Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut

Ageing

Minimum 18 months ageing in the bottle.

Variety

Chardonnay, Macabeo, Parellada and Pinot Noir.

The Chardonnay grapes grown in La Freixeneda family estate’s vineyards. It is an early ripening variety and the harvest begins in the middle of August. The wines from this variety are extremely elegant giving floral aromas of acacia and sweet honey notes as well as ripe pineapple and peach fruit. They are wines with high aromatic intensity, as well as being relatively high in alcohol, but with good high acidity.

An important contribution to the base wine comes from the traditional Penedes varieties Macabeo and Parellada also cultivated in “La Freixeneda” vineyard. The distinctive ripe apple and pear aromas of the Macabeo, and the delicate floral aromas of the Parellada bring balance, harmony and finesse of finish to the dominant Chardonnay.

In the second half of August, we pick the Pinot Noir, a grape low in tannin, but which gives a depth of structure to the body, along with elegant fruity flavours in the palate.

This grapes are grown at the Mas Bernich vineyard at Masquefa in the High Penedes. This vineyard is planted with 92 hectares of vines, of which 15 are Pinot Noir trained on wires, through the Double Royat system. The soil is sandy clay, the average annual rainfall is 550 litres per square metre.

The vines are pruned down to 27.000 bunches per hectare, in order to limit the yield to 6.500 /ha, and to give to the base wine the aromas and structures which are so typical of this prestigious variety.

Chardonnay: The harvest is authomatized, and done at night, to preserve the grape’s fine aromas. Pressing is pneumatic and is programmed to extract between 55% and 65% of the grapes’ juice. From the press, the juice is transfe- rred to static decantation vessels to clear the solid matter, and then fermenta- tion is started, in stainless steel tanks, at a temperature of between 16 and 18°C, using our own specially selected yeasts.

Macabeo and Parellada: These two varieties are picked by hand in the daytime. The pressing is done in pneumatic presses, where we separate out the free run juice, which is produced merely by filling the presses, without applying any pressure at all. This juice is also statically decanted to clear it, then fermented in stainless steel at between 16 and 18°C, again with our own selected yeast strains. Each of the two varieties is fermented separately.

Pinot Noir: This variety is also harvested authomatically, and at night. We separate the juice which has run naturally in the trailer, and this is then mixed in a higher or lower proportion with the pressed juice. Again we use a static decantation process for clarification, before controlled temperature fermenta- tion at between 16 and 18°C, in stainless steel tanks, again using our own specifi- cally selected yeasts.

Tasting Note

Straw yellow with greenish hue. Fine bubbles forming a permanent rosary and a slight crown.

Pleasant, elegant aromas of acacia flowers and lightly honeyed tones, over a background of ripe pineapple and peach.

The palate is soft and appealing to start, opening into those same ripe fruit flavours, combining a clean, crisp acidity, and developing into a long balanced finish.

Analysis

Alcohol: 11,50%vol. 

Total acidity: 3,90 g/l

Dosage: Brut 9 g/l

Elyssia Gran Cuvée Brut