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 part of the process of making it, this is her expression of the feeling. Ancestral is the method as it’s known colloquially being the way you get a sparkling wine with only one fermentation inside the bottle. Also known as Pet’ Nat (petillant naturel in French). This sparkling wine has impressive volume and grip for a wine that’s just 10% ABV.
Vines
Location: Espluga
Size ha: selected from 4, the higher yielding
Age: 2002
Soils: ancient limestone terraces that keep nonetheless humidity, the Macabeu on more chalky sandstone.
Exposition: mainly east to west
Altitude: 425m
Training: cordon double royat
Farming: biodynamic, cover crops, grasses, herbs, and flowers adding to soil health, retention of moisture, and bio-diversity
Average yield hl/ha: 40
Climate: Mediterranean with fresh nights.
Winemaking
Whole bunches crushed by foot treading then starts fermentation in plastic, stays on skins and stems for 10 days, then the fermenting juice is run off to bottle to continue to ferment dry while producing the sparkle.
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Vintage Notes 2021
Another challenging year due to drought and high temperatures (and covid restrictions) but it was bookended by rains in Spring and in September that provided freshness and focus to the wines. It was a very long harvest from late August to end October. The yield was finally surprisingly good and the wines have a great balancing vegetal acidity.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: early October
Bottles produced: 4,000
Date bottled: late October 2021
Alcohol %: 10
SO2 Total: < 4