Recaredo “Terres Brut Nature” Corpinnat
Catalunya, Spain | 2015
For my birthday last September I took a trip with a couple of friends to Barcelona, Spain, and while there we visited the Cava wine region located in Penedès just north of the city. Cava has had a bit of a topsy turvy history when it comes to quality winemaking, and sadly it has been more recognized for bulk produced sparklers that leave little impression on the soul, but there are plenty of diamonds in the rough that solidly place Cava as a world class wine.
One night while dining out in Barcelona, my friends and I were able to make a reservation to a highly recommended and very popular restaurant known for having a spectacular wine list. We were seated next to their glassed-in wine wall and were provided pretty tepid service at first until my friend began asking about the high-end Champagne selections behind the glass, then things got weird. A charming wine steward came to the table with a mischievous smirk, asked if we would like to see the cellar, and we were whisked away to an entirely different building leaving our belongings and half-eaten tapas behind. What happened on the very Stanley Kubrick-y journey to the “cellar “ will have to be discussed in another newsletter!
Alas, 30 minutes later we were returned to our table clad with fresh tapas and with us returned not with a Champagne, but a late disgorged bottle of 1999 Recaredo (pictured below) of which only 60 bottles were produced, and we had #15 marked on it to show where we stood. To say we were blown away with this bottle would be an understatement. It was beautiful. It was as close in quality to a vintage Champagne as I have experienced and that is saying a lot. This month you get to try their Brut Nature Corpinnat from 2015 which is a stunner. If this is your first Corpinnat, just know that this is a specific territory within Cava (Corpinnat means “the heart of Penèdes”) consisting of only 9 of the best wineries committed to the highest standards for quality wine production which doesn’t allow any other producer to be a part of without rigorous testing standards.
This biodynamic certified Gran Reserva bottling from 2015 rested on its lees for five years, was all hand harvested, and farmed 100% biodynamically with no dosage making the terroir the center of attention. This vintage also uniquely used a touch of Monastrell (aka: Mourvèdre) alongside Xarrello and Macabeo which imparts a beautiful red-fruited quality that previous vintages have not had. Enjoy this gem while keeping in mind there are some amazing Cavas that are on par with the world’s finest wines!
