2019 Partida Creus BB Special Cuvée Los Hondos

WINEMAKER: Antonella Gerosa & Massimo Marchiori
REGION: Catalunya, SP
VARIETAL: Bobal
VITICULTURE: Organic

Two distinct terroirs, one focus. Bonastre is located a mere 10km from the Mediterranean at 150-200 meters altitude. Narboneta in the province of Cuenca a little over 100km inland at an altitude 350 meters. Over the past 7 years Massimo has been working closely with friend Raul and his old vine Bobal. The little village of Narboneta has about 30 full time residents, surrounded by vines and the influence of the Henares river. The soil here is granitic sand incorporating good organic matter. This years special cuvee selected for Australia is a barrel of Bobal. A single plot named Los Hondos, it sits above the river. Harvested several weeks after Penedes, Massimo and Antonella travel south to Cuenca for several days every harvest, picking the Bobal in the cool of the morning and returning to Bonastre where it is processed.

Whole clusters macerated for 3-4 days, fermentation takes place in tank before it is racked to older oak to elevage for approximately 15 months. Black fruits, olives and thyme enchant. Fluidity and floral tones deceive, this is not your a-typical Bobal. Raspberries, the softest tannin envelopes. Cherries and violets. Beautiful acidity, Jura esq with a deft touch. A little anise and a wave of salinity. Bright and lifted, Bobal with structure and red fruit depth. Definitely bottles going to the cellar.

Hailing from Piemonte, qualified architects Antonella Gerosa & Massimo Marchiori purchased an isolated property in Bonastre in 2001, yearning for a simpler lifestyle, to grow their own produce and reconnect with the land. Surrounded by a protected forest, planted with almond and olive trees, interspersed with rosemary, thyme and Mediterranean scrub, the couple soon discovered an abandoned vine of Sumoll, a forgotten indigenous Catalan varietal.