No cold and even less rain. This is how the first weeks of the year have passed in our historic estate. While the old vines around us are still waiting for a change in the weather, only a couple of drizzles have brought us a little hope, leaving a meager 26 L/m2.

It seems that our main wish for this 2024 is still waiting and the drought continues to extend in time. A situation that we have been dragging for more than three years and that last 2023 we suffered in an extreme way, accumulating only 232mm, 55% less than the average of the last decade.

A year of recognitions

 

 

Despite this, the joys also came. And, although the concern was at its peak, we could enjoy great recognitions, such as those granted to us by the leading American magazine of the sector, Wine & Spirits, placing us as one of theTop 100 Wineries of the Year. A praise that we share with the project of minimal intervention wines that we have in Can Sumoi and only five other Spanish wineries.  In addition, Raventós i Blanc was the only Spanish representative of sparkling wines and one of the only seven in this category around the world.

These international awards were added to those received by Enoteca Manuel Raventós 2007, which became part of the prestigious Liga 99 of the Guía Vinos Gourmets; or Blanc de Blancs 2020, awarded as the best sparkling wine of the year by the Asociación de Periodistas y Escritores del Vino (AEPEV).

 

Viticulture

 

These encouraging awards have been a boost to our work in the estate throughout the year. A 2023 that began with a mild winter, giving way to a spring full of the tasks required at this delicate moment when the vines begin to awaken from their lethargy.

Biodynamic work with the application of the 501-silica preparation, grafting to guarantee the growth of our local varieties, or advanced green pruning due to the lack of rain were some of the main tasks in this flowering season.

So, waiting for a Rainy Day, we found ourselves with a visit that set the pace for a different day at the farm. The drummer and second voice of Coldplay,Will Champion, took advantage of the band’s Music of The Spheres world tour in Barcelona to walk among our vineyards and finish with a meal accompanied by some of the wines he occasionally enjoys, such as Mas del Serral and Xarel·lo del Noguer, from Vins Pepe Raventós, La Rosa de Can Sumoi or our De Nit.

 

Harvest 2023

 

While in our heads we were still listening to the chorus of “Oh, rainy day, come ’round”, we were on August 15, the day we started harvesting at the estate; the earliest harvest we have ever celebrated.

The “harvest of suffering”, in the words of Pepe Raventós, was the third consecutive year of drought at the estate; this last one being the most severe. In these conditions, our vines have reduced their production between 40% and 60%, being the xarel·lo (our most characteristic local variety) the one that has shown the best capacity of adaptation and resistance.

 

After just fifteen days of harvesting, on September 1 we picked the last Parellada from the Cementiri, Barbera Vella, El Cols and El Mingo vineyards, while we continue to buy grapes from the Conca del Riu Anoia winegrowers with whom we work to make Blanc de Blancs and De Nit.

A purchase of grapes that, once again, we made at the best price in the area, paying up to 1.10 €/kg for those grapes harvested by hand from old eco goblet-trained vineyards. This is another example of our commitment.

An ecological, social and cultural commitment that involves conserving our forests, margins and rivers; paying a fair price per kg of grapes to growers; and avoiding the proliferation of industrial estates and out-of-place housing developments, defending a territory with enormous potential to produce great wines for cellaring.

With this mantra in mind, we hope that 2024 will bring us rain and that we will continue to enjoy our passion in the field and new successes, such as the one we have just been awarded by the British reference portal Tim Atkin, recognizing Raventós i Blanc as the Catalan Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year.

This distinction is included in the recent Catalunya 2024 Sparkling Wine Special Report, published by British journalist Tom Hewson, who highlights the precision of all our sparkling wines: “Each cuvée, from the exemplary entry-level offerings to Mas del Serral itself, feels utterly at home with itself, conceived with thoughtfulness and executed with an almost unnerving precision“.