2008 Recaredo Turó d’en Mota Brut Nature
Welcome to the mountain top of quality for Spanish sparkling wine. Recaredo produces this stunning sparkling as a tribute to simplicity and focus, made from one exceptional vineyard of one grape variety to represent one brilliant vintage. The attention to quality here competes with some of the most luxurious Tête de cuvée in Champagne with old vine biodynamic grapes, 150 months of bottle aging under natural cork, and low production of 4,317 total bottles! 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of Recaredo’s founder disgorging his first bottle of sparkling and while many innovations have taken place since then, the winery’s pledge to showcase their distinctive terroir in wines made in their purest form sourced from vineyards farmed with the highest care remains.
Recaredo was founded west of Barcelona in the Alt Penedès where vines enjoy mild winters and hot summers grown in hillsides of highly calcareous soils, a hallmark found among high quality sparkling wine regions. Aromatic Spanish indigenous Xarel.lo is planted as bush trained vines, dry farmed with some reaching as far back as 1940. This Biodynamic vineyard, the first in Penedès, faces northeast, sheltered by nearby woodlands. In vintages considered truly exceptional, like this 2008, grapes from the southeast facing portion of the vineyard are used.
From the inception of Recaredo in 1924, winemaker Joseph Mata Capellades was determined to prove the age worthy quality of his wines, building a vast cellar underneath his home and naming the future winery after his father. The estate is currently overseen by the third generation of this winemaking family but the commitment to producing only vintage Brut Nature long aged wines remains. Don’t call this delicious Spanish sparkling a Cava though as Recaredo joined together with other top sparkling producers in 2019 to leave the Cava DO classification due to its expansion, viewed as increasing wines of lower standards and losing the sense of beauty that makes the hills of the Alt Penedès so special. Recaredo and these pioneering families would create their own brand, Corpinnat, named from a combination of Catalan and Latin words, meaning “heart of Penedès,” and requiring 100% organic and sustainable winemaking of hand harvested indigenous grapes within the Corpinnat region.
The wine features aromas of sea spray chalky minerality as well as hints of caramelized sugar from the use of barrel fermentation during production that becomes apparent after about 40 minutes after opening. Extended lees aging of over 12 years provides a mélange of aromas, textures and flavors to entice your palate. Most notably a creamy weight of marzipan is juxtaposed against electric lime citrus fruit while hints of toast spice and smoke playfully remain in the distance.
