Appellation: Vi de Taula.
Cuvée: Els Bassots.
Colour: White.
Grapes: Chenin Blanc.
About: Named after the vineyard it comes from, the parcel is tucked into the forest that covers the mountain behind, while owning a commanding view over the Conca countryside towards Montblanc. The wine is equally spacious and expansive, and aromatically vivid with the character of the soil. It’s earthy, spicy, and mineral, quite different from the rounded, honeyed Chenin’s from the Loire. Simple winemaking, brilliant fruit. The label depicts a local fox.
Vines
Location: a few hundred metres from the cellar towards the mountain.
Size ha: 3.
Age: vines planted between 1997 and 2000.
Soils: limestone.
Exposition: north-west.
Altitude: 450m.
Training: double cordon de royat.
Farming: organic, biodynamic.
Average yield hl/ha: 35.
Climate: Mediterranean.
Winemaking
The fruit was hand harvested and carefully sorted to remove any damaged or unhealthy fruit, then slowly pressed and left to cold-settle overnight. It was made in stainless steel with 10 days on the skins, using natural yeasts, with no added sulfites. Gently pressed in a basked press, it was aged in anfora for 6 months. Bottled unfined, unfiltered.
Vintage Notes 2017
Yield hl/ha: 30.
Harvested: mid September.
Bottles produced: 5,000.
Date bottled: 2018-04.
Alcohol %: 12.64.
SO2 Total: <7.
Tasting: luminous wine that’s both dense and concentrated while airy, silky and ethereal at the same time. The salty freshness is riveting. The bone dry, savoury, mineral peach, apricot, peppery vegetal fruit character irresistible.