History: Ownership Evolution
The roots of Roger Goulart trace back to the early eighteenth-century farmhouse of Can Goulart in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, located in the Alto Penedès region of Catalonia. The estate entered a new era in 1882 when the Canals family, inspired by traditional sparkling wine production in Champagne, founded a dedicated facility on the property. To realize their goal of making fine bottle-fermented wines, the family hired architect Ignaci Mas i Morell, a contemporary of Antoni Gaudí, to design a Modernist winery at the turn of the twentieth century.
Beneath this building, workers dug a network of underground cellars thirty meters deep and over a kilometer long. These cool, humid galleries created ideal natural conditions for secondary fermentation and long aging. In 2017, the historic Rioja group CVNE (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) acquired Roger Goulart, bringing the historic brand into its family of estates. Under this arrangement, CVNE manages administrative support and global distribution, leaving the winery’s dedicated team in Sant Esteve Sesrovires free to focus entirely on grape selection, pressing, and long cellar aging.
Vineyard Holdings
Roger Goulart owns 20 hectares of estate vineyards surrounding the winery, supplemented by contracted fruit from monitored vineyards across the higher-altitude areas of the Penedès plain, within the Comtats de Barcelona sub-zone of D.O. Cava. Located south of Barcelona along the Anoia and Foix river basins, these sites sit protected between the coastal Sierra Litoral mountains, the inland Sierra Prelitoral de Mediona-Pontons, and the Montserrat massif.
The primary vineyards sit at elevations between 350 and 700 meters above sea level. These high altitudes protect the vines from intense coastal heat and create a strong temperature shift between warm days and cool nights. This climate slows down grape ripening, giving the fruit time to build rich flavors while keeping the high natural acidity needed for extended lees aging. The inland soils hold less moisture than valley floors, naturally limiting vine growth and yielding small harvests of 6,000 to 10,000 kilograms per hectare.
Viticulture and Sustainability
Viticulture across Roger Goulart’s partner vineyards focuses on soil health and fresh fruit flavor. Farming practices rely on low crop yields and minimal chemical intervention to help vines adapt to climate shifts. The estate relies heavily on classic local white varieties: Xarel·lo, Macabeo, and Parellada, along with small amounts of Chardonnay. For rosé production, Garnacha Tinta is the main variety, supported by Monastrell and Pinot Noir.
To keep yields low and flavors concentrated, growers prune older bush-trained and trellis vines carefully throughout the winter and spring. Over recent years, Roger Goulart has guided its contracted vineyards through a full transition toward certified organic farming. This process removes synthetic pesticides and weedkillers, using mechanical tilling, cover crops, and organic compost to protect the natural balance of the Penedès soils.
Winemaking
Winemaker Pedro Muñoz leads cellar operations at Roger Goulart, preserving traditional methods in the estate's historic cellars. Workers harvest grapes during the cool early morning hours to preserve fresh fruit aromas. Once brought to the winery, whole grape clusters rest in cold rooms before pressing to prevent oxidation or harsh flavor extraction.
The cellar team uses gentle pneumatic presses at low pressure, keeping only the clearest first-press juice. For rosé cavas, Garnacha Tinta undergoes a short cold skin maceration for about eight hours, extracting a light pink color with subtle blue tones without pulling rough tannins from the skins. White and red varieties ferment separately in stainless steel tanks at low temperatures below 16°C for over ten days using selected yeasts.
After clarification through natural gravity settling, the winemaking team crafts the master base blends, combining the structure of Xarel·lo, the fresh fruit notes of Macabeo, and the delicate floral lifted notes of Parellada. After adding the tirage liqueur and yeasts, workers bottle the wine and move it down to the cold cellars. To build rich, smooth textures during aging, winemakers use the déplacé method, gently shaking and moving the bottles mid-aging to remix the yeast sediment back into the wine. Low sulfur levels are maintained to keep the finished wines fresh and pure.
Cellar Aging
Long cellar aging defines every bottle made at Roger Goulart. All wines rest in deep subterranean galleries thirty meters underground, where thick stone walls and deep earth keep temperatures at a steady 14°C year-round. While general Cava rules require only nine months of lees contact, Roger Goulart makes only Reserva and Gran Reserva wines, aging them from 18 to over 60 months in dark, quiet cellars.
Primary fermentation takes place entirely in neutral stainless steel tanks to avoid oak flavor, keeping the bright fruit character and crisp acidity intact. During the long secondary fermentation in the bottle, yeast autolysis releases proteins and flavor compounds directly into the sparkling wine. This extended yeast contact softens sharp acids into a smooth, creamy texture, producing fine, long-lasting bubbles along with rich notes of toasted bread, fresh brioche, and roasted nuts.
Leadership
Over its 140-year history, Roger Goulart has stood as a pioneer of long-aged Spanish sparkling wine. The estate was among the first in the region to demonstrate that high-elevation Cavas could age on their lees as long as prestige Champagne while keeping remarkable freshness.
Flagship bottles such as the Roger Goulart Gran Reserva and Cuvee Josep Valls Extra Brut regularly earn top scores and Gold Medals at major international events, including the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge. The winemaking team also works with regional industry organizations, helping set technical standards for organic farming and extended aging categories across the region.
