The wines we will pour that evening includes the following with Robert Parker descriptions:
RAVENTOS I BLANC Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2015, Penedes, Spain
The 2015 Blanc de Blancs, was produced with fruit from different organic and biodynamic plots within their 60 hectares of vineyards and some purchased grapes. The blend of 42% Xarello, 38% Macabeo and 20% Parellada fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and was put to re-ferment in bottle with Champagne yeasts for no less than 18 months. The soils are rich in limestone and marine fossils, but the vineyards used for this wine have some more clay, and the wines have more volume and fruit, yet the wine is very clean, fresh and tasty with what, for Pepe Raventós, is the salty minerality of this small region within Penedès. This is approachable and delicious, super tasty and balanced, from a typical-climate vintage. 220,000 bottles produced. This is an extra brut with five grams of residual sugar. RP 90
RAVENTOS I BLANC de Nit Rose 2015, Penedes, Spain
The ultra pale sparkling rosé 2015 De Nit is a blend of 40% Xarello, 36% Macabeo, 18% Parellada and 6% Monastrell from their biodynamic vineyards. The color is obtained by pressing the Xarello and Monastrell together, which result in a pale must. It re-fermented in bottle for no less than 18 months and has 4.5 grams of sugar, so it’s an extra brut. It’s deliciously perfumed, subtle and elegant, with a core of aniseed, fennel and Mediterranean plants. It’s more serious than the majority of rosés, more with the spirit of a white. The palate has the delicious flavors and the tastiness of the limestone soils and a somewhat bitter touch in the finish, perhaps the contribution of Monastrell. This is stunning. Biodynamic. RP 91+
RAVENTOS I BLANC de la Finca Extra Brut 2014, Penedes, Spain
The blend of 50% Xarello, 40% Macabeo and 10% Parellada for the 2014 De la Finca was produced from different plots planted with the different varieties in the so-called fossil vineyard, Vinya dels Fòssils. The vineyard is in the east-facing part of their property and tends to produce the more mineral wines, with low pH and high acidity. Each variety was fermented separately, blended and left in contact with the lees for at least six months before being put in bottle for the second fermentation and aging of at least 30 months. This is the wine that they think best represents their estate, the one that represents the Raventós i Blanc style, with enough character from the lees and the Mediterranean character and the marine minerality of the soils. Biodynamic. RP 92
RAVENTOS I BLANC Textures de Pedra Extra Brut 2013, Penedes, Spain
The 2013 Textures de Pedra is an unusual blend of white and red grapes vinified in the style of a white. The blend of 30% Xarello, 25% Xarello Vermell, 25% Sumoll, 15% Bastard Negre and 5% Parellada from a cool and rainy vintage resulted in lively wines with high acidity and potential for bottle aging. The musts fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, and the wines were kept for at least six months with lees in tank. It matured in bottle in contact with the lees from Champagne yeasts for no less than 42 months. It has a deep golden color and a very intense, characterful nose, but it’s in the palate where you get the intensity, the pungent flavors, the salty tastiness, the depth, the liveliness and the electricity. This is only the third vintage of this wine, from one of the best vintages in recent years together with 2007 and 2010. This is more mineral and austere, from stonier, shallow soils at higher altitude. Biodynamic. RP 93
RAVENTOS I BLANC Manuel Raventos Negra 2011, Penedes, Spain
This is Manuel Raventós Negra’s personal selection of the best wines from each given vintage made the way he learned to do it, tasting and blending, and therefore, the wine is different from year to year. In this warm and Mediterranean 2011, it was 100% Xarello from the north-facing plot they call Clos, which is cooler and has a slower ripening of the grapes, which results in wines with good structure and natural acidity. As with the majority of wines, it’s kept with lees for no less than six months after fermenting in stainless steel and then put to re-ferment in bottle, where it was kept in contact with the lees for at least 60 months. It’s very smoky and yeasty, warmed and more developed than the other wines I tasted, even the older ones, with perhaps the magnum a little less developed. Yeasty and spicy, with notes of aniseed and fennel, it has a seamless palate with very integrated bubbles and moderate acidity, which corresponds to a warmer and riper year. The magnum was definitively better, with a slower development and a livelier palate. If magnums are better for still wines, for sparkling they are clearly better. There are 2,000 bottles and 667 magnums. RP 93