Argent Brut 2021

A dry Cava of slender build: fine perlage, cool fruit, nothing padded. Lemon zest and green apple lead, followed by white blossom and the brioche note from lees ageing.

Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in the Penedès, where the Batlle i Gramona family has been making wine since 1850. The vines root in limestone and fossil deposits, a subsoil that gives the house's sparkling wines their saline coolness. Gramona ranks among Spain's most respected Cava producers; as early as 2000, the family converted all 150 hectares to organic farming, at a time when this was still considered a gamble in the Penedès. Javier Gramona and his team run the vineyards as a living ecosystem, where every intervention is carefully considered.

Pure Chardonnay. The second fermentation takes place in the bottle according to the Méthode champenoise, a craft refined over generations at the estate. The underground cellars hold over four million bottles; patience is part of the equation here.

Taut and precise, carried by lively acidity and a saline minerality that extends into the long finish. Roasted almond lingers on. 12.0% vol., dry.

With shellfish and delicate fish: oysters, prawns, sole. Equally harmonious with Jamón Ibérico, Manchego, or a risotto with green asparagus. Sushi and delicate dim sum also pair well with this acidity and the fine mousse.

The label carries the Demeter logo. A varietal Chardonnay from an estate farmed entirely organically.