Pardas Aspriu 2013
Celler Pardas started when two growers from Penedès, Ramon Parera and Jordi Arnan, acquired an old estate called Can Comas in Alt Penedès, close to Sant Sadurni d’Anoia. The property surrounds an old medieval farm and spans 30 hectares of forest and other crops (mainly cereal) as well as the local grape varieties—Sumoll and Xarel-lo—that Ramon and Jordi planted for their wines. The other source of fruit for the wines come from two ancient plots further north, where they own old vines of Sumoll, Xarel-lo and Malvasía de Sitges; Ramon calls this fascinating local strain of Malvasía, an incredibly acidic grape notoriously difficult to vinify, the “Riesling of the Mediterranean”.
From the start the work on the land focused on a holistic approach; they manage the forest surrounding the vineyards as well as the land bordering them to create a whole agrarian ecosystem and live in the property. Many biodynamic principles are followed: the vines are dry-farmed, and the clay-limestone rich soils are not ploughed to avoid erosion and foster the micro-biology of the place. They regularly use ground vegetation, and no synthetic products nor pesticides are utilized. Their work is certified organic.
Ramon and Jordi are in the forefront of the varietal revolution happening in Penedès. The story of native grapes in the region is not unlike many others in different areas: the local varieties, deemed hard to work and less valuable than international ones, were slowly substituted by high-yielding types. Many of the new generation of growers in the area, however, decided to replant and work with the original grapes. Pardas' plantings all come from cuttings of old vines found in the region.
The work in the cellar is as respectful to the wines as their work on the vineyards is to the land. Fermentations are spontaneous, the wines are never clarified nor corrected, and they use a mix of steel, concrete and oak for winemaking and élèvage. The resulting wines are expressive and very direct. Sumoll is not an easy grape to master—“the most masochistic grape there is”, says Jordi— but as the Sus Scrofa shows, Parera and Arnan have conquered its rusticity and are making a delicate, fresh, and immediate wine. The same goes for their Xarel-lo and Malvasía, which are floral and aromatic and yet retain great salinity and minerality, no doubt owing to the chalky and rocky nature of their vineyards.
From the winery:
How many times when tasting wines that excite us we ask ourselves the inevitable question: what would the place of origin and the ecosystem of this wine be like? When a viticulturist makes the decision of making a single vineyard wine, it is undoubtedly his will that his work reflect the place where the wine comes from like a mirror. This will distinguish the wine and will provide it with its own identity. We are therefore moved by one desire: to transfer the terroir to the glass. The place above all else of the viticulturist. The desire of being reunited with nature, and establishing bonds which fulfil us is only human nature after all, though very often forgotten. Viticulturists, and winemakers when making terroir wines, maybe want to satisfy this desire, by creating an intimate connection with the environment upon searching for something irrational. Because we thoroughly believe, that the vineyard and the wine more than any other crop enable this encounter. With regard to the location, the vineyard is called: “La Barraca”: 2.69 hectares of deep clay soils and gravel planted with cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in 1996 located on the slopes of the Bitlles river.
