Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Gran Reserva Brut Nature III Lustros is a sparkling wine with a long history, aged for seven years in contact with the lees and kept without adding any liqueur d'expédition (Brut Nature). They like a blend of 75% Xarello and 25% Macabeo, which is a constant across the range, but the long aging provides for the telltale Penedès balsamic aromas of camphor, bay leaf and fennel, with a touch of petrol. The palate shows a compact wine, with very good integration of all the components, bright acidity and fine bubbles that provide a silky texture. It feels younger than it is, a good compromise between youth and development. 45,000 bottles disgorged in six different batches.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
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.