Istiu tries to capture the character of a miniscule plot (0.2 hectares!) planted with equal amounts of Xarel-lo (42 years old) and Malvasía de Sitges (13 years old). Biodynamic farming.
-Sandy calcareous clay at 250 meters altitude. Hand-harvested in 15 kilo bins and whole cluster pressed. Settled and racked to two 3 year-old Burgundy barrels of 300 liters. Spontaneous fermentation in barrel then aged on the lees for 8 months with no battonage. Racked to stainless steel for assemblage then bottled with no SO2 added. Two barrels (61 cases) produced.
Well-rounded and exquisite wine that oozes complexity. A fabulous nose of apricot, dried grains, pink flowers, and slate. Fresh yet subtly powerful on the palate with a cleansing wave of acidity. Pair with scallops.
Enric Soler won Spain’s Sommelier Championship in 1997. He set up a tasting room in Barcelona, which he managed for 14 years, but after the death of his grandfather in 2004 he changed jobs and became a wine producer. Encouraged by friends, he decided not to sell the old Xarel.lo vineyard planted by his grandfather in 1945 in Sabanell (Font Rubí), in an area used as an airfield by the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War, and started to take care of it himself.
