The vineyard
The vineyard is our oldest language. We walk it slowly, observe it closely, and listen to it as one listens to a loved one. In Montsant, nothing is easy or fast: the landscape has character and the land changes with every step. There is decomposed granite that illuminates, clay that holds moisture, limestone that provides tension, granite that perfumes, and slate that adds depth. Each plot has its own memory and its own way of breathing.
Our perspective
At Venus La Universal, our work begins with this listening. We do not see the vineyard as a simple crop, but as a living ecosystem where soil, plants, climate, and people are all part of the same balance. We do not come to impose; we come to converse: with the climate, with the plant, with the hands that tend it, and with the families who, harvest after harvest, sustain this place.
Years ago, we decided to follow this path, seeking to leave an emotional footprint rather than a material one. This led us to rethink many things: what was truly necessary to use, what was dispensable, and what impact each decision had on the landscape. Since then, we have tried to analyze every input and every output of our agricultural system. When we manage to recycle our own outputs and turn them back into inputs, we close the cycle and reduce our footprint.
Work in the vineyard
We farm our vineyards organically, eliminating herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and synthetic products. The organic matter we use to nourish the soil comes largely from our own work: we compost cow and horse manure along with pruning cuttings and harvest remains, pomace, and grape stems. In this way, we return to the earth what it has given us.
In the vineyards, we allow cover crops to grow. Spontaneous plants protect the soil from erosion, help maintain moisture, provide organic matter, and promote biodiversity. For us, the vineyard is not just the vine, but the entire landscape that surrounds and sustains it.
Over the years, we have also incorporated certain biodynamic practices that help us observe the vineyard more closely and strengthen the vitality of the soil. Among these is the application of preparation 501, silica, which enhances the plant’s relationship with light and helps balance the ripening of the grapes.
In protecting the vineyard, we always seek solutions that are as natural as possible. We use plant extracts and reuse by-products such as goat’s milk whey, transforming a waste product into a useful tool for the field.
Pruning is another key moment of the year. We practice respectful pruning, seeking to maintain the plant’s natural sap flow and extend the life of the vines.
The hands that tend the vineyard
None of this would be possible without the people who work the vineyards with us. Roger, Marc, Pedro, and Milo are the ones who coordinate and oversee the work in the field, together with the winegrowers who have cultivated many of the plots we have worked with for years. They know every corner of the landscape, every change in the soil, and every vine.
The wine begins here
Viticulture at Venus is, above all, attention and respect. A patient gesture, repeated year after year, which in time is transformed into wine.