$19.99 on 12+ (code 12saves3)

92pts Wine Advocate
The 2023 Blanc de Blancs has a textbook nose of Mediterranean sparkling with notes of aromatic herbs, dry hay and straw, reflecting the third year of extremely dry conditions in the zone that delivered a small crop that was harvested earlier than ever and resulted in more concentrated wines. It’s 50% Xarel.lo, 35% Macabeu, 10% Parellada and 5% Malvasa de Sitges that didn’t go through malolactic and refermented and matured in bottle with lees for 18 months. They have access to great grapes (all organic) to produce this wine. It has a vibrant palate with abundant small bubbles and a spark of freshness and is balanced, clean and easy to drink. 200,000 bottles produced. All the bottles have the disgorgement date as a lot number. Drink Date: 2024 – 2028

Pepe Ravents wants to focus on Xarel.lo and Sumoll grapes, but he has also planted one hectare of Malvasa de Sitges. He left the Cava appellation in 2012 because he realized Cava didn’t have international prestige. He does not want an appellation of origin, Conca del Riu Anoia, but dreams about an appellation of origin for sparkling wines that pays good prices for the grapes and adds value to the territory, a simple vision with a Burgundian (or Barolo) inspiration where the main value is the region, the valleys, the villages, and the vineyards where growers work. It’s a Mediterranean zone, ideal for organic viticulture from ancient times, where grapes at 11% alcohol have a pH of 3.0 and the perfect balance to produce sparkling wines, something his ancestors realized before anyone. And the advantage is that the wines are different, with their own varieties, different from the best sparkling wines from the rest of the world.

With that idea, he has drawn a map of his valley with 720 plots with names, 100 of them owned by large houses and the majority belonging to small grape growers. He doesn’t know what the solution is but believes the producers need to be together, not separated as they are now, Corpinnat, Classic Peneds, Cava… He wants to downsize, simplify his portfolio and focus on the specificity of the places. Everything is certified organic. All the back labels show the plots where the grapes come from, and all the bottles have the disgorgement date as a lot number.