Cairons – Xarel·lo – DO Penedès

Xarel·lo

La conillera (rabbit hutch) vineyard. Year 1982.
1630 bottles.
12.5 Vol.

Aged 5 months in 400 L chestnut barrels.

Variety

Old vine 100% Xarello, the clone is grafted from the best Xarello vines from unique plots.

Land

Old vineyard known as the conillera (rabbit hutch), planted in 1982 by Antón Fàbregas Campeny, of only 0.8 hectares, vines with four heads and not very productive, this small plot is extremely calcareous, an edaphological feature that gives it great complexity and finesse to their wines.

Tasting Note

Intense green-yellow color, with a fruity character in which the white fruit stands out, with a predominance of ripe apple and sweet pear, and mineral aromas very characteristic of this terroir. Timidly emerge notes of very balanced complex wood that do not hide the fruit. In the mouth it shows great potential, fine entry with a creamy and wide sensation, very complex and balanced. There is a good acidity that ensures a long life, with a point of bitterness, characteristic of Xarel·lo, and a discreet salty touch that gives it volume and makes it more sober.

Elaboration

Manual harvest in 20 kg boxes. Manually selected before being dragged. Film maceration 24 hours at 10 degrees. First fermentation in steel tanks and then final fermentation in 400 L chestnut vats. Aging in first-year chestnut vats, aging with the fine lees for 5 months in vats.

The cellar

Located in the center of Vilafranca del Penedès, at Carrer Amàlia Soler 132, in an old cellar built by my grandfather. It is here that he made wine in old cairon vats that he later sold in bulk to other wineries that bottled it, but in the 80s with the arrival of new health regulations, which prevented production directly in cairon vats , had to stop the activity and start selling the grapes directly.

I have been restoring and adapting this space, creating my urban microvinification cellar, where I make quality wines and sparkling wines from the best old vines that I work on myself.

The place consists of 25 caironate cups of different sizes, built between the 40s and 60s of the last century. Currently 9 of these have been recovered and have been transformed into nursing and care rooms, opening a passable passage between them and building a staircase to be able to access them easily and be able to be visited. The upper floor has also been adapted and equipped with a modern installation and oenological machinery.

I am a winegrower, I spend the whole year working as a farmer and I prepare my products with the utmost respect, trying to convey in each bottle the work in the vineyard and the identity of our territory.

The winery as a whole, due to its urban location, its history and architectural uniqueness, represents a unique space of its kind.