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2008 Raventós i Blanc ‘Manuel Raventós Negra’, Fine Catalonia Sparkling WineFebruary 5, 2017
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The Raventós family have one of the most ancient viticultural tradition in the world with traces dating back to 1497.
The name Raventós is related to Codorniu family since Marie Anna Codorniu married Miguel Raventós in 1681. Nearly two centuries later in 1872 Josep Maria Raventós was credited for elaborating the world’s first Cava sparkling wine from Catalonia. A dynasty was born.
Another century later in 1986 Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc decided to sell his share of Cordoniu empire to start his own winemaking venture and produce world class sparklings from 46 exceptional plots of land inherited from the long family History of viticulture.
Today, and since 2013, Raventos i Blanc wines are no longer labelled as DO Cava and the winery has started the process of creating a new, terroir driven appellation, called Conca del Riu Anoia.
Read on as Raventós i Blanc tells us more about their story, their passion, and their wines.
Wine Reviews & Tasting Notes
Brief history
The Raventós i Blanc estate encompasses 90 hectares of vineyards, woods and a lake in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia that have belonged to the Raventós family since 1497. This is possibly the longest documented winemaking tradition in the hands of a single family in the whole of Spain.
Raventós i Blanc was created to give a “raison d’être” (a reason to exist) to an estate where vines have been grown since 1497, and to continue a family vine-growing tradition that stretches back over 21 generations.
The founder, Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc, believed in the closest possible connection between MAN and NATURE, following the ideal of the Catalan country folk which is rooted deep in their land. With this philosophy he wanted to create a true alternative to champagne.
The Mediterranean climate, the microclimate of the estate (due to the lake and the forest), the vines’ 100% native grape varieties, the soils (with terraces over 16 million years old where we can find marine fossils), with little human intervention, make it possible. We have perfect conditions for high mineral content sparkling wine.
Pepe Raventós, 21 generation and grandson of Josep Maria Raventós, is managing the Winery. His dream is that the wines from this new era will have their own name. This is why we want to recover the name of CONCA DEL RIU ANOIA, the name of a small geographical area, in order to help us to better understand and convey our viticultural traditions, the strength of our land, our unique grape varieties and the characteristics of our soils: in short, the way we produce sparkling wines.
Location
Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain.
Conca del Riu Anoia is the name that associates us with geographical area enshrined in a little corner of the world close to the river Anoia, whose landscapes can be seen from the Serral woods in the northern part of our estate.
Climate
The Raventós property has the climatic conditions typical of the Mediterranean interior, with mild Winters and hot, dry Summers, where variations in temperaturas are moderated by the nearness of the sea.
Raventós i Blanc has a weather station set up on its property, enabling us to observe and become aware of all the variations which occur over the year. We have climate data going back to 1900, a history which means we know our estate and its climate almost perfectly.
The microclimate of the estate is determined by the Serral hill and its contours, which define the direction in which each plot faces, by the lake and by the tracts of woodlands. The coolest plots on the estate lie on the northern and north-eastern sides of El Serral as they have less hours of sun, and all the grapes from them are used to produce our longest-aged sparkling wines. The plots facing south and south-east have higher temperatures and their grapes are mostly used in still wines.
The lake and tracts of woodland on our estate act to moderate the temperature, avoiding heat shock and making long-slow ripening possible. This is why the best grapes come from the north side of El Serral, bordered by the woods above and the lake below. These grapes are the ones which retain their acidity best for our long-aged single-vineyard sparkling wines.
Thanks to all this climate we are able to produce to produce sparkling wines which reflect this tipicity; looking for longevity, power and high local expresión in our wines.
Soil types
Our estate has its geological origins in the late tertiary (Miocene) and early quaternary periods, and is calcareous in nature. The time and the way in which sediments were deposited and subsequent tectonic shifts have shaped our landscape. In the Miocene period it lay beneath a shallow sea which exercised little pressure. Different types of soils originate from this period: clay over the material known locally as galera (compact clays with a polyhedral structure), sand over galera, clay over a limey, sandy subsoil with large numbers of calcareous nodules, and finally silty clay soil over a highly compact calcareous subsoil with large numbers of fossil remains of seashells.
In the quaternary period the sea began to retreat. From this period we have silty, sandy soils over molasse (soft, calcareous clay bedrock), soils of fluvial origin with large numbers of rounded pebbles and colluvial soils formed by erosion. The texture (proportions of clay, silt and sand) of our soils is essential when determining the potential water reserves of each plot: clays increase them, while sands and stones reduce them, but we always depend on the depth of the soil and the ability of the roots to exploit this soil.
At Raventós i Blanc, all the plots on the estate have good water reserves due to the depth of the soils and their clay content. Our studies have confirmed our ancestors’ choice: the soil is ideal for producing white wines.
Vineyards and grape varieties
50ha planted + 10ha in repose that will plant in the future years.
Vineyard surface area per grape variety on Raventos i Blanc Estate:
The varieties that adapt better to the hot years are Xarel·lo and Sumoll.
The colder vintage Xarel·lo, Bastard, Sumoll, Parellada and Macabeu (this last one if it’s very humid we have problems of with Botrytis).
Winery
The winery was build in 1986 by Josep María Raventós and Manuel Raventós who chose the oak as the symbol of Raventós i Blanc.
The company logo and the architecture of the winery were to feature the oak. Our symbol, the old family oak tree, presides over our winery and our brand. It is the steadfast witness to a commitment to the land and the fidelity to ideas which have been refined over more than 500 years: the ideas of Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc.
Up-to-the-minute, ground-breaking architecture harmoniously brings together the functional design of the winery and cellar, the oak tree, the vineyards and the ecosystem of El Serral. The whole design of the building, the work of the architects Jaume Bach and Gabriel Mora, (winner of the FAD architecture award in 1989) is conceived to be a perfect combination between form and function.
Now this oak is dead but we are trying to find solutions so that we can keep them next to us like it has been on the past 500 years.
Viticulture
One of our commitments with Conca del Riu Anoia is 100% biodynamic viticulture.
The animals, the vines, the soils and the people working together in an agricultural unit, creating a life cycle. Rigorous, well-defined and respectful forms of viticulture, based on the local area, that gives authenticity and tipicity to our wines.
We want to recover the long lost characteristics of that life based around the traditional farmhouse of the Penedès region and the lo- cal vine-growing culture in which the land, the vines, the animals and man all work together as an agricultural whole – biosynergy
People
Owner and winemaker: Pepe Raventós (21st generation).
Dynamic, active and passionate about the world of wine and winegrowing. Pepe Raventós joined Raventós i Blanc in 2001. Pepe has been part of the world of cava from an early age, spending his summers picking grapes in Sant Sadurní. He also spent hours working on the land in Saint Emilion, learning to make red wines. Trained as an oenologist at the Complutense University in Madrid, he gained experience in making terroir wines working alongside Didier Dagenau on Pouilly Fumé, Olivier Lamy at Saint Aubin, Harald Hexamer in the Nahe region and Phillippe Blanc in Alsace. He is always eager to pursue excellence in every detail of his winery. Manager, oenologist and wine grower at Raventós i BlancHis goal, to make his grandfather’s dream come true: to make Raventós i Blanc a winegrowing brand of international standing.In 2012 Pepe Raventós decides to leave the DO Cava to start a new path: CONCA DEL RIU ANOIA.
Pepe Raventós believes that there is an opportunity for honest wines resulting from a single estate, a specific climate, native grape varieties and rigorous, well-defined and respectful form of viticulture
He now lives in the estate with wis wife and his 4 kids near the nature and the farm, his passion.
Wines
Raventos i Blanc produce 600.000 bottles aprox. per year.
Range of sparkling wines include:
- Manuel Raventós Negra
- Textures de Pedra
- De la Finca
- De Nit
- l’Hereu Blanc de Blancs
Wine Trip to Visit the Winery
Learn more about the Raventos i Blanc bodega with a recent trip I made to the estate and winery: Wine Trip to Visit Raventós i Blanc: Catalan Fine Sparkling Wine Producer
Find Raventos i Blanc on Social Media