Artesano Vintners

Artesano Vintners was created in 2016 to make quality, natural and organic small-batch artisanal wines in the Catalunya region, mostly in Conca de Barberà and surrounding areas.

Founders Mike Shepherd, originally from Waihi, but now living in Catalunya since 2008, and Alex Craighead, based in Upper Moutere, wanted to make natural wines from the amazing “terroir” and grape varieties they had experienced in Catalunya and now make wine that is sold in Spain and all over the world in New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North America.

All our wines are “minimum intervention” or natural wine. This is quite different from organic wine, as organic wine can be made just from organic grapes, then have all sorts of additives put in during the winemaking process. When we make our wines, the grapes are certified organic grapes, they are hand harvested, and then crushed and pressed / fermented using wild yeasts. No additives are used in no part of the process. No sulphur is added and there is no filtering, the wines are just grapes.

At present we make six different cuvées, one white sparkling “pet-nat”, two still white wines, a rosé wine and two red wines. We also make wines in collaboration with Kindeli wines (New Zealand), Grape Republic (Japan), Three Barrel Project (Finland) and KazuWines (Japan).

We have a new winery in Vila-Seca and our vineyards are located in Terra Alta, Conca de Barberà, Montsant and Alt Camp. We work with indigenous grape varieties such as Garnatxa Blanca and Negre, Xarel-lo, Macabeu and Parellada. When our new winery is fully in operation, we look forward to welcoming visitors.

We are working on an online shop but in the meantime, if you are looking to try, you can contact me (Mike) directly or go to Bar Brutal (Barcelona), Benditos Vinos y Vinilos (Madrid) or La Cruda (Madrid) to have a sip.