Winemaker Notes
Straw hue with golden highlights. Intense with clear notes of maturity under a constant veil of freshness. Baked apple and sweet pears. Ripe citrus, grapefruit peel. Faded flowers and a herbal backdrop reminiscent of fennel and rosemary. The ageing notes run through a gamut of aromas which includes hazelnuts, pastries, toast, brioche and toffee. The cava becomes more and more expressive as it opens up in the glass. Powerful on entry with great structure. The carbon dioxide is fine and creamy. Loads of candied fruit balanced by the notes from ageing. The balsamic aromas come through again. Lively, refreshing finish on the palate. The aftertaste is never-ending.
This is very much a cava for enjoying with good food. With its balance of structure, creaminess and freshness, it works well with all food types and recipes. Appetizers, foie gras, terrines and cold meats. Seafood and fish. Poultry and even rice dishes, stews and hotpots.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Brut Nature III Lustros was cropped from a very low-yielding year after an extremely dry winter and the implementation of cover crops in the vineyards that resulted in 30% to 35% less grapes. But it was not an extreme year like 2003 or 2015, and the wine is fresher and balanced. This has great aromatic complexity, with balsamic notes, hints of petrol, beeswax, nuts and pollen. Dry, with a touch of bitterness, it's vertical and long, ending very dry and with tiny bubbles. It's more restrained and young and less exuberant than warmer years; this is more in line with 2010, more on the elegant side. The cork allows for a little more exchange, and they start with more pressure here, because it loses more. But it's super integrated and fills your mouth in a silky way. It's a blend of 65% Xarello and 25% Macabeo that matured with the lees in the bottle, which was closed with a cork stopper (rather than a crown stopper), for no less than 87 months.
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James Suckling
Chamomile tea, dried peaches, apple strudel, Cornish pasties and croutons line the nose. The bubbles are fine but persistent, and the texture is creamy but detailed, etched in by vibrant acidity.
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.