SP Blanc 2019

SP Blanc 2019

Partida Creus

Partida Creus is an important estate, both in terms of winemaking and history—we're talking about the history of the vine in Catalonia. Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerosa, originally from Piedmont—and even from the Langhe region, where wine is well-known—first pursued careers as architects in Barcelona. But the wine bug bit them, and they soon abandoned the big city and its sophistication for the vineyards of southern Catalonia, in Bonastre in Baix-Penedés. There, they found a wealth of abandoned vineyards planted with a dizzying diversity of traditional Catalan grape varieties, which they passionately revived to save these varieties—and their wines—from oblivion. On their part, it’s not just a matter of saving heritage, no: it’s a matter of taste and nature. Natural wines, which they will continue to make from now on on these sandy, poor, clay-limestone or clay-gravelly, poor and poorly irrigated lands, where the vines suffer to give their best juice. Massimo and Antonella practice organic, biodynamic, entirely manual and natural viticulture 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, ceciat parent, maccabeu, parellada, pansé, vinel.lo, bobal, cartoixà vermell or xarel.lo: it is a true conservatory of the native Catalan grape varieties that Partida Creus cares for. There are also Moscatel, Grenache, Merlot, and Cabernet (among others). Few wineries can boast growing so many different grape varieties. The wines reflect this diversity, with winemakers striving to best convey the signature of the soil and the grape variety: single varietals 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 indicate the cuvée. The wines, fresh, vibrant, lush but always straightforward and impeccably juicy and fruity, breathe life. The arrival of a Partida Creus at the table always elicits cries of satisfaction.
The parent Subirat, one of the oldest Catalan grape varieties and a close relative of Malvasia, remains rare even in its country of origin. The clay-limestone soil reinforces its freshness and uprightness. The harvest is pressed after a three-day skin maceration. The must is settled and fermented using indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats. It rests for three months in vats on fine lees before bottling. This wine is crisp and aromatic, with a nose of ripe white fruits, melon, and wildflowers. Agile on the palate, fresh and straightforward, lemony and slightly saline, with a long finish tinged with a delicate bitterness typical of the estate.