There are plenty of reasons to bring a wine home from Barcelona. This was one Daniel couldn’t quite forget.
On a trip to Barcelona at the end of 2025, he came across a bottle of Garnacha from a producer we’d never heard of: Celler Balart. It was the kind of discovery that makes travelling for wine worthwhile, pure, characterful and remarkably good value.
We tasted it, dug a little deeper, and discovered a small family project in Gandesa, in Terra Alta, where Marc Balart began making wine in his grandparents’ home in 2002. Lluís joined him in 2011, and together they have developed a range centred on Garnacha and Carignan, combining traditional and modern approaches.
What really caught our attention was the relationship between quality, character and price. These aren’t wines that need a famous name or a prestigious appellation to make their case. They simply deliver.
Now Celler Balart has arrived at Museum Wines, and we’ve picked two Garnachas to start with.
The 2024 Àmfora Garnacha is £19.99.
The 2023 Celler Balart Negre is £24.98.
Two different expressions of the same grape, and two very easy ways into a producer we think is well worth knowing.
100% Garnacha, Catalonia
94 Points- Greg Sherwood MW
“Aged four months in amphorae, the aromatics are rich, evocative, densely packed with black and blue berry fruits, salty liquorice, crème de cassis and hints of strawberry compote. The palate is cool, creamy and complex, the palate fruits rich, textured and vibrant but also showing lovely purity and crunchy depth. A really substantial wine.” – Greg Sherwood MW.
Garnacha, Cariñena, Catalonia
95 Points- Greg Sherwood MW
“A beautifully evocative blend from the rugged, elevated terraced vineyards of Terra Alta. The nose is lifted, complex, and punchy, opening with aromatics of sun-macerated wild strawberries, kirsch, dark brambleberries, and red liquorice, underpinned by subtle notes of garrigue, crushed limestone, and dried Mediterranean herbs. On the palate, it exhibits classic Mediterranean warmth balanced by striking high-altitude freshness, sleek, supple, and impressively precise, the wine reveals layers of juicy sour plum, black cherry, and piquant raspberry pastille framed by fine, chalky, granitic tannins. An authentic, characterful signature Mediterranean red blend that punches well above its weight class – offering wonderful drinking pleasure now, though it will comfortably reward 3 to 6 years of cellar ageing.” – Greg Sherwood MW.
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