Gramona Enoteca Brut Nature 2006

The terrific 2006 Enoteca Brut Nature comes from a superb vintage that was very warm. It was produced with 60% Xarel.lo and 40% Macabeo from their Font Jui property (mentioned on the label) with 12% alcohol, a pH of 2.97 and no residual sugar, sharp and dry. It matured in bottle with lees for 180 months, and such a long time in bottle gives tiny bubbles that give the wine a velvety texture. It's very expressive, clean, complex and nuanced, with faint nutty notes, hints of yeasts and bread dough, balsamic and with Mediterranean notes of fennel and esparto grass. It's long, dry, tasty and finishes with some chalkiness. They also do this in Brut style on demand. A tad above the 2004 I tasted last time. It's still unclear if the 2005 is ever going to be sold. 1,800 bottles produced.

Enoteca is a long-aged version of Celler Batlle (same blend, same wine) but disgorged without the addition of sugar. So that’s 171 to nil in the play-off between months aged and grams of sugar added. Quite an impressive victory, and this is a very impressive wine. It's easy to forget that no oak has been used here, let alone no added sugar; such is its complexity, texture and rich, rewarding generosity. Unexpected freshness, with a backdrop that reveals layers of fennel and bay leaves, then frangipane, brioche and dried apricot, and even more... Endlessly complex yet still disarmingly exuberant, which is the biggest surprise of all. - Simon Field MW.