Enoteca, Brut Nature 2011

A mature sparkling wine of austere, clear-cut stature. Since it is bottled without dosage, everything lies open: fruit, yeast tone and acidity with no sugar to balance them. The perlage is fine, the tone composed, the length considerable.

The vines grow around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in the Penedès, on chalky soils with fossil deposits. The Batlle i Gramona family has worked here since 1850 and converted its entire 150 hectares to organic farming in 2000, an early decision for the Penedès at the time; today the estate works biodynamically. Javier Gramona and his team see the vineyards as a living ecosystem in which every intervention must be justified.

Xarello and Macabeu make up the blend. It is produced according to the méthode champenoise, with bottle fermentation and long ageing on the lees in the estate's underground cellars. The wine is bottled at 12.0% ABV and without dosage.

In the glass, an intense golden yellow with fine perlage. On the nose, dried apricot, roasted hazelnut, brioche and yeast dough, alongside a chalky freshness. On the palate, vibrant acidity carries the wine, the texture is saline and chalky, and the finish stays dry and very long.

Pan-fried turbot with beurre blanc, poultry terrine, aged Ibérico ham or wild salmon sashimi.

Brut Nature means no dosage, no sugar added after disgorgement. The label carries the Demeter logo. Gramona's underground cellars hold over four million bottles.