Partida Creus Vinel·lo Blanco 2023

Vinel·lo Blanco is a natural white from Celler Partida Creus, the small Tarragona winery founded by Antonella Gerosa and Massimo Marchiori in a renovated industrial warehouse in Bonastre, Baix Penedès. As Slow Food producers, they farm their small plots and narrow rows with a low intervention approach, recovering old local traditions and native varieties. The wine sits outside any denomination and blends field grown white grapes, including Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Parellada, Muscat and Garnacha Blanca. This is Mediterranean hill country with limestone and clay soils and a dry, sunny climate cooled by coastal breezes, which keeps freshness in the fruit. Made as a natural wine, it is fermented with wild yeasts and given minimal handling, unfined and effectively additive free, so it is bright, direct and centred on primary fruit rather than any cellar polish. The colour is pale straw, sometimes slightly hazy in the natural style. The nose shows green apple, lemon and pear with white flowers and a dried herb edge. The palate is dry, light and fresh, with lively acidity and a clean, faintly saline finish. The wine is vegan. Serve well chilled at 8 to 10 degrees. It suits grilled fish, shellfish, green salads and young cheeses.