“Aloers”, Xarel·lo, Penedès Blanco

“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.