Raventos i Blanc

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Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Penedès
People: Raventós Family, Owners | Joana Vinas, Winemaker
Viticulture: Practicing Biodynamic

Items

Raventos i Blanc 2021 'De La Finca' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login WS 92 WA 93 In Stock
Raventos i Blanc 2022 'De Nit' Reserva Rosado, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login WS 90 WA 92 In Stock
Raventos i Blanc (1.5 L) 2020 'De Nit' Reserva Rosado, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login — In Stock
Raventos i Blanc 2022 Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login WS 91 WA 92 In Stock
Raventos i Blanc 2019 'Textures de Pedra' Blanc de Noirs, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login WA 93+ In Stock
Raventos i Blanc 2020 'Textures de Pedra' Blanc de Noirs, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login — On Order
Raventos i Blanc 2016 'Manuel Raventos Negra' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona Login WS 93 WA 95 In Stock



Media Links
Robb Report: The Head of Raventós i Blanc Is a Rebel in the Wine World [Q&A]
Decanter: Rebel Harvest - In this week's column, Andrew Jefford looks back at the harvest at Raventos i Blanc and meeting 'Cava rebel' Pepe Raventos
Food & Wine: Can Cava Rival Champagne?
Wall Street Journal: Cava Seeks to Make a New Name for Itself
WineAnorak.com: Meeting Pepe Raventos
Wall Street Journal: Selling Cava in the City
Wine Geeks: Raventós i Blanc is Winery of the Month
Brunellos Have More Fun Blog: Raventós i Blanc & The Beginning of Cava

Social Media
Twitter: @RaventosiBlanc
Raventós i Blanc Facebook
Raventós i Blanc YouTube
Blog:"Los Momentos de Pepe Raventos"

Raventós i Blanc was founded in 1986 by Josep-Maria Raventós, a member of the Cordoniu family who wished to create a small, quality-oriented winery that would stand apart from the large co-ops in the area. Today they own about 300 acres of vineyards (with a high percentage of Chalk in the soil, like Champagne) planted mostly to local varieties such as Macabeo (Viura), Xarel-lo and Parellada. 

Josep-Maria Raventós was President of the Sparkling Wine Department of the Wine Trade Union and was instrumental in establishing the Cava DO in 1970. The Codorniu family goes back to the 15th Century, and the Raventós married into this family in the 17th Century. "It was here in the town of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia that Jose Raventós, head of the family firm of Codorniu, made the first bottles of Champagne method sparkling wine after a visit to France in 1872" (Oxford Encyclopedia of Wine). 

Today, Pepe Raventós has taken Raventós i Blanc to the next level with his obsession for natural farming and winemaking that reflects the true terroir of this estate. As of 2012, Raventós i Blanc has left the Cava DO to pursue authentic and honest sparkling wines representative of their terroir Conca del Riu Anoia. Their wines are 100% estate produced, and the vines are farmed in a biodynamic way, allowing biosynergies between man, animals and plants. 

Raventós vineyards have spontaneous plant coverage, which creates soil with biodiversity, fertility and life. Composted manure is added in the winter as well as short pruning on the bush. In the spring, they green prune to balance the vines and prevent any diseases. Plant infusions are used as homeopathic treatments to minimize the use of sulfur salts for oidium and copper salts for mildew, which are permitted in organic farming.

The soil on the estate, in the basin of the River Anoia (Riu Anoia), is calcareous and date back to the oldest period of the Penedès depression some 16 million years ago, when the valley was still submerged beneath the Mediterranean Sea. The River Anoia has carved out its course, this being the only area of the Penedes region where these soils replete with tropical marine fossils have surfaced.

Reviews

  • Raventos 2016 'Manuel Raventos Negra' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (6/15/2023)
    Rich with aromas and flavors of pastry cream, poached apricot, salted almond, lemon curd and anise, this vibrant sparkler is finely meshed and graceful, with a creamy mousse carrying the flavors on the long, lightly spiced finish. Lovely. Sumoll and Xarel-lo. Drink now through 2027.
  • Raventos 2021 'De La Finca' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 92 (8/31/2024)
    Compact and creamy, with a rich underpinning of minerally smoke and brine, this expands slowly on the palate, revealing notes of yellow plum, Marcona almond, grapefruit pith and elderflower. Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada. Disgorged March 2024. Drink now through 2029.
  • Raventos 2022 'De Nit' Reserva Rosado, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 90 (8/31/2024)

    A bright and harmonious sparkler, very pale pink in color, with snappy acidity working in tandem with the plush, lightly chalky texture to frame flavors of white raspberry and white cherry fruit, pink grapefruit pith and lemon thyme, backed by a rich hint of biscotti. Clean-cut and lightly salty on the finish. Xarel-lo, Macabeo, Parellada and Monastrell. Disgorged March 2024. Drink now.

  • Raventos 2022 Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 91 (8/31/2024)
    This vibrant sparkler is sleek and minerally, with fine mousse carrying a well-meshed range of delicate poached pear, persimmon, lemon curd, beeswax and white blossom notes. Disgorged March 2024. Drink now through 2027.
  • Raventos 2022 Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 92 (5/16/2024)
    The 2022 Blanc de Blancs comes from the lower terraces of the property and grapes purchased from local growers. It's a blend of 50% Xarel.lo, 30% Macabeo, 15% Parellada and 5% Malvasía de Sitges that refermented in bottle where it was kept with the lees for at least 18 months. It has a pale and bright color with some green tints denoting youth and is clean and fruit-driven with a Mediterranean nose with notes of fennel and aromatic herbs and a tasty palate. It gives good pleasure for the price; it has tension, balance and fruit but is not heavy and has a tasty, almost salty twist in the finish. This is pure, clean and pleasant, complex and expressive beyond its price point.
  • Raventos 2022 'De Nit' Reserva Rosado, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 92 (5/16/2024)

    The pale sparkling rosé 2022 De Nit is a blend of 49% Xarel.lo, 34% Macabeo, 12% Parellada and 5% Monastrell that refermented in bottle where it matured with the lees for 18 months. It has a subtle nose and feels very much like a white wine (which it mostly is) with just a copper tint and almost no red fruit aromas and very faint flavors. It's clean and precise, and the sugar almost unnoticeable, giving it just an approachable touch but never sweet. It's Mediterranean, with notes of esparto grass, a more generous year.

  • Raventos 2021 'De La Finca' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93 (5/16/2024)
    The 2021 De la Finca comes from the sloped vineyards on the property, the Vinya dels Fòssils (the fossils vineyard), complemented with grapes from other plots. It's a blend of 50% Xarel.lo, 40% Macabeu and 10% Parellada that refermented in bottle with the lees for 30 months. 2021 was the first of three warm and dry years, but less so than 2022 or 2023, so closer to a classical year, similar to 2019. It has some toasty notes, a smoky touch from extended time of contact with the lees in bottle: It has the balsamic core of Mediterranean herbs and white flowers and fruit and is aromatic, with good acidity and abundant small bubbles that give it texture. It was disgorged in March 2024.
  • Raventos 2019 'Textures de Pedra' Blanc de Noirs, Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 93+ (5/16/2024)
    The smoky and flinty 2019 Textures de Pedra was produced with 50% Xarel.lo Vermell and equal parts of Sumoll and Bastard Negre from the higher vineyard on the property that was planted 20 years ago. The base wine matured for nine months in concrete with the lees and then was put to referment in bottle, where it matured with the lees for some 42 months. It's spicy and smoky with an almost meaty side to it, like barbecued meat, almost savory, with a golden, deeper color. The palate feels polished and integrated, with small bubbles and gentle acidity.
  • Raventos 2016 'Manuel Raventos Negra' Conca del Riu Anoia Barcelona
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 95 (5/16/2024)

    The bright golden colored 2016 Manuel Raventós Negra—the personal selection that Manuel Raventós makes from the best wines each vintage with the idea to produce an age-worthy wine—was produced with 75% Xarel.lo and 25% Macabeo, fermented in stainless steel and kept with the lees in concrete for six months. It was put in bottle to referment with Champagne yeasts and matured there with the lees for 70 months. It has an expressive nose of pine needles, resin, aromatic herbs and a nutty touch. It's eminently Mediterranean, aromatic and fresh, elegant and subtle. The palate has lots of energy, pungent flavors and great depth and length. 2016 was a surprise; it was warm and dry, and Xarel.lo concentrated the flavors and acidity, which marks the wine quite a lot. It was disgorged in February 2024.