Josh Kniesel and Josie Cleeve met in Marina Alta many years ago. Hailing from England, Josie moved to Marina Alta with her family as a child. Growing up in the cape her identity is as much Valencian as it is Spanish and English. She flits between the the three languages effortlessly and frequently. Josh is from Germany and Marina Alta has always been his second home. His family's summer house is here and he grew up frequenting it during the summer months. After Josh finished his winemaking studies and training in Germany and then South Africa he moved permanently to the the mountainous cape and in 2017 Cap de Nit was born.
The limestone headland of Marina Alta has a long lasting wine tradition, though little known outside of the region. This is because plots rarely exceed 0.5ha and are densely planted bush vines dispersed between citrus, olive and almond groves. Josh and Josie farm a handful of plots of indigenous vines that have been planted traditionally - Moscatel de Alejandría in the clay rich lower altitude plots and indigenous local red varietal Giró planted in the mountain plots, some as high as 650m above sea level. Because of the geography of this mountainous cape, the sea is never more than 10km away and every direction you look except for west faces the water. It is for this reason that the two defining influences of Josh and Josie’s wines are the Mediterranean and the mountains.
In cellar Josh and Josie work purely and without the use of sulphur or additives of any kind and their wines are never fined or filtered. Wines are fermented and aged either in stainless steel or clay amphora to respect the purity of the fruit and its terroirs, as well as the traditions of the region. Their wines are bright, refreshing and the perfect accompaniment to this sunny Mediterranean cape and the wonderful food that it is famous for.
