Pardas - 'Negre Franc', Catalunya, Spain (2018)

TASTING NOTES

Pronounced aromatics with balsamic, black pepper, fresh plums and hints of candied oranges and pencil lead. Plenty of fleshy, black fruit and a touch of herbaceousness. The palate has California ripeness tensely framed by Spanish charming rusticity. A really lovely big, but elegant wine.

Free of herbicides, pesticides or other chemicals, the hand-picked grapes are subjected to a variety of vinification techniques to bring out their singular qualities, as does the 12 months of aging in French oak. 

The Bitlles River which flows through the valley significantly influences the mountain relief, humidity, wind direction, and soil types of the estate, creating a complex microclimate that produces an incredible grape and wine. 

Ramon Parera and Jordi Arnan of Pardas are in the forefront of the varietal revolution happening in Penedès. When they took over an abandoned estate, Can Comas, in 1996, they used the opportunity to painstakingly revive, replant and regraft the existing vineyards over to forgotten and nearly extinct local grape varieties that had fallen into disuse during the internationalization of the wine industry in previous decades. The focus is primarily on Xarel-lo, Sumoll, and an increasing amount of Malvasia de Sitges, a grape Ramon calls the “Riesling of the Mediterranean”.