Magnum XL Xarel lo Ancestral Sparkling White 2014

Magnum XL Xarel lo Ancestral Sparkling White 2014

Partida Creus

With a few years of maturation further reinforcing its character while smoothing out the nuances, this smoky, deep, full-bodied, mineral, and explosive sparkling wine is a true invitation to celebrate. The nose offers aromas of ripe white fruits—apple, pear, white peach—followed by mineral notes on the palate that frame yeasty touches reminiscent of buttery pastries and fresh bread. Beautiful, straightforward, saline acidity. Very elegant, XL Xarel lo Ancestral is highly drinkable and enjoyable. Made from the native Catalan grape variety xarel lo, harvested by hand and pressed directly, it is fermented in stainless steel vats using indigenous yeasts and finished fermenting in bottles on fine lees for a minimum of ten months, without the slightest addition of sulfites.

Find out more
Partida Creus is an important estate, both in terms of wine and history – we are talking here about the history of the vine in Catalonia. Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa, originally from Piedmont – and even from the Langhe region, where they know a lot about wine – first pursued careers as architects in Barcelona. But the wine bug bit them, and soon they abandoned the big city and its sophistication for the vineyards of southern Catalonia, in Bonastre in Baix-Penedés. There they find a quantity of abandoned vineyards planted with a dizzying diversity of traditional Catalan grape varieties that they passionately revive to save these varieties – and their wines – from oblivion. For them, it is not just a matter of heritage rescue, no: it is a matter of taste and nature. Of natural wines, which they will never stop making from now on on these sandy, poor, clay-limestone or clay-gravel soils, poor and poorly irrigated, where the vines suffer to give their best juice. Massimo and Antonella practice organic, biodynamic viticulture, entirely manual and natural in order to give new life to these wines. Vinyater, sumoll, garrut, monastrell, ull de perdiu, ull de llebre, sumoll, queixal de llop, cariñena, trepat, subirat parent, maccabeu, parellada, pansé, vinel·lo, bobal, cartoixà vermell or xarel·lo: Partida Creus is a veritable conservatory of native Catalan grape varieties. It also grows moscatel, grenache, merlot and cabernet (among others). Few wineries can boast growing so many different grape varieties. The wines reflect this diversity, with the winemakers striving to best convey the signature of the soil and the grape variety: single-variety wines are common among them, alongside extensive blends, all in the styles dear to Catalonia: still wine, "ancestral" sparkling wine, and even vermouth. The bottles themselves are works of art: bare glass, simply marked with two large stenciled initials that denote the vintage. The wines, fresh, vibrant, lush yet always straightforward and impeccably juicy and fruity, exude life. The arrival of a Partida Creus at the table always elicits cries of satisfaction.