We are not wine connoisseurs, we simply enjoy drinking wine. We had never really thought about or longed to own a vineyard. Just over a year ago we sold our company in Sweden and bought an apartment in Barcelona where we could spend a few weeks whenever we wanted. We have always liked the culture and climate of more southerly countries.
In Barcelona, we’ve discovered that Spain has many fantastic wines to offer, more than just Rioja. Some excellent wines are produced in the 10 or so wine districts around Barcelona in Catalonia. As a result, we came into contact with the wines from Montsant and Priorat. It was then we started thinking that perhaps we could buy a vineyard as a hobby project. In May 2017 we made an attempt to buy a vineyard that had gone bankrupt, but nothing came of it. There were many reasons why, but there and then we pushed the thought of a vineyard out of our minds.

However, on 1 June, we unexpectedly received an email from the real estate broker Xavi. He had been contacted by a local wine grower who wanted to sell his 6 hectares of land, planted with vines, in D.O. Montsant, about 2 hours south of Barcelona. Although we’d already put all ideas of buying a vineyard out of our heads, Xavi promised us that the vineyard was of excellent quality. It was mainly the local grape Cariñena that was grown there.
Having become familiar with the area during our first attempt to buy a vineyard, and with the help of Google Earth, we verbally agreed to the purchase within just one week. Xavi was fairly nervous when we visited the vineyard in the first week of August to see what we had bought. It was better than expected.

D.O. Montsant is situated in a very beautiful area surrounded by mountain ranges and next to the more famous wine district D.O.Q. Priorat. D.O. Montsant became its own appellation in 2001 and is an upcoming wine region with young, driven and enthusiastic wine producers.

The two months prior to the close of the deal have been full of bureaucratic processes and paperwork, including the formation of Skoglund Wine Estate S.L., which is now the official owner. Today, 13 September, the purchase of land from Joan Blanch Cabré and Maria del Camre Navarro Villalba was finalised at last and we now own about 6 hectares of grapevines! It was a very swift purchase and now it’s time to think about what we want to get out of this project.