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Olivella is a small charming village right in the middle of the Massís del Garraf.

situacio

Massís describes an irregular chain of mountains

The town is located 30km west of Barcelona and 50km north of Tarragona.

History

The country house is built on a rock cliff circumvented by the Begues stream. This explains why its first name was Mas de la Roca (House of the Rock).

can-suriol-4The first traces of its existence go back to 1164, when the farm house is referred by the mayor Urgelli (Urgell). The name of the cellar has been found as early as 1549, when the census mentions Antoni Seriol living in the “loco vocato la roqua” (meaning “the place named La Roca”). This explains why we still refer to the property as Masia de la Roqua.

Winegrowing has been always linked to this property. The first document identified explicitly stating its winegrowing activities reads as follows:

“Antoni Raventós declares having acquired from the Suriol family in 1678 all the houses or farms, as well as plots of land, vineyards, orchards and cultivated and barren lands, oak forests, mountains and plains.” Quote from Vicenç Carbonell Virella in June 2015.

Anyhow, we are certain winegrowing happened here much earlier.

Crops

The crops in the country house are the traditional of a Mediterranean climate. Hence, we find olive trees, almond trees and, obviously, vines. In the past the farmhouse also had cereal fields.

Massís del Garraf

massis

The Massís del Garraf is a mountainous range between Barcelona and Tarragona. To the north, it limits with L’Ordal mountain chain and, to the south, with the Mediterranean sea.

The mountains, often higher than 500m above the sea level, are calcareous and have a great number of holes and caves. In between, flow several small torrents and streams. It is within this landscape that lay our vines.

Forest and vegetation

The forest is a loyal companion of our vineyards. Many plots are in direct contact with the forest, fostering the interaction between each other and contributing to the great biodiversity we find in our property.

situacio-entornIn addition, none of our vineyards is contiguous with those of other producers.

In the forest we find pines, oak and holm oak trees, together with multiple aromatic plants and bushes: rosemary, thyme, lavender, and the characteristic margalló palm tree , autochthonous of this area.

There are also many animals: rabbits, wild boars, eagles, foxes… and other smaller animals such as frogs and butterflies.

Stone constructions

Stone constructions have always been common in this area and we still find plenty of them. We easily find the traditional stone walls separating the properties as well as stone cabins used in the past to provide shelter to peasants.s.

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