2017 Mas Candi Xarel-lo 'Desig'

Region: Penedes < Spain

Grapes: Xarel-lo, Macabeu Ancestral

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified organic farming, white clay/limestone/flint soils, 50 year-old vines, zero added SO2; 300 cases; 12.5% ABV

Winemaker: Toni Carbó

Four viticulture and enology students got together in 2006 to start Mas Candi to make wines from their families’ vineyards, focusing on indigenous Catalan varieties.  Xarel-lo is the lead grape in Cava, Spain's sparkling wine, and rarely is bottled on its own.  For this bottling, the juice from 52 year-old vines spends a day with its skin to pick up texture before spending 7 months with its lees in stainless steel, helping it mellow and round out before bottling. Desig is a fresh breezy, mineral bomb, with earthy tones, grapefruit peel and pronounced salinity.  A most excellent pool wine.