Pardas Collita Roja 2018

Pardas farms in the hills of D.O. Penedes in Catalonia, working with Sumoll, an indigenous grape that had all but vanished from the region before a handful of growers brought it back. Collita Roja draws on Sumoll grown in small parcels planted more than sixty years ago, the old vines twisted by time and left to their own rhythm with little intervention, alongside a portion of Marselan. Sumoll naturally gives high acidity and firm tannin on a light frame, which is why the wine reads as a return to an older, leaner style of red. The grapes are farmed organically. After fermentation the wine spends twelve months in French oak barrels and a further seven months in tank, the extended rest rounding the tannins and knitting the fruit and oak together before bottling. It pours a medium ruby, with wild red berries, plum, dried herbs and a leathery, earthy savour, finishing dry and grippy. Serve at 15 to 16 degrees. It is a natural match for roast pork, poultry and mushroom dishes.