Winemaker Notes
This wine is fermented and aged for nine months in a combination of French oak barrels and clay amphorae. A very unique wine with extremely limited production.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The white 2019 Venus de Cartoixà was produced with Cartoixà grapes, the local name for Xarel.lo, from half a hectare of 60-year-old vines in the village of Falset, in the clay and limestone zone of the village, plus some grapes from a small plot on granite soils that were regrafted to Cartoixà from the original plot. I tasted this next to the 2018, which made for a very interesting comparison. There's more of everything here; it's very complete. The grapes achieved better ripeness, but the wine is not warm or fat at all. It's powerful, still a little young and reductive, but this will not be released until May 2023. This wine needs time in bottle, and in fact, they are thinking they might release the 2020 before this outstanding 2019. There was one 600-liter demi-muid and some demijohns that filled some 900 bottles that were filled after a much longer élevage, and they bottled the 2019 and 2020 at the same time in May 2021.
Rating: 96+
Primarily associated with the Penedès region of Spain, Xarel-lo plays an important role in most Cava blends along with Parellada and Macabeo. Prized for its high levels of acidity and polyphenols, Xarel-lo adds strength, body and a distinct greengage or earthy character to these blends. Somm Secret—Just a few miles northeast of Barcelona, Xarel-lo vineyards around the town of Alella produce highly regarded still wines with fresh lemon and stone fruit flavors.
SKRESVLU1119_2019 Item# 1405436