Tag: parellada

Rosé with real drive

Published 7. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Penedès may be best known for sparkling wine, but away from the larger cava houses there is another side to the region: old vineyards, local varieties and a growing generation of growers looking back to traditional Catalan farming and winemaking.

Celler La Salada is the personal project of Toni Carbó and Anna Serra, based around the family vineyards near El Pla del Penedès. Toni, also one of the founders of Mas Candí, started La Salada in 2012, working with vineyards that have been in his family for generations and have never been subjected to intensive chemical farming. Today the approach is organic and biodynamic, with minimal intervention in the cellar and no additions, including sulphur.

Roig Boig – roughly “crazy red” in Catalan – is certainly an unconventional rosé. The 2021 is a field blend bringing together red and white Catalan varieties, including sumoll, roigenc, mandó, cannonau, mònica, torbat, parellada and xarel·lo. The grapes are harvested by hand and the wine is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, without added sulphur – very much in keeping with La Salada’s philosophy of allowing vineyard and fruit to speak with as little cellar manipulation as possible.

Roig Boig 2021 (Celler La Salada)

In the glass it is a striking, slightly hazy pale pink with touches of salmon and orange. The nose is immediately lively: wild strawberry, cranberry and redcurrant, followed by citrus peel, dried Mediterranean herbs, wild flowers and a faintly earthy, stony note. On the palate it is light and wonderfully energetic, with tart red berries, pink grapefruit and a distinctly mineral edge. Bright acidity gives it real drive, while a gentle phenolic grip adds texture. Bone-dry, fresh and slightly wild, with a savoury, herbal finish that makes the next sip almost inevitable.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Pim Pam of Penedès

Published 10. July 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Produced by Vinyes Singulars in the hills of Alt Penedès, Catalunya, this wine reflects a landscape that is often overshadowed by Cava but is increasingly recognised for its vibrant, terroir-driven still wines. Old vineyards, limestone and clay soils, Mediterranean sunshine tempered by cooler nights and sea breezes all contribute to the wine’s freshness and energy.

The estate is run by Ignasi Seguí, whose family has cultivated these lands since the early 15th century. Farming is organic, and the philosophy in the cellar is one of minimal intervention: indigenous yeasts, no fining or filtration, and no added sulphites. Pim Pam is a field blend of traditional local varieties including xarel·lo, macabeu, parellada, malvasia de Sitges, garnatxa blanca and sumoll blanc, creating a wine that captures both the vintage and the character of Penedès.

Pim Pam 2023 (Vinyes Singulars)

Lightly hazy with a deep golden straw colour. Salty lemon, ripe citrus, melon, Mediterranean herbs, white flowers and a subtle savoury, nutty nuance. On the palate it’s fresh yet textural, with lively acidity, citrus fruit, mineral salinity and a gentle phenolic grip. The finish is long, savoury and remarkably refreshing.

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Articles

Trepat Trip II: Mas Foraster

Published 12. April 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Located just outside Montblanc in the heart of Conca de Barberà, Mas Foraster, also called Josep Foraster, is a family-run estate that has become one of the leading names in the revival of trepat – the region’s native red grape. Founded in 1998, the winery is now run by Ricard Sebastià Foraster, who not only oversees the estate but also serves as president of the Consejo Regulador of the DO Conca de Barberà. “Josep was both my grandfather and my uncle,” says Ricard.

The estate currently covers 34 hectares – 27 owned and the rest leased – and only estate-grown grapes are used. All vineyards are farmed organically, and biodynamic compost is applied. Elevations range from 280 to 550 metres around Montblanc, and up to 650 meters around Sarral and on the other side of the mountains. These high altitudes, along with calcareous and clay-rich soils, contribute to the wines’ freshness and clarity. According to Ricard, while clay brings more yield, calcareous soils provide greater concentration – but above all, it’s the cool climate that trepat needs.

Trepat, traditionally used in rosado and cava, is now taking centre stage. Mas Foraster has been a key player in this transformation, releasing their first red trepat in 2009 – the second on the market after Carles Andreu. Their red trepats are fermented spontaneously, with a 40-day maceration that continues even after fermentation ends. Sulphite levels are kept low, always under 40 mg/l, and ageing takes place exclusively in used barrels, foudres or concrete eggs.

The current range of trepat-based wines is wide and expressive:

Les Gallinetes 2024 (55% trepat, 45% garnatxa) is a light, juicy red with aroma of red berries, with fine tannins and a smooth, easy-drinking style.

Trepat 2023, made from seven old vineyards (60–96 years), grown in calcareous soils, undergoes long maceration in foudre and barrique. Ruby in colour, it shows red forest fruits and white pepper, with freshness, finesse and length.

Julieta 2023, named after Ricard’s mother and his daughter, from a single north-facing vineyard planted in 1940 at 450 metres, is aged seven months in concrete eggs. With aromas of raspberry and flowers, it has more structure and weight, firm tannins and a long, lingering finish.

Pep 2022, from 86-year-old vines at 580 metres, is made with whole clusters, foot-trodden in alabaster tanks. Light cherry red, the wine shows red fruits and herbs, with firm yet juicy structure and real depth.

In addition to red wines, Mas Foraster also makes noteworthy whites and skin-contact styles:

Blanc Selecció 2023 is a blend of macabeu, chardonnay and garnatxa gris. The wine is fermented in concrete eggs and sees some skin contact in foudre. Pale yellow with green hints, it shows citrus, yellow apple, good volume and bright acidity.

Brisat del Coster 2023, an orange wine made from macabeu (some of which also goes into the Blanc Selecció), undergoes 25 days of skin contact in steel and concrete, with no added sulphites. Golden in hue, it offers notes of citrus peel, flowers, herbs and apricot, with light tannins and a textured, fresh palate. Ricard notes that macabeu, with its lower oxidative character than garnatxa gris, results in a lighter colour.

The cellar is overseen by Kepa Martínez, whose mother is from the Basque Country, hence the name Kepa. Fermentations are spontaneous and temperature-controlled by natural means – “fermentation starts when the temperature rises,” says Ricard.

With a clear focus on trepat and a deep commitment to sustainable farming and precision winemaking, Mas Foraster stands as one of the most respected producers in the Conca de Barberà today – a house where tradition, innovation and identity converge.

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Wine of the Week

Sparkling new year

Published 3. January 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This wine was opened to salute the new year 2025.

Raventós i Blanc is one of the leading producers of sparkling wine in Catalunya. Pepe Raventós has family links to the creator of the drink that came to be called cava. Still he was one of the first to leave the DO Cava, to establish his own appellation Conca del Riu Anoia. It is located in the Penedés comarca (area), in a valley between the Prelitoral and Litoral mountain ranges.

Raventós i Blanc makes mineral and saline wines, at a quality that is incredibly stable. I have never been disappointed.

De la Finca comes from a vineyard known as Vinya dels Fòssils. The old bush-trained vines were planted in 1964 on the highest terraces of the Anoia, on a soil covered with marine fossils. The orientation is predominantly northern, and there is spontaneous plant covers, that contribute to bring freshness to the wine. Viticulture is biodynamic. The grapes are the traditional blend xarel.lo, macabeu and parellada. Each variety and soil is vinified separately before settling together.

De La Finca 2021 (Raventós i Blanc)

Light straw yellow with fine bubbles. Aromas of lemon, yeast, lime and brioche, over a layer of smoke and herbs. Mineral in the mouth, a little austere, with a fresh acidity, completely dry. It’s Mediterranean in its ripeness, but it also shows a fresh side. Wonderfully balanced.

Price: Medium

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Wine bars and restaurants

Natural wine in Murcia

Published 1. January 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

La Gracia is a small and cozy natural wine bar that opened in 2020, when the pandemic was at its height. It’s found in Murcia capital, Spain, in one of the narrow streets behind the city hall and the cathedral in the Santa Eulalia district. They work with artisan producers of wine, cheese and also beer and other products. The owners are Esperanza Pérez Andreo and Cristina Ramos Berna. They have strong ties with local and regional producers from whom they buy directly.

I was there twice at the end of the year, including New Year’s Eve. We sat on the “terrace” (i.e. the plaza behind the first street) near midnight, and then inside the bar around noon. We chose from the cold and the warm tapas menues, and from the by-the-glass wine selection, that counts on around 30 references.

Esperanza Pérez, responsible for the wine selection

Among the small dishes we chose was a “cured” cheese selection. The first one was a young and fresh, but oh so tasty, cheese from Cartagena, then a 3-4 months cured goat’s cheese soaked in red wine, then a 9 months cured cheese from San Javier called ‘El Abuelo’ (the grandfather) and finally a wonderfully complex cheese from a mountain between Cartagena and Mazarrón. The watermelon marmelade was from coastal San Javier.

The wine list contains established and new natural wine stars from Murcia and elsewhere in Spain. We started with Las Madres 2020 (Punta de Flecha), a light skin-contact white from the Madrid area. The grape is malvar, and like many other wines from that variety it is low on acidity but rather textured. Amber coloured and slightly fizzy, it had a nice aroma of flowers and orange peel.

Viña Enebro is rather well-known in Spanish natural wine circles, and you can read about a visit in Bullas here. El Yesar 2020 is a white wine made from the red grape forcallat. Hence it has a little blush of red. It’s round and tasty, and the aroma includes traces of citrus (clementine) and herbs.

At the second day I asked for whatever white wine and was served Doble Plaer 2020 from Vinyes Singulars (with collaboration from Toni Osorio) It turned to be a wonderful wine with a phenomenal acidity, almost electric. It has a good body too. Light orange in colour, and somewhat cloudy, with an aroma of citrus peel (lemon) and flowers over black tea. Long aftertaste where the citric notes linger. The grapes are malvasía de Sitges and parellada.

The two first reds were revelations from the Murcia region. Negrete 2021 from Negrete Blue is a monastrell/garnacha tintorera from no less than 1.373 meters of altitude in the Bullas denomination. It was a fresh and juicy, berry-dominated, young wine, with blackberry and blueberry in front.

Tinaha 2020 comes from the bodega of the same name. It’s found between Molino de Segura and Jumilla to the north of the regional capital. As the name implies they believe in ageing in clay (tinajas). The varieties are a local field blend, and so monastrell should be among the suspects. The wine had red berry notes, but was more dominated by a clay minerality with flowers, and had a juicy taste with a long aftertaste, and especially for the region, good acidity.

We tasted two reds from Castilla. Felipe el Caminero 2021 (Inma Badillo) is a fresh tempranillo/ juan garcía/bruñal blend from Arribes del Duero, close to the Portuguese border (provinces Zamora and Salamanca). It’s a pure, very juicy and fruity wine with lots of berry character. La Payana 2020 (Cható Gañán) is completely different. Made from garnacha on granite soil in the Sierra de Gredos, it has a more serious air to it. It has some of the etheral character often associated with the Gredos garnachas, and some of the minerality behind the red fruits. The oak shows delicately on the palate.

Since I was back on New Year’s Eve I took the opportunity to round off with a sparkling wine. The choice fell on En Moviment A 2020 (Bàrbara Forés) from Terra Alta, Catalunya, made from the local morenillo grape. The sparkling rosé smells of peach and grapefruit. There is an acidic attack in the mouth, the wine is slim in the middle, but the citrus acidity strikes back and gives it a lift towards the end.

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Wine of the Week

A fresh Alella Gran Reserva

Published 6. May 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Here is an ecologic cava from the varieties pansa blanca (local name for xarel.lo), macabeu and parellada. The Alta Alella winery is run by the Pujol-Busquets family in the Serralada de Marina Natural Park, just north of the city of Barcelona. Mireia, daughter of founders Josep Maria and Cristina Pujol-Busquets, is currently wine-maker.

Alta Alella’s wines are made from their own grapes. The soils are low in pH, which compensates for the warm Mediterranean climate and give acidity to the wines. They are based on the decomposed granite called sauló, with a sandy texture and good drainage.

All work in the vineyard is manual. After a gentle pressing each of the varieties for this wine ferment separately. Then there is a second fermentation in bottle following the traditional Champenoise method. Unfermented must is used to provide the sugar for the secondary fermentation in bottle, and SO₂ is added only after disgorging. The ageing on lees is 30 months (thus the youngest of their cavas). It is disgorged before release, with the disgorgement date noted on the label.

None of Alta Alella’s wines receives dosage.

Mirgin Gran Reserva 2017 (Alta Alella)

Light straw. Fruity, green apple, lemon peel, chalk and some brioche autolycic quality. Full in the mouth, mellow mousse, good acidity, dry, saline, long.

Price: Low/ medium

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Articles and Wine bars and restaurants

Bar Bendito, Madrid

Published 8. March 2022 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Bendito Vinos y Vinilos (wine and vinyl) is an all natural wine bar in Madrid’s Lavapiés barrio. This hilly neighborhood was earlier a cheap place that attracted many immigrants. (Here is a link to another restaurant, to be published.) Bendito is located inside the multicultural San Fernando market, that looks like a gathering place for the cultures they represent. Lavapiés is now the most international neighborhood in Madrid. Once the Jewish quarter, much later the immigrants actually established many bars here. After Spain’s entry into the EU, there was a new wave of migration. Therefore Bendito is a good place to get to learn about the changes in Spanish culture and gastronomy.

Owner José González selects cheeses and hams from many places. These are served with economic down-to-earth wines chosen by Ilan Saltzman, wine responsible, while the vinyl records spins in the background. By the way, Bar Bendito means the blessed bar, with all the allegories that it is possible to derive from that name.

I was there last Friday and the following Sunday and enjoyed a handful of wines both days, all served with small bites of cheese or charcuterie. This report is mainly based on the first visit.

One of the wines that night was Pampaneo Airén 2020 from Esencia Rural, a very fresh, lemony sparkler from Toledo. Read more about it here.

A delightful habit of the wine bars is when the waiter gives you a couple of sips, before you decide which wine you want in your glass. Here my waiter Ilan poured three samples. One of them Soif du Mal Blanc 2020, a muscat-dominated wine from Les Foulards Rouges, over the French border. I chose to wait until some other time, and go for a Castilian wine. Palote 2020 from Microbodega Rodríguez Morán in the province of Salamanca was made from palomino grapes. It rested one week with skins and stems. Thereafter it was aged in clay, finally bottled unfined, unfiltered and without sulphur. The colour was light orange/amber, slightly turbid; nice aroma of yellow fruit, elderberry, flowers and a touch of figs; good acidity, it plays with bitterness, but it’s restrained. A blue cheese accompaned these first wines, and it went surprisingly well.

Behind Artesano Vintners is Mike Shepherd, who has a past in Australia in two important natural wine houses. Now in Catunya he grows only 2 hectares. Parellatxa 2020 is a clarete: Pale red; vibrant fruit, raspberry; very light delicate touch of tannin. The name is put together by the varieties parellada and garnatxa, but this you have already figured out.

Ilan Saltzman (originally from Canada), wine responsible, serving the Kikiriki

Kikiriki 2018 is made from ull de llebre (tempranillo) and carinyena in a vineyard from 1979, by Manel Aviñó of Clos Lentiscus, Penedès. He works employing biodynamic techniques and ferment the grapes by variety before assembling the wines. Dark cherry colour; blueberry, also lighter fruit (raspberry) and a touch licorice; juicy with light tannin, good acidity, and over all truly fascinating.

Nacho González makes his wines within Valdeorras. But he is not a member of the DO, thus his La Perdida wines carry the designation Vinos de España. A Mallada 2020 is made from sumoll and garnacha tintorera. Fermented in amphora, aged in old oak, bottled without sulphites. It’s dark, quite complex; on the nose it displays something sweet and sour (sweet cherries, acidic berry stones?) and very fresh fruit; there is a young dryness in the mouth, lovely acidity.

About the second visit I will report very briefly. It went more or less like the first visit. The two absolutely brilliant wines were Jordi Llorens‘ Ancestral de la Cristina and Oriol Artigas‘ El Rall, both from Catalunya, both from 2019. The former is from the Conca de Barberà area in the province of Tarragona and lived up to normal standard, light yellow with its clean appley and mature lemony easy-going character. The latter I didn’t know. It’s a sumoll (the grape) from DO Alella, north of Barcelona city, and showed a cherry-dominated red fruits side, with a pleasant juicyness in the mouth. The best of the rest, and a surprise too, was Sin Prisa 2018, a forest fruits-coffee-scented monastrell without added sulphites from Bodegas De Fábula, Murcia, near the regional capital.

Below: Only two of the many international cuisine restaurants in the San Fernando market.

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Articles and Wine of the Week

Nadal at a Corpinnat tasting

Published 15. October 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

While Norway changed government with parades and speeches, an interesting tasting took place just across the street at the Grand Hotel. This tasting in Oslo was the first official Corpinnat tasting outside of Spain.

To be short, Corpinnat (meaning born in the Penedès, after Roman etymological roots) is a group of Catalan producers of sparkling wine that has left DO Cava. All ten producers with wines in the market were represented. Leading the tasting was Carles del Amor, export director of Nadal, one of the six founding members – together with Liora Levi, Norwegian sommelier and wine writer.

Carles del Amor while preparing the tasting in Oslo

The tasting showed a variety of styles. Some wineries contributed what they consider the more typical from their range, while others offered “top” wines. There were examples of restrained, mineral wines, while others were more on the fruity side. Some dominated by the xarel.lo grape (also varietals), others with more parellada. One rosé.

There will be a longer report that I will link to here. Now I will just present one wine in the ever ongoing Wine of the Week series.

Since Carles is here (on behalf of Corpinnat, that is) I still want to focus a bit on Nadal‘s contribution. Their Brut Nature Reserve 2015 was maybe the most flowery/fruity of the lot. This can maybe be seen from the grape composition; parellada 57%, xarel.lo 22%, macabeu 21%. While xarel.lo is a variety with a lot of acidity and preferred in wines made for ageing, parellada contributes more finesse and aroma. This said, Carles tells that they have a project going on, trying to prepare parellada for more ageing, for example by moving higher up towards the Pyrenees. By doing this they also prepare themselves for new, hotter times. The wine has an ageing of 60 months on the lees, is a non dosé obviously organically grown (as is mandatory without Corpinnat), and it’s degorged 21st June 2021 (also obligatory information within the group).

Here are other posts about members of the group (search the site for more):

Gramona

Recaredo

Mas Candí

Brut Nature Reserve 2015 (Nadal)

Light golden; fruity with aromas of white flowers, elegant yeast notes, a subtle hint of ginger and nuts; quite soft structure, but enough acidity – wonderfully balanced.

Price: Medium

Food: Fish, shellfish, light meat, salads various tapas and the best serrano hams

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Wine of the Week

Loxarel, a Clàssic Penedès

Published 11. June 2021 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Loxarel I have met at a couple of artisan fairs, in Barcelona, and as far as I remember, in London too. Masia Can Mayol, the official name, is Josep Medios, fifth generation. When he got in charge of the family firm at a young age he changed the philosophy of this old winery. He started bottling wines, converting to organic, then implementing biodynamic techniques. (Here is another good sparkler from the house.)

The winery is located in Villobí, on a plain not far from Vilafranca del Penedès, but they have also plots in El Pla de Manlleu, higher in altitude and a bit further west.

This winery is among the many that are now abandoning the DO Cava. Among the reasons for this can be a challenging reputation that the appellation has gained over the years, and the fact that it is not dedicated to one specific geographical area. More about this in a future article.

This particular sparkler is made up from xarel.lo 55% (now widely recognized as the best of the “usual suspects” for ageing), then macabeo 30%, parellada 5%, and the rest chardonnay, a grape that I have nothing against, even not here, even not native. I interpret the name a pèl +18 as the time spent on lees (and not skins).

A Pèl +18 Brut Nature 2016 (Loxarel/ Masia Can Mayol)

Light straw, greenish tones, creamy mousse. Mild Mediterranean smell of aromatic herbs, yeast, mature lemons and yellow apples. Creamy, tasty, rounded but dry.

Price: Low

Food: Apéritif, Iberian cured ham, light fish and shellfish…

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Wine of the Week

@Roca #Cava?

Published 25. December 2020 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Time to celebrate. Maybe not the year that lie behind us, but rather a toast to life, art and good wine itself. There are many possibilities; champagne, crémants, cava… Cava? All right, listen.

Agustí Torello Roca (AT Roca) belongs to the family that gave us Kripta and other great great cavas and wines from Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. While Agustí Torelló Mata (ATM) has turned to organics AT Roca goes further; with a more natural approach, and has also joined the ranks of those who leave the very strange DO Cava, that in reality stands for a way of making wine rather than a sense of place.

Agustí Torello Roca and his father and aunt Agustí and Lali founded AT Roca in 2013. One of the first priorities was to join DO Classic Penedès, a subdivision under the DO Penedès formed in 2012. It started with just 10 members, and has been growing ever since. DO Classic Penedès is perhaps the first governing body that requires organic certification in order to be a member. In addition to the farming requirements, 15 months aging on the lees is the minimum (while only 9 months within DO Cava), and all wines must be made by the traditional method and vintage dated. AT Roca goes further by only using indigenous yeasts and harvesting 100% of their grapes by hand.

For their single vineyard wines, they ferment in used barrels and age the wines on the lees under natural cork instead of crown caps, both of which are rarities in the region. Sulfur is only used once to block malolactic as an effort to retain the acidity. All their wines are zero dosage. They only work with indigenous Catalan grape varieties, with a focus on macabeu.

AT Roca Reserva 2016 (AT Roca)

Yellow with greenish hints. Aroma of fennel, lime, breadcrumbs. Good body and concentration, nice acidity, and a salty dry finish.

Price: Medium

Food: Good Spanish ham, light meat, salads, dried fish and tasty shellfish

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