Pares Balta Mas Pons Chardonnay 2011
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In 1978, Mr Joan Cusine Hill took over the winery. Born in 1917 in Bellvei del Penedes, Mr Joan Cusiné Hill came from a family of vine growers and, already from the age of seven, he helped his father to cultivate the vineyards and never stopped working. At 80 years old he even helped his grandsons to care for a part of the vineyard. His son Joan Cusine Cusine started to manage Pares Balta in the eighties and released its first still white wine, "Blanc de Pacs" which is still produced today. At the end of the eighties the first red wine from the company was produced, and since then he has enthusiastically been attempting anything that could raise the quality of the wines.
Since 2000 the management has been in the hands of the two grandsons, Joan and Josep Cusine Carol. They have brought new and fresh ideas into the company, but have also shown respect for its tradition and guarded the heritage. The wives of Joan and Josep, Maria Elena Jimenez and Marta Casas are the winemakers and oenologists. They have continued to develop new wines and increased the focus on quality. Today, Pares Balta produces a wide range of high quality wines and cavas that has been both nationally and internationally acclaimed. Always keeping quality in view, the aim is to produce some of the best and most interesting wines in the world.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A superior source of white grapes for the production of Spain’s prized sparkling wine, Cava, the Penedes region is part of Catalunya and sits just south of Barcelona. Medio Penedès is the most productive source of the Cava grapes, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada. Penedes also grows Garnacha and Tempranillo (here called Ull de Llebre in Catalan), for high quality reds and rosès.