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Wine Description
The Story
Blanc de Blancs is a sparkling wine marked by the typicity of its place of origin, the Vinya del Llac, a vineyard over 40 years’ old, which allows us to obtain a structured, fresh and complex sparkling wine.
Blend: Xarel-lo, Macabeo, Parellada
Viticulture: The Vinya del Llac is a vineyard that faces north. The clay soils release water slowly throughout the vegetative cycle and, deep beneath the surface, we find calcareous bedrock with incrusted pebbles, which limit the water reserve, giving the grapes in this flagship plot more structure. The influence of the lake in this symbolic vineyard moderates the climatic conditions, avoids heatwaves and favours long ripening. It is a Blanc de Blancs due to its three native white grape varieties: Macabeu, Xarel·lo and Parellada.
Biodynamic viticulture. Vineyards with spontaneous plant cover, which fosters biodiversity, fertility and life in the soil. We apply manure that comes from our animals and is composted during the winter. We adopt the gobelet short pruning system. Plant infusions are used as phytotherapy to minimise the use of copper and sulphur. The European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) is controlled by sexual confusion. Control of berries and ripening before the harvest. Manual harvest.
Winemaking: Gravity-led grape reception system at the winery. At each stage, the atmosphere is controlled with dry ice. Slow, low- pressure pressing. Static settling at low temperatures. First fermentation in stainless steel vats at a controlled temperature, separating varieties and soil types, blending, second fermentation in the bottle and minimum ageing of three years with the lees in the bottles. We do not add expedition liquor. The disgorging date is indicated on the back label.
Wine Information
Vintage 2016: Extreme vintage with great concentration and balance.The cycle began with very little rainfall in autumn. From October to March there was 115L/m2 whilst the average for recent years has been 276L/m2. Autumn and winter saw mild temperatures. The budding of the Xarel·los began on 22nd March and despite the little rainfall the vines budded well with a high number of grapes. The cycle continued to be extremely dry, with only 126L/m2 of rain until the beginning of harvest (the average for the last 20 years has been 182L/m2). The vines’ autoregulation caused complications during the # owering phase of the vine producing smaller grapes and therefore a large drop in production whilst maintaining an adequate balance in the grapes. From then until the harvest the temperatures were 0.4ºC cooler than average (19.7ºC compared to the 20.1ºC average for the last 20 years). 38L/m2 of rain on the 22 June changed the appear- ance of the vineyards and improved the ripeness of the grapes. Harvest began during a heatwave with no rain until the 13th September when we had a refreshing 13L/m2 after 90% of the grapes had already been picked. The grape varieties that best adapted to the drought were the ones that produce larger grapes, such as Xarel·lo and Sumoll.
