REGION
Conca del Riu Anoia, Catalonia, Spain
VARIETAL
Xarel-lo & Bastard Negre
TASTING NOTES
Northwest of Barcelona, in the Anoia Valley countryside, surrounded by the Sierra of Montserrat Mountains, is a distinguished family vineyard dating back five hundred years, where some of the finest, most innovative and most inspiring Spanish wines have been cultivated: the Raventós estate.
Manuel Raventós, 20th generation winemaker in this area, created in 1986 the first estate-bottled and estate-produced sparkling wine in Spain with the first vintage of Raventós i Blanc. An estate where since 1497 the same family has been working– probably one of the longest-documented viticultural family traditions in the world.
Following his father and his grandfather’s dream, Pepe Raventós, the 21st generation, joined Raventós i Blanc with the aim to pursue excellence in every detail of the winery. Pepe’s own spirit of innovation and perfectionism inspired him to create a world-class sparkling wine unlike any other- one made distinct by its minerality.
Having worked with world-renowned winemakers Pepe realized in 2005 that a small portion of the family vineyard, Clos del Serral, was ideally suited to create an exceptional sparkling wine. With this special opportunity, Pepe sought to make the most of it, working this plot as a most precious garden. Bringing back together man, earth, and animal, Pepe returned to the origins of vinification with a contemporary vision. The result is Mas del Serral, a premium sparkling wine prepared to claim its place alongside the world’s finest champagnes.
95pts - Tim Atkins
"Old-vine Xarel-lo (with a touch of Bastard Negre) from the Serral hill, vinified in concrete egg. The 2012 shows terrific aromatic range, open and expressive with preserved orange peel,dry spices, fennel seeds and chestnut honey. The dried, briny pear and apple fruit is tiltedtowards a slightly more oxidative angle than the 2011, instantly open and expressive yetpulled tight with salty, stony lemon and toast. Intensity without power or weight here †it's the very best of what Xarel-lo can do."
95pts - Wine Advocate
"The extremely young and undeveloped 2012 Mas del Serral was produced with a field blend of Xarel.lo and Bastard Negre (Graciano) from the oldest vineyard on the family property (planted between 1950 and 1954). The wine has 12.5% alcohol and very low pH (2.96) and is incredibly subtle and delicate with inner strength and energy. It has incipient notes of fennel and aniseed, energetic and very much alive but in need of more time to unfurl more layers of aromas and gain weight in bottle. 2012 was a dry year, and the wine has a dry and stony palate. It also has high acidity through concentration of the juice and is mineral and austere, with no heat or fat. 2,440 bottles produced. This ages in bottle for at least 100 months."
(Biodynamic)
