27.00 CHF
Celler Pardas - Blau Cru
Prepare to have your senses blasted by this Blau Cru 2018 by Celler Pardas (Penedès). A 100% Malvasia de Sitges, this is a beautiful explosion of salinity, white flowers, citrus and acidity. Lots of flowers, lemon verbena, chamomile, Mediterranean herbs and delicious saltiness. Drink now, but definitely tuck away for years! And hurry, we don't have a lot left. Production this year was only 3632 bottles.
We had a long chat with the winemaker, Ramón Parera Pardas, who just lost about 25% of his tiny plots of this very aromatic variety to frost a few days ago. 3 small plots, 2HA (soon to be 4HA) of regrafted Merlot vines. "We were all young once" Ramón said laughing.
There were 2 HA left of Malvasia de Sitges in Garraf. Just 2!! It was almost extinct because it's such a difficult variety to work with, needs fertile soils to obtain decent yields, and was not part of the Cava trio (Macabeu, Xarello & Parellada), among other reasons.
2018 was an especially hard vintage due to historic amounts of mildew and oidium (which explains the extra sharp acidity of this wine). Direct press, which Ramón believes guarantees maximum purity, and aging in stainless steel vats for 9 months. No fining. Unfiltered. No chemicals, herbicides or pesticides are used on these rare few vines. No ploughing of the soils at all, and use of green covers. Ramón calls it the "Mediterranean Riesling". And we agree!