Nuria Renom the Phenom! - New wines from Catalunya

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Nuria Renom is one of the most exciting and impassioned winemakers to recently emerge out of the dynamic natural wine scene in Catalunya, Spain. A whirlwind visit to the states last month left every single industry professional and wine enthusiast with a great impression of Nuria's capability to be an uplifting clown and a very serious and focused winemaker.

Nuria in the vines

She is engaged, always ready for a joke and a laugh, but she also very clearly has great intent with the wines she crafts, the grapes she uses, and the role of different bottlings (some are for a party and others are more complex and layered). Her history in the natural wine scene most notably brings us back to her days as the maven of Bar Brutal, where she encaspulated and multplied the frenetic vibe at the iconic Barcelona wine bar, before turning her attention to making wine. It seems she has a natural ability for her new role, and one gets the sense that her time at Bar Brutal was simply a prelude to her true calling.

Eben with Nuria during her recent NY visit

From her friendships with winemakers across Spain and in particular around Barcelona, she has been able to locate small vineyards and work with fruit from important parcels in the area. Though wines are not always a reflection of the person who crafts them, they certainly are in the case of Nuria Renom. Her sparkling wines are playful, exhilirating, and ready to party, just like her! Her top still wines are meditative and focused, and when you ask her about these wines and her intention with the cuvees and the parcels, she takes a much more stoic and philosophical air. It almost seems like a jest when she quiets down and becomes more serious, as if she's mocking an academic air, but it's real. She is very serious, in fact about all of her wines, she just understands that they have personalities and that some are not meant for contemplation while others are. To some degree, this can be divided between the Pet-Nats and the still wines, with the sparkling wines best suited for a party and a jovial moment, and the still wines having more nuance and complexity. That said, I was most impressed with the big bottle of 2021 Maca Beu Pet-Nat (available in Mag only!) because of the lovely texture and low alcohol and the obvious complexity of the wine, so it shouldn't be said that the Pet-Nats lack profondity. Today's offer marks the first time we have written about Nuria's wines and her project, and surely not the last. We present a fairly comprehensive lineup of her recent bottlings and encourage any fan of vibrant living wines with Mediterranean profiles to try them!    -Eben Lillie

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For more information about Nuria's story, we've included this short bio from the informative Jose Pastor Selections website: " Nuria Renom is originally from Argentina and came to Spain with her family when she was young. Wine was an early passion: Nuria spent some time studying abroad in Italy and started training as a sommelier and working harvests soon after. In 2013, Nuria helped open the now-legendary natural wine focused Bar Brutal in Barcelona as the head Sommelier, and in 2014 she made her first wines with fruit from friends in the Catalan natural wine community. Continuing at Bar Brutal, she kept making more wine each year, working with grapes from organic and regenerative farmers like Ton Rimbau in the Massif del Garraf.

Finally, in 2021, Nuria and her partner Arola Tous-Galí purchased their own farm, Can Barceló in the town of Sant Martí del Sarroca in the Alt Penedès, and started their 'Les Cantarelles' project. The old farmhouse hosts 16 hectares of vines - mostly Parellada - and a hundred centenarian olive trees. Protected by hills and forests and away from the moderating climate of the mediterranean, Can Barceló is quite cool. Grapes ripen slowly, and nothing reaches over 12% potential alcohol. Nuria and Arola currently make wine from 8.7 hectares that they farm organically with biodynamic treatments and minimal working of the soils; they are also working to convert the remaining vineyard land to organic viticulture. In addition, Nuria works with Muscat and Garnacha Blanca from vineyards near Sitges and Xarel-lo from Ton Rimbau’s regeneratively farmed vines in Vilobí del Penedès. Nuria and Arola have a low-intervention approach in the cellar, working with exclusively neutral vessels, never employing SO2 or other additives, and bottling without fining or filtering. "

Nuria Renom 2022 'La Maca Beu' Pet-Nat

This is a delightful Ancestral style Pet-Nat of 90% Macabeu and 10% Muscat de Alexandria from two different parcels on limestone near Nuria's winery. Grapes are destemmed and see about one week of maceration with the skins, while the free-run juice was partially fermented without skins. The wine was bottled before fermentation was finished, to develop pressure, and was aged on the lees for 9 months before being disgorged. In the world of winemakers who give a damn about their Pet-Nats, we should welcome Nuria Renom! This is a fine example. A living wine, with a refreshing 10% alc, perfect bubbles, lively acidity, a touch of density on the mid-palate, and a long mineral finish.

  • white sparkling
  • 6 in stock
  • no discount
  • $33.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2021 'La Maca Beu' Pet-Nat Magnum 1.5L

This is a delightful Ancestral style Pet-Nat of 95% Macabeu and 5% Muscat de Alexandria from two different parcels on limestone near Nuria's winery. Grapes are destemmed and see about one week of maceration with the skins, while the free-run juice was partially fermented without skins. The wine was bottled before fermentation was finished, to develop pressure, and was aged on the lees for 9 months before being disgorged. In the world of winemakers who give a damn about their Pet-Nats, we should welcome Nuria Renom! This is a fine example. A living wine, with a refreshing 10% alc, perfect bubbles, lively acidity, a touch of density on the mid-palate, and a long mineral finish. // If you plan to entertain this Thanksgiving, or you're headed to a friendsgiving or family gathering, this is the most energetic and REFRESHING, palate cleansing, gulpable wine that was meant for a party with friends and will keep you coming back for more. At 10% alc, it won't last long!! 

  • white sparkling
  • 2 in stock
  • no discount
  • $74.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2021 'Donna' Pet-Nat (Chardonnay)

This Pet-Nat is made from Chardonnay vines planted in 1984 on shallow clay over limestone. Grapes were destemmed and pressed, with 60% into stainless steel and 40% in neutral oak barrels for partial fermentation before being bottled as a Methode Ancestral ("Pet-Nat"). The wine is kept for 18 months in bottle before release. Nuria made a joke of some kind about Chardonnay, because there is perhaps a level of pride amongst the small producers in Catalunya for the local grapes like Xarel-lo and Macabeu, but in the end the area has a past and while she could tear up the Chardonnay that was planted in the 80s, middle-aged vines of Chardonnay on limestone might be worth keeping. The wine is certainly very tasty, with chalky and dry orchard fruit notes, nice weight in the mid-palate, and plenty of freshness. 11.8% alc.


  • white sparkling
  • 9 in stock
  • no discount
  • $36.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2022 'The Pinky Way' Tempranillo/Muscat

Pinky Way is a tasty Pet-Nat made from 80% Ull de Llebre (Tempranillo) with 20% Muscat, and lands somewhere between a sparkling rosé and a Lambrusco profile. Rustic flavors, crunchy wild red and black fruit, TONS of flavor and nice lift. The Muscat does not impart any floral or perfumey aromatics, and plays perfectly with the Tempranillo, providing a bit more brightness and acidity to the blend. The Tempranillo grapes were macerated on the skins for 4 days, with Muscat seeing 5 days of skin contact, and the two were blended to ferment together, then bottled before fermentation finished, in the Ancestral tradition.



  • red sparkling
  • 3 in stock
  • no discount
  • $34.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2022 'Lil' Parellada/Muscat

97% Parellada with 3% Muscat. The Parrellada here is from Nuria's vineyards, 40 year-old vines planted at around 400m. The Parellada grapes were destemmed and pressed directly, while the small amount of Muscat saw 7 days of skin contact. Fermentation and aging was in stainless steel. This is perhaps at a level one step below Nuria's top Xarel-lo and Macabeu bottlings, but it's no slouch! Parellada offers playful, bright notes of white flowers and lively acidity, stone fruit, stones... it's all there. A fantastic wine for an apero, or for salads, appetizers, etc.

  • white
  • 9 in stock
  • $26.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2021 'Macavella' (Macabeu)

An impressive bottling of pure Macabeu from 80 year-old vines on rocky clay soils over limestone bedrock, on the Can Barceló property that Nuria took over in 2021. Grapes are destemmed and see 4 days of maceration on the skins in stainless steel, while the free run juice was fermented in tank without skins and then combined, with the final wine aging in 2 old French oak barrels (yes, only 2 barrels). I had a feeling that Nuria was not trying to make an "orange wine" but was instead utilizing the skins to provide nutrients for the yeast and to give a touch of bitterness and structure to the mouthfeel to balance with the lower acidity and fuller weight of the Macabeu. This was the result in the end, with a lovely medium bodied white that has a touch of fleshy texture and is perfectly suited for Fall and Winter time.



  • white
  • 9 in stock
  • $42.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur

Nuria Renom 2022 'Atonit' Xarel-lo

Atonit is one of Nuria's top wines, made from Xarel-lo grapes that Nuria acquired from her friend and winemaker Ton Rimbau. The vineyard is farmed under permaculture with no plowing or working of the soils, and the vines for Atonit are around 50 years old, planted on clay over limestone. The wine was aged in about half stainless steel and half used French oak, and bottled without fining, filtration, or added sulfites. There is a growing interest and passion for Xarel-lo from winemakers who are better understanding it's potential for age-worthy wines, besides it's common role as a regional grape used for sparkling wines. Very GOOD Xarel-lo from older vines, on healthy soils, can make impressive wines and the renaissance of this uniquely Mediterranean grape variety is just beginning! This is very GOOD Xarel-lo, not just for the natural wine aficionados, if anything it's more for the Chablis drinker or lover of unique and singular white wines.

  • white
  • 4 in stock
  • $49.99

  • Organic
  • No Sulfur