Vins Pepe Raventos - Singular wines from Penedes
11/22/24 -
The Raventós i Blanc wines, from the Raventós family in Penedes, have been staples of the Chambers Street Wines Spanish section since the early days. For as long as I can remember, there was a permanent stack of the 'Rosé de Nit' sparkling rosé, and it continues to be a mainstay of our sparkling wine shelf. Over the years, I developed a friendship with Pepe, and in 2017 I visited the family estate and spent two days touring the vineyards, playing music with his charming kids, and tasting many wines, not to mention countless regional dishes that made me never want to leave Sant Sadurni!
On the last day of my visit, Pepe asked if I would be interested to taste the "natural wines" he was making in the basement of his home. He pulled away a rug, opened a secret door to the cellar, and we descended into the most serene and meticulously clean basement I have ever seen, with a table, a barrel, and several large clay amphoras. He was quite excited to share a wine that was aging in one of the amphoras, made from the local Xarel-lo grape, and vinified and bottled without any added sulfites. I remember Pepe being quite playful about it, as he was taught that working without sulfites was dangerous and impossible, so there was a sense of mischievous glee in breaking the rules. I also sensed immense confidence in the wine, which was made from a small vineyard that was planted in 1970 that he had singled out for the quality of its fruit. The wine was memorable, still to this day one of the best Xarel-lo wines I've tried. When I returned to New York, I inquired with Pepe's importer about the possibility of getting some of the wine, and as there was some general hesitance about importing a wine without sulfites added, they agreed to "special order" 10 cases for Chambers Street. Over the years since starting this secret project, Pepe moved production to the barn at Mas del Serral, in the heart of their vineyards, and the wines gradually were wowing people in Spain. They have now became more widely available in the US market, albeit in small, allocated quantities. Though it was fun when the wines were our little secret, we are nonetheless very happy for Pepe and always look forward to our yearly allotment of the Vins Pepe Raventós.
First started in 2014, the Vins Pepe Raventós project came out of Pepe's inspiration to farm his family's vineyards according to Biodynamic principles, specifically with the focus on animals, humans, and nature coexisting in harmony. He's a bit of a dreamer and maybe more poetic about it all than many other winemakers who share his philosophy and approach, but it truly is an inspirational way of life and approach to agriculture. Starting with the Xarel-lo from one 2 hectare parcel on limestone rich soils, planted by his family in 1970, Pepe also singled out a plot of Malvasia de Sitges and Bastard Negre for the project, and has started to make an ancestral method sparkling wine as well. The grape varieties are all local and indigenous, another focus of the project, and something Pepe wanted to highlight through his wines. Based on the sites he chose, and his winemaking approach, he was intent to make wines without any additives, including SO2. As he states on his website, "the main objective is to make authentic and balanced wines that fairly express the intrinsic nature of the terroir."
When I think about these wines, or talk about them with customers, I don't stress the "no added sulfites" detail, in fact I forgot they were made without any added SO2 until I was glancing over Pepe's site before writing this article! This, to me, is a testament to why these wines are so excellent. They are first and foremost about the place, the grapes, the vineyards farmed without chemicals, the manual labor, and the passion of the winemaker to share an expression from his land. I could call them natural wines, as this clearly has become a new category with a small but growing fan base, but it can be polarizing at times, and I don't want people who immediately turn away when they hear the words "natural wine" to turn away from these unique and beautiful wines!
To me, there are some downsides to #naturalwine, as a prevalence for "do-nothing" wine-making or process over product (there's no SO2 added, but does it taste good? Is it an enjoyable beverage?) has led to many sub-par wines flooding the hip wine cities of Paris, New York, LA, etc. The best and most adept winemakers in the world of "natural wine" will tell you that "do nothing" is NOT the mantra. More often you will hear: "the wine is made in the vineyard," which refers to the importance, nay necessity, for healthy, living soils that are rich with microbial life, and organic and biodynamic farming that allows root systems to absorb and transmit the microbial matter and minerals in the soil. Grapes harvested from vineyards that are stewarded this way will have physiological ripeness, natural acidity, and high quality that are needed to make a delicious, enjoyable wine without the addition of sulfites. It is definitely not an easy or lazy approach, on the contrary it's perhaps the most challenging way to farm vines and make wine. When I think of the best examples of wines made with this approach to farming and without any additives, the Vins Pepe Raventós are some of the first ones that come to mind. They are wines of place and they are immensely enjoyable. I have never had a "mousy" bottle of the Xarel-lo or a flawed Malvasia. He is clearly proud of the work that has gone into this project, but I don't think Pepe would release a single bottle if he was not also proud of how the wines tasted.
Though the sparkling wine from the Vins Pepe Raventós is not available on today's offer, we do have the three still wines: the Xarel-lo 'Vinya del Noguer Alt,' the Malvasia de Sitges 'Vinya la Plana,' and the red wine, 'Bastard Negre de les Terrases del Serral.' To round it out, we've included a tasty ancestral method sparkling wine that Pepe makes under the Can Sumoi label, from the Parellada grape. Though not part of the Vins Pepe Raventós lineup (sorry there is a tiny addition of sulfites!), this great value sparkler really impressed us when we tasted it a week ago and it just didn't seem like a Raventós offer without something sparkling!
-Eben Lillie
