Wines

“Miranius”, which translates loosely into Catalan as “peers into nests”, a tribute to the foxes which sometimes roam their biodiverse vineyards looking for a snack, is 100% Xarel·lo. Fermentation proceeds spontaneously in stainless steel, and the wine rests on its fine lees in steel for six months before being bottled. “Miranius” displays the brisk, agile side of Xarel·lo, a variety whose relatively neutral fruit character allows for a powerful articulation of calcareous minerality. Xarel·lo’s naturally high acidity brings balance in this warm Mediterranean climate, and indeed this wine is bright, saline, and immensely refreshing, as well as a tremendous value.

“Aloers” is an old Catalan term for independent farmers in the Middle Ages. This wine offers a mouthwatering and tension-filled take on pure Xarel·lo. Its site of origin, called Montargull, was planted to bush vines in 1970 at 230 meters of altitude in the commune of Avinyonet del Penedès, 15 kilometers outside Recaredo’s cellar in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. “Aloers” is pressed whole-cluster and very slowly and gently, spending six months on its fine lees in steel, and it is kept in bottle for a year before its release to allow for Xarel·lo’s characteristic youthful austerity to diminish. Broad on the palate but well-focused, it tastes as if Maldon sea salt was sprinkled into the glass, and a persistent note of gunflint adds complexity to the apricot- and almond-like flavors.

Sourced from a single hectare of the rare red Xarel·lo, a pink-skinned genetic variant of the far more commonly encountered white Xarel·lo, “Ambvivalent” is fermented on its skins for seven days, and it spends one year aging in previously used 300-liter oak casks. With fruit notably more luscious and supple than its white-Xarel·lo counterparts, “Ambvivalent” nonetheless cuts a racy figure, basting the palate with clingy salinity and driving to a super-long, clean finish of remarkable tension.

With “Mirabelles” we move beyond Xarel·lo into uncharted waters. Within the vineyard “Can Rossell,” located 10 kilometers from Sant Sadurní d’Anoia at 200 meters altitude, Celler Credo tends 0.9 hectares worth of a local obscurity called Malvasia de Sitges—a variety of unknown origin that was nearly decimated by phylloxera in the late 19th century. The variety grows wild here, and Ton and his team harvest minute quantities of grapes each vintage from these low-yielding long-branched vines, which are spaced far apart and wonderfully aerated. Pressed whole-cluster, fermented in a combination of stainless steel and ceramic, and aged in steel for 18 months, “Mirabelles” is explosively aromatic, offering a viscerally saline evocation of the nearby Mediterranean. Notes of tangerine oil and smoke offset the wine’s intense minerality, and a gripping sense of dry extract drives the wine toward a remarkably lengthy finish. This combination of unique variety and incredible terroir make for a completely singular experience, as “Mirabelles” offers a moving glimpse into the pre-Cava, pre-technological past of the region.