{"title":"Sparkling","description":"\u003cp\u003eSparkling wines made the slow way: mostly ancestral method and pet-nat, with traditional method bottles when they earn the place. Col-fondo prosecco from real producers, Penedès ancestrals, sparkling Mauzac from the Languedoc. None disgorged with sugar.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"blanc-de-blancs-brut-nature-2019-clos-lentiscus","title":"Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature 2019 - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eYeasty and citrusy, with the delicate florals Malvasia de Sitges carries from its long association with this coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e oysters, or crab on buttered brown toast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne hundred percent Malvasia de Sitges (also labelled Greco di Subur, after the ancient Roman name for Sitges) from the Finca El Pou vineyard in the Garraf massif. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged on lees in old oak, then secondary fermentation triggered in bottle by the estate's honey and frozen must method. Minimum 36 months on the lees before disgorgement with zero dosage. 12% alcohol.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a visit in March 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines: the estate's first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12 feet down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, so as not to introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, overlooking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project, inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with its phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora playing a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production of red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7 to 10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled separately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSant Pere de Ribes, Penedès\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Malvasia, Greco\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988701663570,"sku":"25\/002021","price":42.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-blanc-de-blancs-brut-nature-2019.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"syrah-crv-brut-nature-clos-lentiscus","title":"Syrah CRV Brut Nature - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eSyrah from Vinya la Francesca, planted in 1987. Pressed gently, giving a bold cherry blush, before fermentation in old oak with indigenous yeasts. Rosemary honey from the estates Apiary was used for secondary fermentation in bottle. 25 months on the lees before disgorgement with zero dosage. This is now singing, with the primary cherry character developing a peppery, earthy complexity. The bubbles remain, keeping this bright and vital.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a visit in March 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines - the estates first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12ft down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, as to not introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, over looking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project. Inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming Manel. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with it’s phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora play a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7-10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled seperately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite this vintage being widely described as the worst in Catalunya since the 1940s at the time, the fruit was harvested in pristine condition from vinya la Francesca, the site where this grows. On anything other than limestone, Syrah in these hot conditions could never achieve the detailed structure and elegant expression we find here.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Syrah\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988705988946,"sku":"1700480","price":40.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-coleccion-crv-rose-brut-nature.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"ancestral-bianc-can-vi","title":"Ancestral Bianc - Can-Vi","description":"\u003cp\u003eAll the saline, citrus flecked, herbal aromas of Parellada, with crisp white fruits. In the mouth the bubbles are fine and well integrated, with fine acidity, and a hint of fleshy white fruits. Bright and satisfying.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e vegetable tempura, or salted almonds and olives.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom 14 year old vines planted at 425 metres of elevation in Blancafort, on alluvial marls and limestone. A brief skin maceration before fermenting in tank, finishing its sugars in the can to create these bubbles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCan-Vi is a canned wine project founded by Jordi Solé and Cristina Vaqué, based in Blancafort in the Conca de Barberà, with Jordi Llorens (of Celler Jordi Llorens, directly across the village) involved as collaborating winemaker. The project is built around the 250ml can, positioned as a practical, low-waste vessel that keeps wine fresh without the opened-bottle problem: \"same essence, different shape.\" All wines are made without added sulphites, with indigenous yeasts, and are unfiltered. The Ancestral Rosat is a pétillant naturel that finishes its fermentation inside the can.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe combination of Macabeu and Parellada, grown up in the mountains on limestone, strikes a wonderful balance. The herbal freshness of Parellada and the fleshy fruit density of Macabeu bring a feeling of harmony to this wine. This is the northern edge of the Conca de Barberà DO, on the eastern Ebro basin, where alluvial deposits from fresh water laid these soils. So this is not marine limestone, but continental carbonate from the lake floor, formed after the Ebro basin was cut off from the sea.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Macabeu, Parellada\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Can-Vi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706447698,"sku":"1700091","price":8.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-ancestral-bianc-can-vi.jpg?v=1793699097"},{"product_id":"ancestral-confiscat-2022-bodega-clandestina","title":"Ancestral Confiscat 2022 - Bodega Clandestina","description":"\u003cp\u003eA lambent haze in the glass, with the colour showing some signs of ageing in bottle. We get a bright, zesty minerality on the nose, followed by fleshy white fruits and biscuit crumb. The palate is substantial, with the acidity of Xarello keeping things fresh and flowing. Great as an aperitif or with food.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e salt cod croquetas, or fried squid with aioli.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis cuvée is closest to Ferran's heart, it being bubbles from old vine Xarello made in the ancestral method, a wine that channels so much of Catalunya's wine tradition, past and present. The harvested bunches were pressed without destemming or vatting. A month after picking, the wine was bottled in September 2022 with 23.4 grams of sugar remaining. The wine fermented and aged in bottle, completing malolactic fermentation, and was disgorged in October 2025.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFerran Lacruz works 8 hectares of vines around his hometown of Sant Martí Sarroca in the Alt Penedès. A graduate of the Escola Agrària de Viticultura i Enologia Mercè Rossell i Domènech, Ferran was moved to make wine in his hometown after years working in tourism, where he encountered first-hand, among his clients, the reputational damage that decades of heavy, intensive viticulture had inflicted on the region. Growing up in the Penedès with a winemaking uncle, Ferran knows the hills of the Alt Penedès like the back of his hand, so when it came to acquiring vines, he already knew where to look. He was exacting in his selection, picking sites not on the hillsides where one might expect, but in the valleys, where the diurnal range is greatest, allowing slower ripening and later harvests. His Xarel·lo comes from old vine stock planted in the '60s and '70s, trained as bush vines, growing to a remarkable size in the famous cervell de gat soils of the region. He has also planted Carignan Blanc, a variety that ripens late and keeps its acidity well. In the cellar, all of the wines see a certain amount of skin contact, extracting the phenolics inherent to Xarel·lo and lending his wines a delicate complexity that shows the class of the variety. Ferran's use of glass for the élevage of the lighter wines brings a roundness and balance, while old wood and amphorae are used in the ageing of the more extracted wines. The wines themselves are remarkably lucid, detailed with the typicity of their provenance and the fiery personality of their maker.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese vines were planted in the late 60s in the La Creu plot, over 1.45 hectares, trained as bush vines. This particular parcel sits between 300 and 350 metres of elevation, and the soils are thin clay and limestone. The age of these vines and the thin soils they grow on mean they produce small quantities of rich and concentrated fruit per vine, picked a little earlier than other parcels by Ferran, bolstering the acidity of the resulting wine. For Ferran, this ancestral is his attempt to show that Penedès is more than just cava, and that when working with the old Xarello plantings of the Alt Penedès, this ancient method can produce top class sparkling wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Xarello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Martí Sarroca, Alt Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bodega Clandestina","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706513234,"sku":"1700312","price":32.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-ancestral-confiscat-2022.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"ancestral-rosat-can-vi","title":"Ancestral Rosat - Can-Vi","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlood orange, hibiscus, and lemon cream biscuit on the nose. Fine, crisp bubbles, with a spry fruitiness on the palate lifted by a bright acidity. A great vintage for this can!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGood with:\u003c\/strong\u003e smoked salmon on brown bread, or a bowl of fresh strawberries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMacabeu and Parellada from Blancafort, pressed over the skins of Syrah and Garnacha for colour and texture before fermentation in clay amphora over winter. The wine finishes its remaining sugars inside the 250ml can, true to the ancestral method.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCan-Vi is a canned wine project founded by Jordi Solé and Cristina Vaqué, based in Blancafort in the Conca de Barberà, with Jordi Llorens (of Celler Jordi Llorens, directly across the village) involved as collaborating winemaker. The project is built around the 250ml can, positioned as a practical, low-waste vessel that keeps wine fresh without the opened-bottle problem: \"same essence, different shape.\" All wines are made without added sulphites, with indigenous yeasts, and are unfiltered. The Ancestral Rosat is a pétillant naturel that finishes its fermentation inside the can.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlancafort, Conca de Barberà\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Monastrell\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Blancafort, Conca de Barberà, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Can-Vi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988706546002,"sku":"1700092","price":8.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-ancestral-rosat-can-vi.jpg?v=1793699098"},{"product_id":"xarello-xpressio-brut-nature-2011-clos-lentiscus","title":"Xarello Xpressió Brut Nature 2011 - Clos Lentiscus","description":"\u003cp\u003eXarello aged over winter in old French oak and Xarello Vermell aged over winter in clay amphora, each fermented separately with indigenous yeasts, then blended before secondary fermentation in bottle is triggered with honey and a frozen must pied de cuve. Sixty months (five years) on the lees before disgorgement with zero dosage. 12.5% ABV. At over fourteen years from harvest: sustained, complex, the yeast character fully integrated, with the mineral depth that long-aged sparkling wine builds when the base is structured enough to carry it. The Xarello Vermell component is what distinguishes this from a standard Xarello sparkling: thicker-skinned, later-ripening, giving colour and textural breadth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003efrom a visit in March 2026…\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecord breaking rains in early 2026 brought a dramatic end to years of punishing drought that pushed the vineyards of Mediterranean Catalunya to the brink. For the oldest vines at Clos Lentiscus, planted in 1939, the rains came just in time. “We didn’t think they would make it” muttered Nuria Avinyo as we gathered in the early March sun beside their cellar, overlooking a parcel of Malvasia de Sitges.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvidence of the extreme conditions, and the extraordinary methods employed by Manel and Nuria to help their vines to survive, is there to behold. A thin black pipe running beneath a budding row of vines - the estates first ever use of irrigation. The roots of these vines reach 12ft down into the bedrock, but years of consecutive drought depleted the water table such that these vines were dying of thirst, and this step was necessary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was also the first year that particular ground cover crops were cultivated between the vines. Leguminous shrubs that help the soils retain moisture and enrich it with nitrogen were planted every second row, as to not introduce too much competition to the vines as they regained their strength. With 10 storms already this year, this ground cover also helps secure the thin layer of clay that sits above the limestone and sandstone bedrock, preventing flash rains from washing it away. The white mustard is already flowering, and with small buds appearing and sap moving in the vines, a feeling of hope prevails as the season gets underway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe property itself is remarkable, nestled at the foot of Montgros, over looking the Mediterranean. Both factors distinctly influence the microclimate of this 40 hectare estate, with the mountain shielding the vines from hail and storms, and the Mediterranean providing cool breezes that help mitigate disease among the vines, while facilitating the thermic inversion that optimises ripening during the hot Catalan summers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 20 hectares under vine, the remaining 20 hectares are forest and bush, the crown of which is a 1000 year old lentiscus tree after which the estate is named. The tree\/shrub is a potent symbol of the symbiosis between man and nature that underpins the work Manel Avinyo has done to revive his family’s commercial winemaking project. Inheriting techniques that were aligned with biodynamics from his grandfather and uncle, who had worked using natural resources before it became widely acknowledged as an approach to farming Manel. The lentiscus tree itself is an example, with it’s phenolic-rich, resinous leaves having been used by Roman winemakers to clean amphora, a practice Manel still uses today. The forest is a resource, with tisanes and lacto-ferments foraged and brewed from the estate's flora play a key role in disease management and sun protection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWild bushes and flowers also play an intimate role in the fascinating typicity of these wines. Manel uses honey from his native bees for secondary fermentation of his famed traditional method sparkling wines, having become unhappy with the process of freezing their must for the same purpose. After much trial and error, honey from rosemary flowers is now the preferred choice. This practice, of course, excludes Manel’s sparkling wines from the Penedès DO. Curiously, his cultivation of indigenous variety Sumoll also excluded his wines when he first returned to his family estate in 2000, an example of Kafka-esque bureaucracy that has stripped these classifications of their relevance in contemporary wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe estate is a living ampelography of sorts. Wine has been made here continuously for over 600 years, thus centuries of massale selection has made the vines here uniquely adapted. Here, Xarello expresses a heady herbal quality that bears too close a resemblance to the fragrant leaves of the Lentiscus tree not to remark upon it. They call Xarello ‘Cartoixa’ in this part of Catalunya, and they also cultivate a rare pink clone, Cartoixa Vermell, not often found in commercial vineyards. Its character is quite distinct to the rest of Penedès. Two distinct profiles of Sumoll have also been selected. One yields ovular berries suited to producing sparkling wine. Another, with small round berries suited to the production red wine, which is seemingly ageless, usually released after 7-10 years bottle ageing. Every single parcel of vines is vinified and bottled seperately, a practice more common in places like Burgundy. If nothing else this shows the respect the family has for their land and the unsung pedigree of soils they work. It also makes for quite fascinating verticals, that allow the family deep insights into their vineyards and wines. This region was once the seabed, and as such boasts all the mineral deposits and marine fossils you would expect, with hard limestone and sandstone and a touch of Marne Bleue speaking to the quality they are working with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSant Pere de Ribes, Penedès\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Xarello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Sant Pere de Ribes, Penedès, Catalunya, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12.5%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Clos Lentiscus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988713820498,"sku":"1700710","price":70.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-xarello-xpressio-brut-nature-2011.jpg?v=1793699099"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.brianswines.ie\/collections\/sparkling.oembed","provider":"Brian's Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}