Our story
Artur Konrad Ekert physicist working on Quantum Cryptography
In vino veritas
Jordi Miguel Pérez business agent
Quàntic is a wine that holds our personality; it contains the light of our sun and the flavour of our land.
José Igancio Latorre-Sentis physicist working on Quantum Computing
"Sentence ...."
Juan Fuster-Verdú physicist working on experimental High Energy Physics
Quàntic needs to be an excellent wine, both in quality and social values. We are a small winery in a small village, we have no other possibility.
The story:
In 2002, José Ignacio and Juan were among the organizers of Spain's first edition of the School for High-Energy Physics, Taller de Altas Energías (TAE). They spent two intense weeks supervising students and exchanging numerous reflections on science and life. From these experiences arose shared convictions, such as the belief that knowledge should be universal, impartial, and comprehensive, as well as more lighthearted notions, like for instance producing wine together. In fact, Juan had already made a somewhat unsuccessful attempts at this before.
Thus, José Ignacio and Juan embarked on an adventure to produce wine that continues to this day. The production was aimed for self consumption. The families reacted positively supporting this proposal. Jordi and the father of Juan, also named Juan, promptly joined them, playing pivotal roles in the project. Another significant companion on this journey was the book "Practical Manual for Self-Sufficient Living: Artisanal Wine Making" by Carlos Pérez and Juan Luis Gervás from BLUME publishing. This remarkable book, written in simple language yet with extreme precision, explained how to enter into the world of winemaking. Another essential contributor to bring the endeveour to fruition was Amparo Querol, a distinguished scientist in the world of wine, a friend, and a mentor.
The team operated in this manner for several years, producing sometimes good wines, others excellent and several others not-so-good. The work surrounding the wine was exhilarating, and, of course, drinking it was always a reason for enjoyment with family and friends. Grapes were predominantly sourced from the Jumilla and Fontanars dels Aforins areas, a place wheresome memorable lunches were aso experienced. The first wine produced was named Sant Cristòfol and was followed by others with names related to Particle Physics: El.lipse, Higgs, Top, Charm, and "Partículas Elementales". Eventually, the name "h-bar," was consolidated primarily due to the impracticality of creating different labels each time given the quantities of wine which was produced. Their label features Planck's constant, its value, and a nod to the Schrödinger's cat paradox, all in all, a tribute to quantum physics.
Moreover, on one of the barren plots of the family, they decided to plant grapes to nourish their future winemaking aspirations. A small plot, barely a hectare and even less cultivable. Eventually the vineyard grew up and despite the small size of the land, the quantity produced was significantly larger than the needs for own consumption. Not having such a large family or so many friends to cope with al the wine, it was considered to sell part of the grapes and process the rest of grapes in a professional winery.
At this stage is when the good friend Joan Cascant and his "Microvinya" project came in, guiding the activity through this new phase. It was decided to form a Community of Goods, contributing all the equipment which had been purchased by the team until then. The new situation added more complexity, administration, and control, but the enthusiasm continued to drive the group. Another period of time passed savoring the culture of wine and getting aware of the difficulties the rural world has.
Despite all, another yet step forward in their forward journey was taken, a project to build up a professional winery came into consideration. Artur Konrad Ekert a good friend of José Ignacio was crazy enough to join team. At this point thus, the "Celler Quàntic de Gaianes S.L." was established as a professional winery.
The Quàntic wine thus represents a "quantum" of inspiration, of irrationality, of nostalgy, of social concern and of sharing the inner world of all of us. Quàntic is meant to be savored with friends and family, collectively dreaming for the impossible, hoping to reach the unreachable star.