What makes Maçanella 2021 unique within Mas d’en Gil?

Maçanella 2021 is the first vintage of this wine and represents a new generation at Mas d’en Gil, focusing on one plot, one grape and one terroir.

What is massal selection and why is it important?

Massal selection involves replanting vines using cuttings from old vineyards to preserve the same genetic material, ensuring continuity and identity in the vineyards.

How is Maçanella 2021 made?

The wine is made from 90% Garnatxa and 10% Garnatxa Peluda, with fermentation using indigenous yeasts, 30 days of maceration and 14 months ageing in small barrels, followed by at least 2 years of bottle ageing.

What is the style of Maçanella 2021?

Maçanella 2021 has a lighter style than classic Priorat wines, with a smooth, open and floral profile, juicy character and accessible Mediterranean elegance.

La Buena Vida | Maçanella 2021

96/100 for the most elegant wine of the estate.
Maçanella 2021

On July 7, 2025, one of the pioneers of Priorat sadly passed away. Pere Rovira (1940) was the pater familias of the outstanding estate Mas d’en Gil in Priorat.

We first met him in 1998 together with his daughter Pilar, and his ambition and pursuit of perfection were truly impressive…

Pere came from Penedès and had built a remarkable business in bulk wine, active all over the world.

But that was not the legacy he truly wanted to leave to his children.

His dream was to help build this new region everyone in the wine world was talking about in the late 1990s.

He therefore acquired Masia Barril in Bellmunt del Priorat, together with Scala Dei, one of the few private producers of Priorat wines in the 1970s and 1980s.

The impressive estate consisting of 5 beautiful valleys was renamed under its original name “Mas d’en Gil”, and by 1998 he was already producing his first wines under his own label.
I still clearly remember Pilar, his eldest daughter, coming to Belgium to convince us of the quality of that 1998 vintage.
She didn’t need much time…😉

That first Clos Fontà was memorable. Just 9 years after the first vintage of the 5 Priorat pioneers, this was a remarkable revival with great respect for tradition, which fully convinced us.

From 2008 onwards, the youngest daughter Marta joined the estate. She fully committed to biodynamic viticulture and explored the archives of the former Mas d’en Gil. Labels and presentations were gradually adapted with respect for tradition, and today, under her leadership, the estate offers an impressive line-up of top wines, both white and red.

In the last week of June 2025, Marta surprised us once again. We stopped at the estate during our La Buena Vida classic rally.

It was extremely hot, yet we were served a new top red wine. Quite a surprise!

This is not a powerhouse, but a restrained, almost ethereal Mediterranean elegance: this is Maçanella 2021. The first vintage of this new wine.

Don’t miss this opportunity and make sure you have a few bottles in your cellar.
We have 60 bottles available for Belgium!

75 cl.

96 R. Parker

Biodynamic

Maçanella 2021

Catalunya

Mas d'en Gil

D.O.Q. Priorat

75 cl.

red

130,14 € /pc

107,55 € excl. VAT

Assembly

Garnatxa

Content

75 cl.

Year

2021

Our very own Olivier Fonteyne, responsible for the West Flanders region, has been travelling between Bruges and Mas d’en Gil for many years as Marta’s partner and knows the estate like no other.

So I’m happy to give him the floor to describe this new top wine…

MAÇANELLA 2021
The new generation of wines from Mas d’en Gil…

Mas d’en Gil is a beautiful piece of nature located in the south of Priorat, in the village of Bellmunt del Priorat. The combination of vineyards, forests, olive trees, almond trees and fruit trees creates a true example of biodiversity within a wine estate. The estate benefits from a wide diversity of terroirs… limestone, quartz, clay, sandstone and different types of slate, each with its own location, orientation and grape varieties. From the very first harvest (1998) of the Rovira Carbonell family, attention was already given to white wines in this predominantly red wine region. White Garnatxa and Macabeu grow on limestone and sandstone soils with a northern exposure. Garnatxa Negra and Carinyena are spread across different terroirs.

MASSAL SELECTION
Bellmunt del Priorat is the village with the oldest Grenache/Garnatxa vines in the Priorat region. But even old vines do not live forever… Preserving and respecting these old vines remains essential in a region with such a rich wine culture. Massal selection, practiced for nearly 20 years at Mas d’en Gil, is the driving force behind these new wines. Wood selected from old vineyards and replanted, ideally nearby and on similar terroir, ensures continuity of the same genetic material. Marta Rovira calls them her children, requiring less care and concern than vineyards of 80 or 90 years old, which tend to be less vigorous.

A great master from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Henri Bonneau, known for his “Réserve des Célestins”, believed in working only with vines aged between 30 and 50 years to maintain vibrancy in the wine. Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac even kept a sort of library of cuttings from his best vineyards to secure the future of his estate.
Alongside the classic structure of wines at Mas d’en Gil, with 3 white and 3 red wines, the focus in the near future will shift towards parcel identity for new wines… 1 plot / 1 grape / 1 terroir… white Grenache (Coma Calcari), Macabeu, red Grenache (Maçanella) and Carignan.

MAÇANELLA 2021
The LA MOLA vineyard in Plana del Mas was planted between 2002 and 2006 using cuttings selected from various old Grenache plots on the estate. The vineyard is oriented north-east and features slate soils with stones and some clay. The blend consists of 90% red Grenache and 10% Garnatxa Peluda. Fermentation takes place with indigenous yeasts, followed by a 30-day maceration and ageing for 14 months in lightly toasted small barrels. As tradition at Mas d’en Gil dictates, the wine then undergoes bottle ageing, at least 2 years for Maçanella.

The name Maçanella or Sempreviva refers to a Mediterranean plant from the chamomile family, but without petals. Unlike the typical Priorat style, this Maçanella is lighter in style, smooth, open, floral and juicy. It is a fine example of a Mediterranean wine with an accessible and elegant character, as often found within the LA BUENA VIDA selection.