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More wines available from Raventos I Blanc
750ml
Bottle:
$17.94
$20.00
Fresh and focused, with a lacy texture, this is a minerally version overall, showing hints of smoke and stone on the...
750ml
Bottle:
$81.94
Personal selection by Manuel Raventós of the best wines of the vintage. Xarel.lo from El Clos, North facing plot...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.90
$21.60
A firm, focused sparkler, with a pleasingly crisp, lightly chalky texture, this offers a subtle, savory overtone of...
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Winery
Raventos I Blanc
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Varietal: Champagne Blend
There are few areas in the world with a reputation quite as famous and respected as that of Champagne in France, and almost every wine region on earth has imitated or has been influenced by the careful process mastered by the wineries of Champagne. However, it is in the grape varietals which thrive in this region where the secrets to the Champagne's success can be found – the acidic, flavorful Chardonnay grapes meeting the characterful Pinot Noir varietal, and coming together to produce something wonderful in the bottle. There are actually seven varietals allowed by French wine law for the production of Champagne wines, all of which are used by wineries to accentuate each others finest points and maintain the reputation of this very special region, the home to some extremely high quality grapes.
Region: Cataluna
For thousands of years, Spain's beautiful wine region of Catalunya has been a powerful center of wine production, with much archaeological evidence to suggest that quality vines were being cultivated in the fine Catalan soils many hundreds of years before even the first Roman settlers arrived. The wonderful coastal Mediterranean climate of the region creates an ideal environment for viticulture, and the excellent conditions are improved further by the mineral rich soils which cover much of the region's valleys and hillsides. As a result, the bodegas and wineries which operate in Catalunya are able to grow a wide variety of imported and native grape varietals, and are able to produce their famous sparkling Cava wines in large quantities, alongside the many still red and white wine bottles which are brought out each year to critical acclaim.
Country: Spain
For over two thousand years, Spain has been responsible for much of Europe's wine production, making the very best of native grape varietals, and more recently experimenting with and perfecting wines made from imported grapes. Of course, the region of La Rioja is renowned world-wide for the quality and characteristics of its wines, which benefit greatly from the warm, dry continental climate of the area, and the fertile soils of the Ebro river basin. However, there is far more to Spanish produce than the complex, aromatic and earthy red wine of this region, as a result of the vast range of wine making traditions and practices, and terrains and climatic conditions found across the country. The region Castilla y Leon produces some of Europe's finest white wines, and the sparkling wines of Cava and the sherries of Jerez are firm favorites for wine lovers around the world.