Finca Casa Balaguer
You feel it the moment you set foot on Finca Casa Balaguer, this is a special agricultural organism. Sloping vineyards, gentle hills, and mountains scattered among olive trees and vines. And the air… it wraps around you with the unmistakable scent of Mediterranean wilderness: rosemary, thyme, esparto, chamomile.
Located in the Vinalopó River valley in the interior of Alicante, at over 550 meters above sea level, Finca Casa Balaguer was first conceived in the 19th century as a holistic agricultural system. Vineyards, olive groves, cereals, almond and fruit trees, and animals all coexisted naturally, shaping a landscape as productive as it was beautiful. Today, after years of restoration and biodynamic farming, step by step, plant by plant, and animal by animal, this biodiversity is flourishing once again.
What truly makes this estate unique lies beneath our feet.
Over time, we realized that we were walking on a true geological and edaphological gem.
It all started with a key discovery: the ancient course of the Vinalopó River passed right through the center of our estate. This revealed a soil complexity that few places can offer.
This diversity stems from a fascinating geological history. In the late 18th century, after several floods, a second riverbed was opened south of the San Cristóbal Hill to reduce flooding in the lowlands of Villena. By the end of the 19th century, following new floods, the original riverbed, the northern one, was permanently closed. What remained was a mosaic of soils that now nourish our crops and shape our wines.
Studies show that more than 40 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous, this entire valley was covered by the sea. A tectonic shift caused by seismic activity gave rise to San Cristóbal Hill. The final part of that fold became what we now call Cerrico de Balaguer, a small hill in the heart of our estate. There, a limestone plate just half a meter below the surface naturally limits root growth, creating gentle stress on the vines.
This natural phenomenon results in very special grapes, rich in minerals and salinity, producing ethereal wines with tension and a crisp acidity.
This natural balance between what the plant seeks and what the land allows is what gives our wines their character.
At Finca Casa Balaguer, we don’t just grow, we create life. We embrace biodiversity and leave room for the wild. Here you’ll find:
Polyculture: vines, olives, cereals, almonds, and fruit trees.
An integrated farm with animals, many of which are rescue animals, including goats, donkeys, hens, rabbits, cats, and geese.
Local grape varieties that were nearly extinct, recovered vine by vine and graft by graft.
100% organic and biodynamic agriculture, no chemicals, no shortcuts, all at nature’s pace.
All of this makes our wines unique. Not just for their flavour, but for the living story they carry within.