GrapeDummies Between the Grapes! – Agustí Torelló Mata
AGUSTÍ TORELLÓ MATA – Welcome to our second article in the GrapeDummies Between the Grapes series where we visit wineries! This visit has been more than a year in the making and we’re happy that we were finally able to make the trip to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.
Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is the heart of the Cava industry in the Penedès region in Catalonia, Spain. And this is also the town where we can find Cava Agustí Torelló Mata.
Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada and Trepat are the grape varieties used. All traditional autochthonous grapes from the area. The grapes grow in the different areas around Penedès. Macabeo can be found mostly around the coastal area at the Mediterranean sea. Xarel·lo grows around the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in the Vall d’Anoia Foix. While Parellada and Trepas can be found most in the highest parts of Penedès, near the Castle of Mediona.
For our visit, we were welcomed by Candela. And she took us for a trip around the winery. We started in a small separate building. Where the grapes are collected and then pressed before they would be transferred to the tall steel containers next to it. These containers were placed outside. Something you don’t see every day.
Each of the varieties used is fermented separately with their own yeast, found in the vineyards. Three months after the harvest, the different wines are blended while the winemaker determines the proportion of each grape for that Cava.
The heart of the winery is of course the Celler. Here thousands of bottles are resting during the second fermentation. Over the months the yeast will do its magic, forming the bubbles in the wine. After the aging the yeast will form some sediment, which is removed during the disgorgement. Agustí Torelló Mata makes only Reserva and Gran Reserva cava’s which means their Reserva’s rest for a minimum of 24 months while their Gran Reserva’s can be in the Celler from 3 to 10 years. They choose to bottle a limited amount of bottles each time, to make sure that every Cava is shipped out recently disgorged. As the shorter the period in the bottle, the fresher the Cave will be.
After seeing the different stages of the Cava making process it was time to taste a couple of their expressions. It’s interesting to note that Agustí Torelló Mata not exclusively makes Cava, they also have a couple of still wines, of which one Xic, a Xarel·lo was the opening of our tasting. A full review on this wine will come in the near future.
Other Cava’s we tried were the UBAC Gran Reserva, which we reviewed yesterday! And the Trepat Reserva, which is a rosé and which will also be reviewed in the future.
At this moment we do have some more Cava’s from Agustí Torelló Mata reviewed here on the GrapeDummies website. Check sure to check out the Barrica Gran Reserva 2014, and the Gran Reserva 2013 as well.
We truly loved to visit this winery, the Celler was very impressive, and I can honestly say these are some of the best Cava’s I’ve ever tried. If you want to visit them yourself (Which we highly recommend) we encourage you to check all the information here. In the summer months, they often have special themes on Saturday, check out their Instagram for the latest updates.
We hope you enjoyed this new article in the GrapeDummies Between the Grapes series. We have more visits coming up, and if you have a winery and would love to have us over, please let us know!
Make sure to check out also our small video from the visit of Agustí Torelló Mata
