L’ Avi Arrufi Blanco 2024

Celler Piñol is a family winery at Batea in D.O. Terra Alta, in the hills west of Tarragona, working since 1947 and championing the region's local grapes. Terra Alta is the Spanish home of White Grenache, and L'Avi Arrufi Blanco is built on it. The appellation sits at altitude on limestone and clay soils under a warm Mediterranean climate tempered by the Cierzo wind, which keeps the vineyards dry and healthy and slows the loss of acidity through a hot season. That combination gives a ripe but structured grape, and at 14.8 percent this is a full-bodied white. The wine spends seven months in French oak, which adds a light spice and a creamy texture through lees contact while the slow oxygen exchange rounds the palate. Expect a nose of white peach, apricot and melon with an anise lift and a waxy, honeyed note, and a broad palate carried by ripe stone fruit, vanilla and citrus peel over a saline finish. This is a wine with weight and grip rather than sharp freshness. Serve at 11 to 12 degrees in a large glass. Vegan.