From Hollywood dream to pioneer project in the Penedès
Ceferino Carrión, born in Santander, emigrated to the USA as a young man, called himself Jean Leon, and opened the restaurant La Scala in Hollywood — a meeting place for Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, and the film star establishment of the 1950s and 1960s. Dissatisfied with the wines on his menu, he traveled through France and Spain to find the right answer. In 1962, he bought 150 hectares of land in Torrelavit in the heart of the Penedès and had a winery built in the style of a Bordeaux château, which was completed in 1963.
What followed was unprecedented for Spain: Leon planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay — grape varieties he sourced from renowned French estates. The first vintage, aged in 1969, resulted in the first single-varietal Cabernet Sauvignon to be bottled in Spain. In 1994, Jean Leon handed over the winery to the Torres family, who committed themselves to preserving his spirit. Since 2010, Mireia Torres, fifth generation of the winemaking dynasty and Director of Innovation at Familia Torres, has been managing the winery.
65 hectares of single vineyards, organic certification, and regenerative viticulture
The winery today comprises 65 hectares of vineyards on calcareous and clay soils with stone deposits, divided into clearly defined sites with their own names: Vinya La Scala, Vinya Le Havre, Vinya Gigi, and Vinya Palau. All plots are south-facing on gentle slopes, embedded in one of the most pristine landscapes of the Penedès. Since the 2012 vintage, all wines have been organically certified. Under Mireia Torres, the team is actively working on the transition to regenerative viticulture — with the goal of improving soil health, biodiversity, and the carbon footprint in the long term.
In the cellar, Mireia Torres and cellar master Roser Catasús combine precision with a desire to experiment. In addition to the main range, there is a limited Experimental Wines series, in which individual grape varieties and terroir expressions are tested through micro-vinification — a direct legacy of the founder's spirit. For four of its wines, Jean Leon was the first winery in the DO Penedès to receive the Vi de Finca award, the highest single-vineyard classification of the Catalan government.
Cabernet depth, Chardonnay structure, and the character of the Penedès
The range consistently revolves around the strengths of the house. Cabernet Sauvignon appears in several aging stages — from the accessible 3055 line to the Reserva and the flagship Vinya La Scala, which matures for at least 24 months in French oak barrels and then waits for another three years in the bottle. Vinya Le Havre, named after the port from which Leon once set off for the USA, shows Cabernet Sauvignon with a portion of Cabernet Franc in a clear, structured aromatic profile. Vinya Gigi Chardonnay — named after Leon's daughter — was the first barrel-fermented Chardonnay in Spain and remains the characterful white wine reference of the estate. Vinya Palau brings Merlot from a single vineyard, while the 3055 Merlot-Petit Verdot combines two Bordeaux varieties that have proven to be particularly adaptable in the Penedès climate.
What all wines from Torrelavit have in common is the close bond to their origin plot: each site has a name, its own soil profile, and its own history. The result is bottles that have been specifically geared towards depth, aging potential, and single-vineyard identity since 1963 — and which show what the Penedès has to say beyond the big brands.
