform natural wine without adding a single chemical, and that the simplest philosophy — express with purity the unique character of the Tierras del Ebro — is often the most profound. From the 2006 ecological vineyard to the 22-metre depth, from the land to the sea, from the stone to the salt: all united in one bottle, one man, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of authentic, natural, zero-sulfite, hand-made, passionately honest wine from the heart of the Ribera d'Ebre.
Gaetano Pellisa — one man, two hectares, four varieties, and a sea cellar. Since 2006, he has farmed ecologically without chemicals, irrigation, or external grapes. The entire project is manual, from pruning to harvest to bottling to diving. This is not a business; it is a life. The wines are the byproduct of a man's relationship with his land, and the underwater wines are the proof that he is willing to risk everything he has made in the depths of the Mediterranean to see what nature can do without him.
Four absolute prohibitions: no added sulfites, no filtration, no clarification, no additives. Indigenous yeasts only. Old wood or stainless steel only. And then — the sea. Bottles submerged at 22 metres for one year, where constant temperature, darkness, pressure, and absence of oxygen transform the wine in ways no human cellar can replicate. This is not a gimmick; it is a natural extension of minimal intervention. The sea is the most ancient cellar on Earth, and Gaetano was among the first natural winemakers to use it.