Grapes: Xarel-Lo
Region: Penedès, Catalonia, Spain
Vintage: 2024
Viticulture: Organic
Soils: Mixed, limestone + calcaric stony soil
Vinification: Grapes are hand harvested on September 2, 2024. 80% are direct pressed while 20% are de-stemmed. Both parts are blended together for spontaneous fermentation, with 3 weeks’ maceration on the partial skins in stainless steel. Ferran takes care that the skins are submerged the whole time so they do not oxygenate and to avoid extracting harsh tannins.
Aging: The wine is racked to another steel tank for malolactic fermentation, then racked to old 500l barrels for 3 months’ aging. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with zero addition of sulfur.
Fining or Filtering: None
Sulfur: None added
Notes from the Producer: Pale yellow with slight turbidity; a complex nose with fruit, a bit of creaminess, and fresh balsamic notes in the background. The palate is elegant with a certain smoothness and texture; an integrated acidity highlights its complexity and liveliness. In this 2024 vintage we focused on balance between maturity and freshness. We aim to produce a textural white wine, not an orange one.
Notes from the Importer: Ferran Lacruz farms 8 hectares of vines in Catalonia, in the small village of Sant Marti Sarroca, in the heart of the Penedès wine region. Ferran started this project with his first vintage of 2018. He works completely outside of any appellation, farms the grapes organically, and is not adding anything to any of the wines. All the grapes are hand-harvested, and nothing is filtered or fined. Ferran grew up in this part of Catalonia, and since being a small child was seduced by the landscape, natural beauty, and the important of wine producing in the culture. He studied tourism in college, which left him feeling unfulfilled. So, with a friend, he began to embark on the journey of becoming a winemaker, looking to produce clean natural wines that express his homeland with honesty.
