Finca Parera "Mala Herba" Sparkling 2019

The Mala Herba wines are a tribute to the queen grape of the region Xarello and only the oldest vines in his family are used for these wines. When we say old, we mean ungrafted pre-phylloxera vines. Rubén describes yields as a joke, how minuscule they are, but the quality is worth it's own label. 100% Xarello, certified biodynamically farmed from the “La Lengua del Pozo” farm located around 300m altitude, in the Alt Penedès Montserratí. Everything is hand harvested. This wine is made in the Ancestral Method, with the must at the end of fermentation from the same Xarello of their white wine, Clar, each year. Rubén and his team bleed the must/wine that is still fermenting into a stainless steel vat to lower the temperature and thus pause the yeast activity. Fermentation continues in the bottle with native yeasts for about two more years before disgorgement on the descending moon. No fining, filtering, SO2 or additives used at any point of the process. Annual production is around 1,500 bottles.

Producer: Finca Parera
Grape variety: Xarel-lo
Region: Catalonia, Spain
Appellation: Penedès
Features: Biodynamic, No sulfites added, Pétillant naturel