NV Castell d'Age Cava Brut Nature Reserva ‘Anne Marie'

40% Xarel·lo, 40% Macabeu, 10% Parellada, 10% Chardonnay, all certified organic and biodynamic. Fermented in stainless steel with secondary fermentation in bottle. Aged for 22 months sur lie. Hand riddled! 5g/L dosage. 12% alcohol. Minimal sulphur- 15 mg/L. 3,000 cases made. 

This is a splendid introduction to the house’s style, showing elegance and length deriving from extended lees-aging and fastidious treatment in both vineyard and cellar. On the dry side, with zero dosage, this is a Cava that punches way above its weight. Like all Castell d’Age sparkling wines, it is hand-riddled.

Created by three generations of women in the Junyent family, Castell D’Age is located in the Beguda Baixa, in the heart of the Alt Penedés region.  In 1969, when Aurèlia Figueras decided to start planting her Xarel.lo vines, Francisco Franco, the repressive, autocratic dictator who ruled Spain for thirty-six years, was still in power. “Women were not supposed to be entrepreneurs,” says her granddaughter Olivia Junyent. Franco was a traditionalist and believed a woman’s role was that of a homemaker and caretaker, and his laws reflected that. But Aurèlia was defiant and planted her vines. In the late 1980s, Anne Marie Comtese, her daughter-in-law, realized the vineyard’s potential and decided to turn it into a business. She transformed the Penedès industry, introducing organic farming to their own land and to the region as a whole. Known as a pioneer in the field, Anne Marie brought to light the importance of respect for the land and attention to detail: two philosophies the women still hold true today, from grape to glass. With the addition of her daughter Olivia Junyent to the business, they are now certified organic and biodynamic agriculture, a method that respects the relationship between humans and earth.