The 2007 Mas Del Serral from Raventós i Blanc

On Saturday last I tasted the 2007 Mas Del Serral, easily the best Cava I have had to date and, but for want of a little more freshness, would be numbered among the best zero dosage champagnes I have had.

2007 Mas Del Serral

Mas Del Serral is a project of Raventós i Blanc (Raventos), the estate which I have identified as being the first to leave DO Cava because of quality and branding concerns. Raventos has been farming the same 97 ha since 1497 (between Christopher Columbus' second and third voyages to the New World) and is currently managed by Pepe Raventos, the 21st generation to have done so.

The farm is located in the municipality of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia in an unofficial region that the estate calls Conca del Riu Anoia: "a small geographic area centered around the Riu Anoia Basin between the Catalan Pre-Coastal and Coastal Ranges."

The climate in the region is characterized by mild winters and hot, dry summers and is modified by the Anoia River, Lake Can Codorniu, two streams, and a hill known as Turó del Serral. Further (raventos.com):

• The proximity to the sea reduces thermal variation
• The Catalan Coastal Range protects the area from excess humidity
• The Serra d'en Compte and Montserrat mountain ranges protect the region from the cold wind blowing down from the Pyrenees.

Tectonic activity 20 million years ago dislodged Corsica and Sardinia from Europe and created the Vallès-Penedes depression which lay beneath the Mediterranean Sea until approximately 16 million years ago. During its subterranean period the skeletal remains of sea life built up in layers in the depression, forming a limestone bedrock. Rivers poured into this estuary, depositing continental detritus onto this formation. Five million years ago, The Messinian Salinity Crisis caused a drop in the level of the Mediterranean Sea and the Anoia River went from depositing material into an estuary to scouring away layers of the exposed bedrock. A number of these depository and "destructive" periods are visible in the fossil record.

Raventos i Blanc operates as a self-sufficient estate wherein both agriculture and livestock rearing are key business components and wooded areas contribute to the biodiversity that the estate seeks and promotes. Grapes are grown in seven named vineyards which are, in turn subdivided into a total of 44 distinct plots.

The vineyards are planted to indigenous varieties only (Xarel-lo, Macabeu, Parellada, Monastrell, Bastard Negre, and Xarel-lo Vermell) and are farmed according to biodynamic principles (Demeter-certified since 2014). The soils composition and variety distribution by vineyard are shown in the figure below.

Raventos practices biodynamic farming because of a "strong desire to maintain a sustainable and self-sufficient estate, with a wide-ranging biodiversity of flora and fauna and a rich underground life that gives a living and structured soil." A key component of the biodynamics program is compost which, in Raventos' case is secured from the pigs cows, donkey, horses, sheep and hens on the farm. The vineyard activities underpinning the biodynamic farming are shown in the figure below.

Mas del Serral is made from grapes grown on a 1.92 ha plot within the Clos del Serral vineyard. This plot was inter-planted in 1954 to Xarel-lo and Bastard Negre at 3500 vines/ha. The plot faces north/northwest at elevations ranging between 170 and 185 m elevation. Vines are Gobelet-trained and experience a cool and moist microclimate.

Growing conditions for the 2007 vintage included a relatively warm winter, rain in the spring, and a mild summer. Hydric stress, brought on by the lack of water during the summer, shortened the growing cycle by one week. Late August rain provided some late-season relief.

The grapes were hand-picked into 15 kilo baskets and transported to the cellar where they were subjected to secondary selection. They were whole-bunch pressed (pneumatic press at low pressure) and then fermented with indigenous yeasts in a mix of stainless steel and concrete tanks. The wines were aged in the tanks for 9 months prior to bottling. They were aged on lees for 100 months prior to disgorgement. Zero dosage. All grapes used in the construction of this wine were from the 2007 growing season.

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This was the first time that any of us had had this wine and we were all looking at each other, seeking affirmation. The dedicated Champagne drinkers were not jumping up and down; and I got why. But this wine was, as I stated in the opening, so close. It had flecks of gold in the color. The nose showed yeast and dried toast along with dried apricots. Slightly austere on both the nose and palate. Loved the lack of sugar on the palate but would have appeared leaner and finish would have been lengthier if the acid level was higher. That acid deficiency was most likely the result of the 2007 growing season, with hydric stress being visited on the grapes.

I will continue to seek out this vintage because of its classiness and the drinking pleasure that it brought. And will keep my eye open for future vintages to see the effects of different growing conditions on the wine.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme