Our personality

I remember each and every vintage in the vineyards right from when we started to work the land organically. The problems had been hidden behind the conventional farming methods and only started to manifest themselves once we made the change and then they all filed out one after the other.

Year after year, the weak spots stood out in our vineyard to remind us that we were not doing a good job. I get goose bumps when I think about all the grapes I lost along the way, but when I walk through the vineyard and see, smell, touch and taste and listen to the balance which is in the process of being restored, then I forget all the headaches.

This is because balance is learnt by using our six senses.

AAnd while this natural restoration process continues, this search for organic laws, we will continue to make new friends, find new ideas, learn new things good and bad, discover new sounds, paths, passions, smells…and we will become enriched by sensations which we will try to transmit through our wines: Venus and Dido.

BBecause one day you too will be able to hear the starlings beating their wings, you will smell the grapes of ripe Garnatxa (Grenache), feel the texture of the "sauló" (decomposed granite) particles in our vineyards and if you close your eyes, you will be transported to this corner of Montsant through a glass of our wine.

We are. We are – the ones who live at Venus, the ones who work at Martinet and Mogador, in the Vinya del Vuit in Gratallops Partida Bellvisos. We see the vineyard as being key to sustainability. We are the ones who imagine our wines, the ones who get passionate about each and every vintage, with each wine we bottle and each bottle we open…

We understand life from a special perspective and we live according to three premises: we should be taking care of our environment and the people who live in it and we must be fair at all times.

We would like to know what you think about our project and our wines. We would like you to ask us more about each and every sensation you experience with our wines…

If you wish, you can contact us at: rene@venuslauniversal.com

Nosaltres i el nostre entorn...

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Wines

As often happens in these cases, this adventure started with a love story…

There are many important moments in a person’s life and some that are “life changing” which are kept for posterity, written down and summarized.

This “Life changing moment “came in the guise of wine, family, a way of life, of constant searching, demonstrating…..it became Venus.

And after that came Eneas (2001, 2002), the baby wine of the winery, the son of Venus….but in the same way he came….he left again….to leave us with Dido (which appeared in 2003….and is still with us today), this handsome Dido!

And based on our particular vision of the area, its landscape, soils, our search for beauty, justice and equality, we have continued to make the family grow with the latest arrival, which is Dido Blanc!

Venus

Venus is the result, year after year of our search for beauty. It is an attempt to interpret femininity, the Earth, through a bottle of wine: Carinyena (Carignan), Garnatxa (Grenache) and Syrah, mystery and seduction, discourse and opulence, peace, patience, balance and passion.

A wine which envelops you, it is mouth-watering, destined for accompanying food, especially for traditional Mediterranean cuisine.

Datasheet

For other vintages ask to: comunicacio@venuslauniversal.com

Dido

This is our particular homage to youth, to its tenacity, to love and to the Garnatxa (Grenache) grape variety. The wine, sourced from our sauló (decomposed granite) soil plots in Falset display delicious fruitiness. The wine is aged in clay pots to maintain it s extraordinary freshness and purity.

Datasheet

For other vintages ask to: comunicacio@venuslauniversal.com

Dido blanc

This wine was born out love, out of intuition…Faithful to our belief to recover part of our past, or our traditions, we chose to make a Mediterranean white wine using local grape varieties: Garnatxa blanca (White Grenache), Macabeu (Viura) and Cartoixà (xarel·lo)... Voluptuousness, elegance and rectitude.

Words with a capital letter.

This wine reminds us of the fragrances of autumn, ripe fruit, nuts and raisins, seeds…an enchanting creamy texture with a long finish…

Truly beguiling!

Datasheet

For other vintages ask to: comunicacio@venuslauniversal.com

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How we work

Our commitment

A few years ago now, René and I decided to get into this world in order to leave an emotional not material footprint behind us. In this sense, we decided that we only needed to use the bare essentials, materials which had lower energy costs during their lifetime.

This has led to constant research for the traceability of everything we buy and a daily challenge of the needs of its use.

The trail of waste and energy burden associated with a bottle of wine can be very big or very small depending on how we work. This trail starts right at the time of planting and continues right the way through to distribution of a bottle of wine to the final consumer.

In general, we have analyzed the inputs and outputs of our agricultural system transformation processes. We have realized that if we recycle our outputs and transform them into inputs, we are in effect closing the circle and helping other neighbouring livestock systems to do the same, thus creating a stable social and economic network.

So what have we done over the last few years to make our project sustainable? This can be seen in the vineyard, in the winery and in logistics.

In the vineyard, by using organic farming methods, we have drastically decreased our waste products and the energy costs associated to the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. The organic matter we use as fertilizer is a recycled waste product, cow and horse manure, which is used together with vine trimmings and pomace from our grapes. As “pesticides” we use goat’s milk whey, thus recycling another polluting by product as well as using plant extracts in order to totally eliminate the use of sulphur powder (permitted by organic farming regulations, but derived from petroleum).

Our fossil fuel consumption has gone down and we have replaced the use of a heavy tractor for that of a lighter quad bike (less fuel consumption). With the quad, we do not compact the soil as much, keeping the structure of the soil in better conditions.

Grapes are our only final product made in our agricultural system. The leaves from the vines fall onto the soil and decompose completely if we leave plant cover (on bare earth, these leaves are blown away by the wind).

At the winery, we have chosen to work with wild yeasts, the ones already on the grapes, with lactic bacteria which are present in large quantities in the wind and acids which are naturally occurring in the grapes. The only inputs we have are sulphides and year after year, we are carrying out experiments to reduce the addition of these until we get down to zero additions.

We have improved our water management systems by cleaning with a steamer (reducing by 89% the quantity of water used in the winery). We are still dependent on the mains electric supply for our energy consumption, but this will be the next step: investing in solar energy.

Logistics. This starts from the choice of bottle to the final distribution of our wine and where we use most energy. Step by step, we are analyzing our energy contributions for the different elements: capsules, bottles, corks and transport...

In the case of Dido, the spotlight is on the capsules: be them of tin, aluminium or complex, the associated industry is highly polluting and with high hidden costs. It seems that organic waxes have lower associated energy costs, but we need to resolve the problem of how quickly we can wax a bottle neck as with the volumes we work with, for Dido, this is currently not viable.

Glass bottle weight is also another important point to take into account (linked to fuel costs during transport). In the case of Dido, there are some models with acceptable weights, but in the case of Venus, this is a difficult subject as the shape and colour of the bottle are important elements in the aesthetics of this wine (at least right now). It has proved difficult for us to find a bottle which is less than 550 g.

In terms of cardboard boxes we have moved to recycled paper boxes. The texture is not as smooth, but in this way, we are not responsible for cutting down more trees to make our wines.

Our corks are an important element in our wines and for the wines’ ageing process. However, the use of natural cork means we continue to work the cork tree forests and promote the survival of the associated ecosystem. By buying natural corks we are helping to sustain good forestry techniques as well as supporting companies which are working towards maintaining a positive carbon footprint or who are socially implicated in the area.

And finally, the key point is transport. Maritime and rail transport methods mean costs are 5 times lower than by road. This has made us reconsider our exports and seek out the train as a distribution media for Europe and other nearby cities.

This is still in its early stages though, since this form of transport is not well developed for small, fragile loads like wine. But we will get there!

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Agrobotiga

Healthy & good

After getting to know us intimately, now is the moment of truth. It is your chance to be part of what Venus La Universal means. Magic in a bottle, which together with other pleasures, will help you to understand our work, our dedication and the love we have for the rewards which this marvellous passion provides us with.

Without a doubt, this is Earth’s Gift to your palate.

For more information, please contact us at: info@venuslauniversal.com

Hens and chickens are part of our family life and our children feed them daily and collect their eggs.

They strut around our garden and vineyard as if they were little Queens…in their kingdom. They have their own bodyguards just in case they get attacked by foxes and these are the geese.

We protect them in this way and we thus guarantee our egg supply throughout the winter months. Our organic eggs are very rich in nutrients and are very tasty.

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Moving

From root to the fruit

2014-10-22GUIA PEÑIN 2015

We continue to reap high scores in the most prestigious wine guides from around the world as well as from those at home...

This is the case of the scores recently awarded our wines in the Guia Peñín 2015 which can be consulted online at: www.guiapenin.com. Thanks for evaluating our hard work!

Venus 2010 – 94 points

Dido Blanc 2013 – 92 points

Dido 2012 – 92 points

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2014-10-21FROM MONTSANT TO NEW YORK

The city of skyscrapers! The city of diversity and many cultures! A city of fashion and new tendencies! An amazing city!

The gateway to the American wine market! The most talked about and admired wine market in the world! You will find all our wines in the most happening and renowned bars and restaurants of the city as well as the best known specialist wine shops.

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2014-10-09DIDO BLANC, FRESHNESS AND VOLUME

Autumn is already with us. We have just finished harvest and it still seems that cooler days have still to come...white wines are a lovely option in this warm weather and what better wine than Dido Blanc? However, the first batch that came out of the oven was sold out very quickly...

but don’t worry as there are more bottles where those came from slowly ageing in a 4,000 litre oak vat, just waiting to come home with you as soon as possible!! Dido Blanc 2013 is about to be released for the second time!
Garnatxa Blanca (White Grenache), Macabeu (Viura) and Cartoixà (Xarel·lo)...local grape varieties assembled in the guise of a Mediterranean white wine. Elegant, voluptuous and mature...and if before summer it was full of crisp acidity and youth....now it will be rounder and more finished!!!

A most beguiling white wine!

Please share your opinions with us by using the hash tag #didoblanc13.

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2014-04-22FROM THE CONCRETE TANK TO DIDO 2012

Rains and storms are approaching. The central hours of the day tend to be warmer, whilst cooler temperatures are more common in the morning and evenings and at the end of the day....springtime.

The vines are starting to grow and the fields are bursting with life. With the arrival of good weather, activity in the winery is frenetic - lots of noise and mechanical sounds....We are bottling Dido 2012..

We will soon be tasting fruit in the form of wine...the wine's fruity expression has been maintained, thanks in part to its careful aging in clay pots and concrete tanks. A process which becomes poetry...poetry in the shape of freshness, purity and vivacity transferred to a bottle, to be brought to your table and enjoyed with friends..

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2014-04-22PARKER DIXIT

Dido 2011, the wine for less than 25$ with the best scores on the list.

The prestigious wine critic, Robert Parker has published his yearly list of Catalan wine ratings. This year, the list has been compiled by Luis Gutiiérrez, Parker's official taster for Spain. We would like to share the ratings with you and thank him for his recognition of our work.

Dido 2011 – 93 points

Dido Blanc 2012 – 92 points

Venus 2007 – 90 points

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2014-04-22VENUS IN THE WORLD: JAPAN

温かいおもてなしをありがとう！

A very welcoming country with even more welcoming people... Friendly, cordial and happy. Venus la Universal was in Japan! We were witnesses first hand to these friendly, cordial and happy people...as well as their incredible country! We went to some of the places where you can find and taste our wines and we made new friends. We hope to return soon!

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2016-07-05Perséfone, Me gusta este nombre para este vino...
2014-04-01BCN Metropolitan
2013-11-26Cehaus Award
2011-02-01Year's Best Montsant - Dido 2008 - Wine & Spirits
2011-02-01Year's Best Montsant - Venus 2006 - Wine & Spirits

Sara & René

My name is René Barbier (fourth generation going by the same name!!!). I started out in the world of wine at Clos Mogador in 1992 with my father, the other René Barbier, the bearded one.

I have spent more than 20 years of my life dedicated to wine. For the first 10 years, I worked mainly in the winery and whilst I was there, I realized that in order to advance further, I needed to be out working the land…

In 2001 I had the option of buying a small old vine “coster” (steeply sloping, traditional) vineyard called Els Bellvisos. This vineyard had been abandoned and it was fascinating, sitting right in the middle of a steep grove of holm oaks, spectacular…a spot where I could learn about growing grapes.

It was at this same time that another great influence entered my life in the form of Sara Pérez.

Together with Sara we brought the vineyard back into production. It was an uncompromising spot, which however offered us the chance to make a wine which was at one with nature. We embarked on a project which was based on our philosophy on life: a sustainable, organic project where we could close the circle of life.

This fascinating spot known as Bellvisos (Bella Vista – Beautiful View) is an extremely steep “coster” or sloping vineyard which, due to the laminate structure of the Llicorella or slate based soil, makes it impossible to build small handmade dry stone vineyard terraces. It was abandoned 40 years previously, before herbicides and chemical pesticides were available. There are no neighbours due to the steep slopes surrounding it: not even the most valiant would plant a vineyard here!

Thanks to this, the area has been in perfect balance for a long time….

And this is what we want to safeguard, transmit and explain through the wine made here...

Ten years ago, we pruned and got the abandoned vines at Bellvisos back into production. From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to safeguard the balance which this vineyard plot emanated.

As opposed to the previous generation (that of our fathers, René Barbier Sr. And Josep Lluís Pérez) I was faced with a soil which had never been broken up to make new terraces.

At that moment in time, I saw this as a positive thing, but after 10 years of working this “coster” we have been faced with the three big dangers of looking after a fertile soil: soil erosion, low biodiversity within the vineyard plot and the loss of soil structure…

How have we overcome these difficulties? Well, we have alternated the use of a mule and hand ploughing with cutting the weeds down. We apply herbal teas and milk whey and we constantly walk through the vines, keeping an eye out.

We are working to keep the balance between the freshness of the plot and the depth that is typically Priorat (that which makes our wines so unique).

We decide when to harvest according to our taste buds and our intuition…following a very personal criteria. We prepare a pied-de-cuve or a starter culture for each wine, to reproduce in the vineyard itself the wild yeasts which will lead to a natural alcoholic fermentation, maintaining differentiating aromas according to each vintage.

Partida del Pedrer

This Garnatxa Negra (Red Grenache) wine comes from a newly planted north-facing vineyard. It is a natural wine, without any kind of additives. Pure.

Pedrer reflects the freshness of the shady side of the mountain and the heat of the morning sun. It is made partly with whole berries, uncrushed, which offer this wine a true sensation of pure fruit and the rest of the grapes are crushed and go through a long skin soak period. This adds depth which is very typical of most Priorat wines. By ageing in clay pots, we keep the purity of this wine.

This wine expresses itself generously.

Partida Bellvisos Blanc

On both sides at the upper and lower levels of our Bellvisos vineyard are old Garnatxa Blanca (White Grenache) and Macabeu (Viura) vines: Bellvisos Blanc.

This is a wine fit for ageing, deep and complex (similar to the great Priorat reds). It is Mediterranean, with skin contact and aged mainly in 600 Litre oak barrels…it transports you from the highest parts of the vineyards where wild fennel and anise grow, right the way down to the lower levels where the more clay-based soils are profound and structured…It is a tiny journey descending and ascending our rocky, unique terrain.

Partida Bellvisos

When we got the “coster” (steeply sloping traditional Priorat vineyard) back into production, we thought we had bought a plot of Carinyena (Carignan)… and to our great surprise, we found it had 40% of Garnatxa Peluda (Downy Grenache)…!!! This ripens before the Carinyena (Carignan) and expresses more freshness. It is the last piece of the jigsaw we needed to transmit the balance of Bellvisos.

A vertiginous wine with long maceration which needs oak and time in bottle in order to be reborn, fine, beguiling, fresh and powerful… anchored to the Llicorella (slate-based soil) which has shaped it.