Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The selection from Manuel Raventós Negra changes from vintage to vintage, varieties and vineyards, all to achieve a vin de garde. The 2013 Manuel Raventós Negra was produced with 60% Sumoll and 40% Xarel.lo, so it's a fresher expression of the style of this cuvée in a rainy and cooler year. It's a sharper wine with 11.8% alcohol and very high acidity, and it is aging very slowly, with subtle aromas and a vibrant, electric palate. This should age nicely. Rating: 94+
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Wine Spectator
Elegant and harmonious, with toast and oyster shell elements edging the peach, white cherry and coffee flavors that are streamlined, harmonious and nicely integrated. Sumoll and Xarel-lo.
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.