Appellation: Corpinnat Cuvée: Brut Nature Colour: sparkling white Grapes: Xarel·lo 55%, Macabeo 30%, Sumoll Tinto 15% About: Mas Candí is one of 11 founder members of Corpinnat, a voluntary group of former Cava producers in the Penedès who have created a wine charter to self-impose far higher standards than for DO Cava. This masterful entry … Continue reading Mas Candí MC Brut Nature Corpinnat
Appellation: none Cuvée: Desig Rosat Colour: Rosé Grapes: Macabeu 55% Merlot 45% About: from an unusual blend but a nice idea to use perhaps injudiciously planted Merlot, it ends up being very easy and pure with a bit of grip for texture and salty acidity. Vines Location: in Guardiola de Font-Rubí, 10km north-west of the … Continue reading Mas Candí Desig Rosat
Who: Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó What: Vino de España and Corpinnat Where: Penedès near Vilafranca del Penedès When: Since 2006 Ramon Jané and Mercè Cuscó are the husband wife team who own and manage Mas Candí, a growing concern in the Penedès just outside Avinyonet close to Vilafranca del Penedès, less than an hour … Continue reading Mas Candí
Appellation: Cava Cuvée: Guillem Carol Brut Nature Gran Reserva Colour: Sparkling white Grapes: Xarel-lo 56%, Macabeu 24%, Chardonnay 15%, Pinot Noir 5% About: Joan Carol celebrates his son joining the business with this Cuvée which is squarely aimed at gastronomy where the Parellada i Faura is perfect on its own. This is perfect with white … Continue reading Carol Valles Cava Guillem Carol Brut Nature Gran Reserva
Appellation: none Cuvée: Ancestral de Cristina Colour: sparkling white Grapes: Macabeu About: New in 2018. The label is a drawing by girlfriend Cristina’s daughter Berta’s drawing when she was 6 years old – riffing on the multitude of childlike drawings that adorn many natural wine bottles. Berta talks about the sparkling wine and she feels … Continue reading Jordi Llorens Ancestral de Cristina
Appellation: none Cuvée: Disbarrats Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu 80, Xarello 20 About: new in 2019 from fruit that used to be sold in bulk to Juve y Camps, a quality local producer of Cava. Light in alcohol with a gram of sulfur at bottling to keep it straight, this is like a white version of … Continue reading La Salada Disbarrats
Appellation: VDF Cuvée: Coume de L’Olla Blanc Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu, Muscat d’Alexandrie, Muscat Petit Grain About: Named after the single vineyard from which it comes, Coume de l’Olla, this is all about refreshment, a wine that goes with and uplifts pretty much everything. Vines Location: down the hill to the east of Calce toward … Continue reading Matassa Coume de L’Olla Blanc
Appellation: DO Penedès Cuvée: Hey! Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu 60, Xarello 40 About: New in 2019, an entry level white with a bit of skin contact from a new vineyard Amós is looking after that was planted by his Grandfather, this is more about the wine experience than Missatge and Oculta which are more about … Continue reading Amós Bañeres Hey! 2019
Appellation: None. Cuvée: Karismàtika Llibertària. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeo 85%, Parellada 15%. About: named after and in tribute to the anarchist revolutionary women who fought in 1936 against the fascists. Vines Location: 200m just out to the north of the village of Barberà de la Conca, in the Font Gitarda lieu-dit. Size (ha): 0.23. Age … Continue reading Tarannà Po-etic Karismàtika Llibertària
Appellation: Vi. Cuvée: L’Ermot. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu. About: shows the diversity and quality of Macabeu, which is rarely used for varietal wines here, being usually blended into Cava. This wine has a strikingly rich, viscous texture, and toasty character, which comes from the age of the vines, there’s no oak used. Vines Location: Pla … Continue reading La Salada L’Ermot
Almost everything we know about Amós Bañeres’s wines for now has been posted here! Amós makes tiny quantities of pure, complex, elegant, rich and totally gorgeous wines from a small hillside near Vilafranca in the Penedès of Macabeu on one side and Xarel-lo on the other. Without added sulfites.
Appellation: DO Penedès. Cuvée: Missatge en una Ampolla. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu. About: Amos feels Macabeu is an incredible grape, with complex fruit and cool salty acidity, but it’s difficult to grow because the skin is thin, the cluster is tight and so it’s prone to disease. So, many Macabeu wines are earthy and vegetal. … Continue reading Amós Bañeres Penedès Missatge en una Ampolla
Everything we know about Jean-Philippe Padié’s wines for now has been posted here! Jean-Philippe Padié makes some of most natural, pure, delicate and complex wines in the Roussillon from his biodynamically farmed vines sited on a mosaic of soils in Calce. Each Cuvée is a fabulous adventure.
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Fleur de Cailloux. Colour: White. Grapes: Grenache Blanc 50%, Macabeu 40%, and Grenache Gris 10%. About: called the “flower of stones” this complex and mineral white expresses spectacular freshness, and delicious stone fruits, for only 12.5%. Vines Location: from several parcels near Calce. Size ha: 5. Age: vines planted in … Continue reading Jean-Philippe Padié Fleur de Cailloux VDF
Appellation: Vin de France. Cuvée: Tourbillon de la Vie Blanc. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu. About: the Cuvée name means Roundabout of Life, and comes from a song, a waltz, by Jeanne Moreau in the celebrated film Jules et Jim by François Truffaut. The wine is a negociant wine from vineyards Jean-Philippe supervises and has made … Continue reading Jean-Philippe Padié Tourbillon de la Vie VDF Blanc
Appellation: none Cuvée: Blan d’Anzera Colour: White Grapes: Macabeu with Muscatel and some Garnacha Blanca depending the year About: a combination of the addition of Muscatel and fermentation and ageing in amphora gives this limited production wine richness and abundant energy, as well as an orange blossom fruit character. Anzera (“Engerra”) is the old name … Continue reading Jordi Llorens Blan d’Anzera
Appellation: none Cuvée: Blan 5.7 Colour: White Grapes: Parellada 60% Macabeu 40% depending on the year About: Jordi’s excellent first wine, a representation of his style, the equivalent of his neighbour Escoda-Sanahuja’s Bassotets. 5.7 is his address in Blancafort and has been the address of generations of his ancestors. The wine is 5 parts Macabeu, … Continue reading Jordi Llorens Blan 5.7
Appellation: IGP Côtes Catalanes. Cuvée: L’Année Blanc. Colour: White. Grapes: Macabeu 65%, Grenache Gris 30%, Muscat 5%. About: This wine cleverly marries Mediterranean fruit flavours, plump texture with an almost Loire-like freshness. Both creamy and astringent, it could marry with oysters from both Brittany and the Languedoc or with roast chicken or be enjoyed on … Continue reading Les Clos Perdus IGP Côtes Catalanes L’Année Blanc
Appellation: Vin de France Cuvée: Luminescence Colour: White Grapes: Muscat a Petit Grain, Muscat d’Alexandrie, et Macabeu About: FX Dauré’s first, and for now only, white is deliciously light in alcohol at under 11%. Made with skin contact, there’s a gentle astringency and cool freshness. Bottled after just three months. Vines Location: just south of … Continue reading VDF Luminescence
Appellation: Cava Cuvée: Parellada i Faura Reserva Brut Nature Colour: Sparkling white Grapes: Parellada 60%, Macabeu 30%, Xarel-lo 10% About: this is a fantastic value Cava. It’s a revelation if you’ve only tasted industrial Cava and shows what quality can be produced when the wine is hand-crafted from organic fruit with a light touch … Continue reading Carol Valles Parellada i Faura Cava Brut Reserva
Who: Joan and Guillem Carol What: Cava Where: Penedes, Catalonia When: Since 1996 The lovely wines from Carol Valles show how good Cava can be when it’s made with care by a small, family estate dedicated to making just one style of wine, from traditional varieties farmed organically, and aged for 18 months, double the … Continue reading Carol Valles
