Manuel Raventós Negra 2017

2017

Vintage of contrasts, rainy to budbreak and difficult due to the drought until the end of the cycle. A harvest of very low production, but the plants have recovered energy for good vegetative development.

After a 2016 vintage with the lowest rainfall recorded in the last 50 years (283.5 mm) a promising autumn and winter came with 320.8 mm of rain. December and January were rather cold. March and April with 124 mm of rainfall helped the plant to have a good vegetative development. On 21 April we had a frost in which we lost 5% of production in the Plana and the Lake, but it did not affect the Noguer vineyard. Then came some tough months of drought until harvest. From early May to the beginning of the harvest it only rained on 4 days with a rainfall between 10 and 15 mm, followed by windy days.

Rain on August 8 provided the Xarel·los with energy for the end of maturation. The growing season was short, and we started the harvest earlier than ever before. We finished the estate harvest on August 30 with the Xarel·lo from the Noguer vineyard. It was healthy with concentrated, rounded wines with good acidity. The plant has recovered from the 2016 vintage and appears to be strong for the new campaign. During the agricultural year we have had a rainfall of 448 L/m2 (the average over 20 years is 525 L/m2) and the average temperature was 15.5 °C (annual average is 15.2 °C).

A harvest of contrasts; concentrated rounded wines with good acidity. The plant managed to recover from the drought of the 2016 vintage.

PERSONAL COUPAGE
Manuel Raventós Negra, descendent de Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc is the personal selection Manuel Raventós makes of the best wines of the vintage. It is his personal coupage. A signature sparkling wine. For lovers of fresh wines with acidity, structure and volume, tense on the palate, with fine bubbles and aromas of toast and butter. A golden colour.

A sparkling wine that, due to its exceptional character, is only bottled in the most exceptional vintages.

Blend: 70% Xarel·lo, 30% Macabeu

Biodynamic viticulture. Vineyards with spontaneous plant cover, which fosters biodiversity, fertility and life in the soil. We apply manure that comes from our animals and is composted during the winter. We adopt the gobelet short pruning system. Plant infusions are used as phytotherapy to minimise the use of copper and sulphur. The European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) is controlled by sexual confusion. Control of berries and ripening before the harvest. Manual harvest.

The six years of ageing in stacks give it a bright gold colour and a marvellous structure on the palate, as well as an enveloping silky texture with a long, bitter finish typical of wines from the Conca del Riu Anoia.

The wines that Manuel Raventós selected for this vintage was Macabeu and Xarel·lo from diferents parcels; the varieties that allows the long ageing of our sparkling wines, due to its good agricultural performance and its aromatic and taste potential.