History

The company Vinyes de Castellgalí recovers the winemaking tradition of the Playà family, documented since the 18th century, seven generations ago.

Valentí Playà acquired the house and land of Can Mas, located in the village of Castellgalí, in 1813. And it is in these sheltered areas in the mountains, in the shadow of Montserrat, where a considerable extension of vineyard was planted. Another descendant, Pere Playà, started working more extensively in the wine business and had a small winery installed in the farmhouse. These were the moments when Bages was the first wine-producing region in Catalonia. The arrival of phylloxera slowed its expansion. But it was Francesc Playà i Muncunill (1848-1916) who soon replanted the vineyard and sold the wine outside the region.

In 1898, on the occasion of the Agricultural Fair-Competition organized by Barcelona City Council, he won the Second Medal for "the quality, novelty and usefulness of the products he has presented in his wine installation". It was no longer enough to cultivate the vine, you had to take care of its production process.

Josep Playà i Planell maintained the business and was later succeeded by his son, Francesc Playà Giró (1915-1980), an agricultural engineer from the Republican Generalitat's School of Agriculture and an oenologist. Promoter of cooperativism, he worked as an oenologist for 40 years in the Espolla winery and others in the Alt Empordà and at the same time maintained the vineyards of Castellgalí. Now, their sons have not only replanted and renovated the vineyards of Can Mas, but for the first time have decided to bottle their wines.