Alta Alella (Cava) VRIACC ICL 2019
The experimental yet profound Alta Alella (Cava) VRIACC ICL 2019 probably turned out shockingly better than anyone within this program had anticipated. It is a beautiful wine, organically grown (of course) and produced with the ancestral method in bottle for the second fermentation with no added sulfites. It basks in its complete lack of artifice, a clean, pure, intensely flavored result with soaring aromatics of citrus and white flowers, a fresh yet quietly concentrated palate and a length of finish that we only see from the best cava wines. It’s cava, but it isn’t, y’know what I mean? It’s something new and wonderful, and a joy to drink. Not only that, it’s a sign of GREAT things to come as these intrepid wineries, scientists and vine experts work together to make sure there are more and even more beautiful wines coming down the pike over the next few decades.
Organic and natural sparkling wine made with the ancestral method with no added sulfites. Resistant varieties planted adapted to climate change in the year 2013 on our estate. 897 bottles have been made of the 2019 vintage.
The objective of VRIAACC (Resistant and Autochthonous Varieties Adapted to Climate Change) is the creation of new plants of autochthonous varieties (currently working with Xarel·lo, Macabeu, Parellada, Tempranillo and Garnatxa negra) which are resistant to pests such as oidium and mildew to reduce copper and reduce copper and sulfur emissions in the vineyard. Apart from this genetic resistance to some pests, the resistant varieties would also have more tolerance to drought and could delay maturation of grapes between 2 and 3 weeks. The reduction of treatments in the vineyard will also bring other benefits to the soil (less compaction and less waste) and for the environment (less CO2 emissions)
The VRIAACC take on the model of other European countries (especially Germany and Austria) who have been working for so many years with the so-called PIWI's (German abbreviation for Varieties of Mushroom Resistant Grapes) and which consists of hybridization by crossing (between plants of " A same species or intraspecific) or by auto fecundation.
To obtain these new varieties (daughters of the current varieties), it has been counted with the collaboration of the Swiss breeder Valentin Blattner, who has been crossing over the years between the autochthonous varieties of Catalonia and the varieties already Resistant’s from northern Europe. It is not, then, a genetic mutation but it is an evolution within the same species between a plant giving a resistant mother and a son from these first crosses.
In 2016, after 3 years working with more than 5000 seeds and hybrids in greenhouses, some of the best adapted resulting plants were planted on the field with the objective to start measuring its adaptation to the real environment. From 2019 an accurate and meticulous process of micro vinification started and nowadays the research is focused in analyzing the organoleptic characteristics of this resulting wines, in order to obtain the most similar profile as our original mother plants.
| Color | White |
|---|---|
| Style | Champagne / Sparkling |
| Vintages | 2019 |
| Sizes | 750ml |
