Score: 92/100
This wine is a vintage Blanc de Noirs, or “Blanc de Negres” as it said in the local Catalan language.
It is for its producing winery Raventos I Blanc an exploration at producing a fine sparkling wine from 3 local and traditional red grape varieties: Xarel.lo Vermell, Bastard Negre, and Sumoll.
Textures de Pedra aims at being the highest expression of the Mediterranean varieties, the Penedès climate, the stony soils of Conca del Riu Anoia, and a long bottle aging on lees.
In the vineyards, the viticulture uses the principles of biodynamics.
This wine is made from the highest-altitude vineyards on the Raventos i Blanc’s estate (Vinya Mes Alta, see vineyard map below). These have a distinctive stony soil hence the name of the wine ‘textures de pedra‘, Catalan for stony texture.
After assemblage (blending) and the second fermentation in bottle, the wine undergoes a minimum ageing period of 42 months in a horizontal position in the bottle.
No “liqueur d’expédition” was added so this is a Brut Nature.
The disgorgement date is stated on all back labels of the 8,612 bottles produced.
So how good is 2012 Raventos I Blanc Textures de Pedra?
Tasting Notes
This Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine from Catalonia comes in a rather intense gold color with slight pink hues from the red grapes it is made from.
The aromatic profile is also very intensely scented.
It’s a charming ocean of sweet spices, ripe citrus and luscious fruits, actually reminding me of some gorgeous oriental pastry.
Orange peel liqueur, dried dates, fresh figs marry sweet spices like nutmeg and rich nutty notes of walnut and pecan. So powerfully-charming and salivating it smells!
The palate is just as luscious, but fresher with a great mineral acidity bringing the citrus fruit flavors to a lesser liqueur-ish profile, there’s plenty of ripe lemon and lime that come together with the orange peel and dried fruit liqueur in the mouth.
A touch of enjoyable vegetal touch of acacia flavors even give the mid-palate somewhat of a grassy feel.
Rich smooth and oily texture with fine yet crispy bubbles that tease your palate joyfully.
The finish is outstandingly mineral, almost tasting like warm sand, well without the horrible granulous texture obviously. But yes indeed, the stony terroir this wine comes from must have left a silicate flavor into the wine.
Beyond this subtle note, the finish is long on honey and nutty richness, with some tropical confit fruit goodness too.
Overall
A truly stunning sparkling wine that surprises and strikes by its cheer flavor intensity that combines luscious ripe fruit, with heaps of nutty complexity and a refreshing mineral acidity.
Dry but filled with all the goodness of ripe fruit and leesy characters with love in well-worked sparkling wines, it simply has an extremely generous personality and an affirmed character well worth experiencing.
A wine to experience then, for sure…
Enjoy 🙂
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