Blau Cru Malvasia Celler Pardas Penedès Catalunya 2019

Description

A great new discovery

Celler Pardas is part of the new generation of producers in Catalonia focussing on their terroirs and indigenous grapes such as Xarel.lo, Macabeo and Sumoll. The project began in 1996 when local winegrowers Ramón Parera and Jordi Arnan bought the Can Comas estate in Alt Penedés. The medieval farmhouse was surrounded by 60 hectares of forest, pasture and scrub land cut through by the Bitlles River. They cleared some areas and started planting cuttings shortly after. Their vineyards are scattered across three main sites with varied soil profiles, ranging from rocky clay and limestone terraces to deep alluvial soils. Their focus is preserving the balance and health of their land, they farm organically without irrigation, and aim to work in partnership with nature.

The wines can be divided into three categories: whites are based on Xarel.lo & Malvasia de Sitges whilst Sumoll is the star of the reds, the freshness and long ripening cycle perfectly suits the area in this age of global warming. All the wines are certified organic. No herbicides, pesticides nor synthetic products are used. The vineyards are not irrigated and are worked as little as possible to encourage the growth of natural cover crops.

Pardas are committed to putting the native grapes of Penedès in the spotlight, and while their explorations into Xarel.lo are firm favourites, we’ve got our hands on a small amount of their equally delicious Malvasía de Sitges. If Xarel.lo is all about linear, ageworthy acidity, then this is more focused on texture - with invitingly fleshy, ripe stone and citrus fruit.

Pardas grafted the Malvasia de Sitges onto their Les Planes vineyard in Sant Quintí in 2007; it was initially used in their Rupestris blend and in 2014 they began using it to produce this single varietal wine in 2014. The vineyard soils are deep, fertile alluvium.

The Malvasia de Sitges is full of lucious ripe fruit aromas and is highly aromatic, with notes of apricot, ripe peach and lemon. On the palate, there’s a saline drive and fresh acidity. Delicious!