Gramona
Gramona in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia produces sparkling wines from the limestone soils of Penedès, in the hands of the Batlle i Gramona family since 1850. In 2000 the family converted its entire 150 hectares to organic viticulture; today Jaume Gramona and his team farm the vineyards biodynamically. The native grape varieties Xarel·lo, Macabeu and Parellada remain the foundation. The wines are made using the traditional method, with lees ageing of at least 50 months for the Imperial Brut and over seven years for the Celler Batlle. The dosage comes from an oxidative blend that the family has maintained since 1910 in a solera-like system. Gramona belongs to the Corpinnat association.
Sant Sadurní d'Anoia and the Batlle i Gramona family
Gramona has worked in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, in the Catalan Penedès, since 1850, and the Batlle i Gramona family still farms the vineyards around the village today. The subsoil is limestone with fossil deposits. In 2000 the family converted its entire 150 hectares to organic viticulture; Jaume Gramona and his team work biodynamically, weighing every intervention in the vineyard. Under Gramona's leadership, Aliances per la Terra has also formed, an association of biodynamic winegrowers in the Penedès whose vineyards go into La Cuvée "Aliances" Extra Brut.
Xarel·lo, Macabeu, Parellada
The three native varieties of Penedès, the classic foundation of Cava, carry the range. The Imperial Brut blends them with a small proportion of Chardonnay, with each variety vinified separately. The Celler Batlle comes from the single vineyard Can Romeu, predominantly Xarel·lo with around 30 percent Macabeu; it ages well over seven years on the lees and is disgorged as Brut Nature with no dosage, with depth and texture taking centre stage. The family applies the label, closure and wax seal by hand.
Chardonnay on its own yields the Argent, Pinot Noir and Grenache the Roent Rosé Brut, Pinot Noir alone the Argent Rosé Brut Nature. Pure Xarel·lo defines the Innoble Les Tres Serres Reserva Perpètua, Xarel·lo and Macabeu the Enoteca Brut Nature.
The 1910 solera
Since 1910 the Gramona family has aged oxidative wines in a solera-like system. These multi-vintage blends contain traces of very old wines and serve as the dosage: for the Imperial Brut it is measured at 6 grams of residual sugar per litre, placing it at the low end of the Brut category. La Cuvée "Aliances" receives 3 grams, following a recipe passed down in the family. In the Celler Batlle, a solera over a hundred years old continuously lends the wine maturity and complexity.
Lees ageing in the underground cellar
Over four million bottles age beneath the estate. Lees ageing is correspondingly long: at least 50 months, and usually longer, for the Imperial Brut, and at least 24 months for La Cuvée "Aliances". The III Lustros Font de Jui Brut Nature rests over 84 months on the lees and shows aromas of sourdough bread and toasted almonds, with a saline finish. For the Aliances, the family presses whole clusters and draws off about half of it; 15 percent of the batch ages in 300-litre oak barrels before the second fermentation.