Celler Pardas “Pell a Pell” Blanc 2020

Celler Pardas “Pell a Pell” Blanc 2020

Grapes: 100% Xarel-lo

ABV: 13%

Region: Penedès, Catalunya

Winemaker: Ramón Parera and Jordi Arnan

Viniculture: Organic, no pesticides or herbicides whatsoever. hand-harvested 

Winemaking: Fermented with wild yeasts,Foot-stomped, macerated with skins in a sealed tank for 15 days

“seaside warmth in its bones”

This white, called “Pell a Pell” for its use of skin contact in the winemaking process, was a special project requested by this wine’s importers, Vinea. Celler Pardas loved the idea and made this wine to spec. Vinea is actually located in the same warehouse park as Crunchy Red Fruit, so we see them often and have partnered on a few import projects together. This wine was the second “semi-direct-import” wine that we partnered on with them.

There were only 2500 bottles of this wine made, which means Crunchy Red Fruit has reserved more than 10% of the entire production. When you taste something this singular, you want to share it with the people you know and love! We’ve long been fans of Celler Pardas, whose clean, naturally-made wines always deliver the goods. They’re located in Catalunya, outside of Barcelona, in the Penedès region. They’re always trying new winemaking experiments, and making wine from obscure and nearly-extinct grape varieties, so we’ve always paid attention to what they’re up to.

Skin-contact white wines are a sliding scale. They can move from a white wine that is slightly darker than normal, all the way to a fully-orange wine. This Pell a Pell is on the lighter, less-extracted side of that spectrum. But some of the fun things that come with a skin-contact wine are still present: savory flavors, a light touch of grippy tannin on the palate, and a mouth-coating texture. 

Jordi and Ramón foot-stomp these Xarel-lo grapes into a concrete tank, then let the skins and juice macerate together with the tank sealed for a full 15 days. This allows time for the flavors to change and integrate. 

The first thing you sense in this wine is toasted white peppercorns. It’s such a bonkers note for a grape that never usually gives that flavor. Notes of white peach, apricot skin, Rainier cherry, and fresh sage arrive on the finish.