Freixenet Malvasia Sweet

Variety

The grapes used for making the base wine for this Cava are 100% Malvasía from vineyards around the town of La Bisbal del Penedes.
The vines are gown in poor, stony soils, in the lee of the mountain, where yields are low, and we can produce grapes which mature fully, are balanced and healthy.

Winemaking

Picking is entirely manual.
The grapes are lightly pressed, in rotary pneumatic presses to extract the juice, which is then left to rest for 24 hours, to deposit any solid matter, in a process of static decantation.
Once it has fallen bright, it is transferred to the stainless steel temperature controlled fermentation tanks, where the first fermentation is done at between 14° & 16°C.
We add to these tanks selected yeasts from our own Freixenet culture strains to begin the fermentation. This lasts between 10 and 12 days, and once it is complete, we rack, filter and fine the wine, and prepare it for bottling and the secondary fermentation and maturation in bottle.
Before we do this however, we hold the base wine in tank for six months. The final dosage wine for this Cava is made from Malvasia grape juice, from a different vintage, blended with wine which has been aged in chestnut casks for 20 years. This confers characteristics which are rather sherry-like, and creates a perfect partner for dessert wines, and above all pastries and sweetmeats.

Tasting Note

This is a very special Cava unlike anything traditional in the Penedes, and so it is important to understand why, how and to what end it has been made, in order to best appreciate its properties and qualities.

It is golden yellow in colour, in keeping with its long bottle maturation, with a fine lively and persistent, well integrated sparkle.

The nose is of dried fruits, toasted nuts, a mixture of sweet fruits, compotes and fruit preserves, with just a hint of candied orange peel.
The palate is agreeably sweet, without being too heavy. There is an unctuous richness, and beautiful balance between the natural sweetness of the Malvasia and that of the dosage liqueur. On the nose, the ripe notes of compotes and fruit preserves dominate. There are hints too of caramel and honey. There are very evident aromas of dried fruits, walnuts, dried figs, raisins and dried apricots mingling in with light sherry-like tones, these due to to the barrel ageing of the old wine which forms part of the shipping liquor.

Refreshing in the palate, with perfectly balanced acidity, and a very long, persistent finish.

Analysis

Alcohol: 11,50%

Total acidity: 3,65 g/l pH: 2,90

Dosage: 52 g/l 

Ageing Depending on vintage