Raventos i Blanc
RAVENTÓS I BLANC IS THE CLAIM OF A TERROIR
For many, the most mineral sparkling wines
Raventós i Blanc is one of the longest viticulture traditions in the world and represents the history in the creation of sparkling wine in Spain. It is the only integrated farm where animal, plant and man work for the production of sparkling wines of maximum prestige; and today it has become a world reference point for its sustainable viticulture methods.
With the creation of a new DO, Conca del Riu Anoia, Raventós i Blanc defend the great potential that our terroir has for creating sparkling wines in one of the oldest winegrowing valleys in the world.
WINEGROWERS SINCE 1497. TWENTY-ONE GENERATIONS
One of the longest documented viticulture traditions owned by the same family in Europe, and the world.
In 1872 Josep Raventós Fatjó made the first bottle-fermented sparkling wine in Spain. Manuel Raventós Doménech creates in 1888 the blend Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada.
Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc, was the creator of the CAVA D.O. and in 1986 with his son Manuel Raventós founded the Raventós i Blanc winery.
Manuel Raventós created, in the 90s, the first estate cava; his son Pepe Raventós the current generation leading the project, visionary in the creation of a new DO Conca del Riu Anoia; convinced of being able to offer something unique and unrepeatable.
Today, Pepe Raventós, who represents the twenty-first generation of the family, farms 44 plots using biodynamic winegrowing methods and is committed to maintaining the estate of vines, wood and lake as a complete entity. Raventós i Blanc is a sustainable, self-sufficient and alive farm.
AGRICULTURAL UNIT
The Raventós i Blanc estate is an agricultural unit that recovers the complete cycle of the traditional wine-growing farm of the 15th century.
90 hectares planted with 50 ha of vineyards, 10 ha of cereals, a small field of olive trees, almonds and fig trees. In addition to two forests, a lake and two hills that mark our mesoclimate. The winery is located in the middle of this estate.
Committed to the environment, the entire estate is worked using sustainable and self- sufficient agricultural methods. Organic Certified since 2009 and Demeter certified since 2013.
OUR VITICULTURE
- Self-Sufficient Farm: A very important element in the composting of our vineyards is the fermented manure from the animals we have on the farm, such as goats, sheep or horses. These animals also help to remove weeds from the vineyards and throughout the year they keep the vineyard margins and woods clean.
- Biodynamic Preparations: 100% biodynamic estate. We make our own biodynamic preparations. They serve to give life and activate different elements that are found in our soils and that are also essential for the good development of the plant.
- Animal traction: Pioneers in animal traction. Working with the help of the horse allows us to avoid compacting the earth (the soil remains spongy and there is more life), respect the vineyards as a single unit, and cause much less damage than a tractor would.
- Biosynergies: Finally, we reduce CO2 emissions as much as possible. Land, vines, animals and man work together as an agricultural whole. We have a strong desire to maintain a sustainable and self-sufficient estate, with a wide-ranging biodiversity of flora and fauna and a rich underground life.
Our estate has become a true refuge for biodiversity where the dense forests, the lake, the river and the riverbanks teem with life and make Raventós i Blanc an extraordinary place.
- Polycultures: We have different polycultures such as olive trees, roses, almond trees and different cereals; all of them help us to maintain the soil with better quality and structure, besides promoting a rich ecosystem.
- Vegetable Covers: It helps us to structure the soil in the vineyards, the roots make holes in the soil, leaving cavities in which life can develop. They provide organic matter to the soil because they are a green manure. They keep surface moisture and water in the soil, they create more biodiversity in the soil and in the aerial part.
LIMESTONE SOILS WITH MARINE FOSSILS
The soils describe the specific history of each terroir; ours mineral and ancient soils. The passage of the river Anoia through our estate has brought to the surface land of marine origin - some 16 million years old, when our valley was covered by the Mediterranean Sea - where a large number of marine fossils have been deposited.
Our sparkling wines have a marked saline and mineral character due to the exceptional number of marine fossils brought to the surface.
CONCA DEL RIU ANOIA: A DREAM OF A NEW D.O
We are working towards a new Appellation of Origin: Conca del Riu Anoia. The dream of an appellation of origin is born of the desire to enhance the huge potential of this terroir for the elaboration of sparkling wines of maximum prestige.
In 2012 we decided to leave the Cava D.O. to create a new appellation with the strictest viticulture and vinification requirements.
Pepe Raventós, the current generation leading the project, has been described as a visionary convinced of being able to offer something unique and unrepeatable.
WINEGROWING REQUIREMENTS CONCA DEL RIU ANOIA
- 100% Native Varieties: 100% autochthonous grape varieties in all coupages - local varieties perfectly adapted to our climate and soils: Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada. And the recovery of ancestral varieties such as Bastard Negre, Sumoll, Monastrell and Malvasia.
- Biodynamic Viticulture: Raventós i Blanc is a farm, 100% organic and biodynamic Viticulture. At the beginning of 2000, we began an Integrated Production (no longer using synthetic plant protection products). In 2009 we were awarded the Organic Certification and in 2013 we achieved the Demeter Certification.
- 100% Estate Produced and Estate Bottled: 70% our own vineyards. Since the very outset, the greatest proximity between man and nature has been the essence of Raventós i Blanc; thereby restoring the Catalan peasant tradition of a farmhouse located on an estate. Since the very outset, the greatest proximity between man and nature has been the essence of Raventós i Blanc; thereby restoring the Catalan peasant tradition of a farmhouse located on an estate.
- Aged for at least 18 months; Always Vintage Wine:
Our sparkling wines are always vintage, and they are aged for at least 18 months on the lees. Each vintage is different and we want to reflect this in the character of our vines. Nature comes first.
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