Nin-Ortiz Terra Vermella 2017

A pure Parellada Montonega, the 2017 Terra Vermella de Nin is a wine they think can age for a very long time given its extraordinary acidity (a pH of 2.8 and 6.5 grams of tartaric acid). The alcohol is a moderate 12% even if the grapes were picked later (the 13th to 19th of September) in the warm 2017 vintage. It comes from a 37-year-old organically (certified) and biodynamically farmed vineyard on red clay soils, hence the name, Terra Vermella, which means "red soils" in Catalan. The modus operandi was the same as with the other whites—pressing the bunches that are left to macerate in the press for 24 hours and the juice put to ferment in 300-liter oak barrels after letting it settle for one day. All of the wines ferment with their natural yeasts; in this case, the wine completed almost one year in barrel before bottling, and the bottles are kept for two to three years before they are sold. This is also from the Pla de Manlleu zone of Penedès but is sold without appellation of origin. It has a slightly closed and faintly reductive personality with notes of toasted sesame seeds, gunpowder, smoke and flint a little à la Coche-Dury/Leflaive or some German Rieslings, with some diesel-like, mineral hints. It has tasty flavors, as the grapes ripened well in a warm year like 2017. It has pungent and deep flavors and very good balance between moderate alcohol and very good acidity, which makes it come through as fresh and balanced. 2,420 bottles were filled in August 2018.