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 for an amphora in this part of Catalonia. Every house used to have them in their cellars in the pre-industrial days when polyculture was the norm. The label shows a close-up of the bark of the Quercus Ilex tree. In the crust is the first coloniser of life: lichen. Normally they’re oriented towards the north side because it can have a little more humidity. An example of symbiosis of two organisms.

Vines

Location: Espluga
Size ha: 1
Age: vines planted in 1984 and 2000
Soils: ancient limestone terraces that keep nonetheless humidity
Exposition: various
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: 25
Climate: Mediterranean with fresh nights

Winemaking

Prior to 2016 made in inox. Starting 2016, the fruit is gently crushed into amphora where it macerates on skins for a week to 10 days before being racked off and returned to amphora to complete fermentation. Using natural yeasts and without any additives or manipulation at all, no sulfites, no filtration or clarification. No control of temperature. There’s not even a press. The amphora are racked to blend together in tank a week before bottling, 6 to 8 months after the harvest.

Vintage notes 2014
Second vintage of this wine. Saw 4 days in anfora on skins.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: August 27
Bottles produced: 900
Date bottled: 2015-05
Alcohol %: 10.5
SO2 Total: < 7

Vintage notes 2016
No Muscatel – hit by frost. So there’s 10% Garnacha Blanca instead.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: September 14
Bottles produced: 2,700
Date bottled: 2017-05
Alcohol %: 11.47
SO2 Total: < 7
Tasting: very mineral fruit, pear, lemon, salty, organge, floral, very precise, glassy, crisp, both astringent and silky, enery, finesse.

Vintage notes 2017
In 2017 the Muscatel was hit by hail and wasn’t happy. In the cellar, it was left whole bunch and foot trodden. But the wine hasn’t come around in summer 2018, remaining with high VA and some residual sugar, perhaps due to the hail damage the sugars never properly ripened.

Vintage notes 2018
Hot and dry year for most part. However, rain end July caused some mildew, and loss of some Macabeu.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: mid September
Bottles produced: 3,600
Date bottled: 2019-04
Alcohol %: 12.07
SO2 Total: < 7
Tasting: very gentle, silky, complex aromas of peach, rose, muscat, fennel, dried apricot, honey and orange blossom aromatics, salty, “vegetal water”, juicy, sappy. Fresh, lively, lovely.

Vintage notes 2019
Very hot and dry year for the most part. But there was a good rainfall end July and middle of August to aid a perfect maturation. Stylistically rich, full fat fruit.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: mid September
Bottles produced: 3,400
Date bottled: 2019-05
Alcohol %: 12.07
SO2 Total: < 7
Tasting: beautiful aromas of honey, lemon, apple, orange essential oils, jasmin, green olive, fennel, quite rich and fat but great energy, too, ripe cleansing salty acidity, clean and persistent.

Vintage notes 2020
A very challenging year in all ways, with heavy and persistent rain causing mildew problems and widescale loss of fruit. But the season finished well with fine weather during summer and harvest time and some purchases of fruit to make up for some losses.
Yield hl/ha: 20
Harvested: end august, muscatel first week September
Bottles produced: 3,400 from two jars
Date bottled: may and july
Alcohol %: 13.5
SO2 Total: < 4
Tasting: 2021-07-27 caramel pineapple browned butter, hazelnuts, honey, muscat, exotic nose, black pepper, white pepper, jasmine, all over the place and lovely, very vegetal palate, great digestibility, acidity, super.
2022-02-07 elegant, complex, super fine, pineapple, grapefruit, dried apricot, then very fresh, some honey, don’t feel muscatel, quite dense, intense, lovely.

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: 10
Harvested: late September to early October
Bottles produced: 3,000
Date bottled: June
Alcohol %: 11
SO2 Total: < 4
Tasting: 2021-12-1 from amphore, killer structure, tight but airy, cool, silky, intense and long, lemon, pear, peach, orange, spicy.