Jean Leon Unveils the 2017 vintage of the Iconic Vinya La Scala, Featuring Artwork by Gerard Sala
The latest release of this historic Penedès Cabernet Sauvignon captivates with its aromatic intensity and balanced acidity
Jean Leon announces the release of the 2017 vintage of its Vinya La Scala Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva (DO Penedès), the winery’s signature wine produced only in exceptional harvest years. The latest vintage continues the tradition of blending wine with art, featuring a label adorned with a piece by Gerard Sala, a renowned figure in Catalan avant-garde art movement.
The artwork selected for the label is a powerful explosion of colours that perfectly encapsulates the raw beauty of the natural landscape, inviting us to immerse ourselves in the splendour of our surroundings and reflect on the importance of the most essential things in life. For the artist, nature is an ever-present, intangible force in the cycle of life.
Gerard Sala, born in 1942 in Catalonia, passed away in July of this year, leaving behind a vast pictorial legacy. His career was marked by some fifty solo exhibitions and participation in over a hundred collective shows, both in Spain and abroad.
Jean Leon Vinya La Scala, a 'Vi de Finca Qualificada' certified organic Cabernet Sauvignon, is produced in limited numbers. It originates from a small 8-hectare plot with clay-limestone soil, planted back in 1963 by Jean Leon himself alongside winemaker Jaume Rovira. The 2017 vintage was characterised by high summer temperatures and generally low rainfall. The wine was aged for 24 months in French oak barrels and then further matured in bottle for a minimum of 3 years.
The result is a wine that stands out for its aromatic intensity and a palate that is voluptuous and concentrated, with smooth tannins and a balanced acidity, culminating in a long and persistent finish. It has earned recognition from prestigious Spanish wine guide Guía Peñín 2025, which awarded it 93 points, and the Berlin Wine Trophy, where it received a Gold Medal.
Reflecting Jean Leon’s sensitivity for artistic expression, Vinya La Scala began featuring art on its labels with vintages in the late seventies. By the mid-nineties, this practice became a hallmark for the wine, whose name pays tribute to Jean Leon’s Beverly Hills restaurant, once a gathering place for Hollywood’s most celebrated stars. Artists like Josep Maria Subirachs, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Hernández Pijuán, Waltraud Maczassek, Javier Mariscal, Josep Guinovart, and August Rosell have contributed to Jean Leon Gran Reserva’s labels, strengthening the wine’s status as a symbol of the symbiosis between wine and art.
