Mas Candí, “Desig” Blanc
Penedès, Spain 2019 (750mL)
Regular price$28.00
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Mas Candí, “Desig” Blanc
It’s no longer a well-kept secret that Spain’s Xarel-lo variety—best known as an ingredient in the best Cava sparklers—can transform into the kind of structured, mineral white wine that Burgundy-lovers’ dreams are made of. This indigenous Spanish grape has been quietly gaining popularity as a still wine of high quality and strong personality. But if you’re just arriving to the Xarel-lo party, no bottle will get you up-to-speed faster than Celler Mas Candí’s “Desig.” This wine already has a major cult following in the sommelier community, as it perfectly exemplifies the wave of new-generation energy sweeping through the Spanish wine world right now.
In true Catalonian fashion, the Mas Candí team is fresh, young, and a little rebellious. They’re fiercely independent winemakers grounded in five centuries of viticultural tradition, which gives them just enough of a foundation to experiment at will—and experiment, they did! The 2019 “Desig” is a mouthwatering old-vine masterpiece with a kiss of skin contact—juicy, taut, and ready to enjoy the moment you pull the cork. It’s got as much heritage as it does ‘coolness’ factor, biodynamically farmed from a vineyard that looks like the surface of the moon. There’s no wine better suited to late summer evenings—the perfect pour for wine-nerds and simple pleasure-seekers alike. Xarel-lo is the new white wine of the moment, and this is the one blazing the trail!
Ramón Jané’s family has farmed Xarel-lo (tza-REH-low) on the inner edge of the Garraf Massif for 500 years. Their family history of viticulture actually predates the first written documentation of Xarel-lo by almost 250 years—you can’t teach what’s already in your blood. In 2006, Ramón and his wife Mercè teamed up with their best friend and oenologist Toni Carbó to shake things up a little. Instead of selling all of their breathtaking biodynamic fruit to local Cava producers in the centuries-old tradition of their family, they decided to keep a little portion for themselves. Mas Candí is a reclamation, of sorts, a return to ancestral knowledge. Maybe that’s why every tiny step of the viticultural and winemaking processes are carried out with jubilant Catalonian pride. This wine has as much spirit as it does flavor, capturing the inventive, romantic culture that surrounds it.
The Penedès DO (Denomination of Origin) is famously diverse in its varieties and climates, but consistently high in quality and craftsmanship as soon as you explore beyond the largest producers. While most Xarel-lo gets relegated to sparkling Cava, the Mas Candí team separates the cream of their crop for “Desig.” The 60-year-old vines are planted on an exposed limestone ridge that’s blasted with cold wind for the great majority of the year. Whenever you imagine good wine coming from stressed-out vines, you should picture the vineyards of Mas Candí. What initially seems a desolation of twisted wood explodes with some of the most concentrated Xarel-lo grapes in the world come harvest. It’s a secret paradise of flavor and depth thanks to calcareous clay soils that demand deep roots and a serious will to live.
Grapes are hand harvested by the tiny team before a 24 hours of skin contact. A spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel is followed by seven months on the fine lees, with just enough bâttonage to coax out a little textural complexity. The result? Nervy, salty, wine with an unmistakable sense of place. What Xarel-lo lacks in flashiness it makes up for in depth, subtlety and transparency of terroir. No matter how good the Cava is...this bottle showcases Xarel-lo’s undeniable potential for “varietal” greatness.
The juice’s time on skins makes “Desig” glow like the setting sun—pale yellow with gold highlights. It’s as pretty on the nose as it is in your glass, featuring salt-tinged aromas of Pink Lady apple, fennel, and crushed almonds. It becomes increasingly expressive with a few swirls; lemon pith and green mango join on the palate. Fresh ginger lingers on the finish, highlighted by bright acidity and an unexpected satiny texture that lingers like a Spanish suntan. There isn’t much information out there about food pairings for Xarel-Lo, mostly because it’s the perfect wine for a table full of salty snacks--think sardines, peppers in oil, patatas bravas, and pollo frito. Most of all, think, “put a second bottle in the fridge,” because you’re going to need it before you can say, “¡Más, por favor!”