Raventós i Blanc, Blanc de Blancs

Raventós i Blanc is run by Pepe Raventós, who took over his family’s historic estate after working with Hubert Lamy in Burgundy, Gaston Chiquet in Champagne and Didier Dagueneau in Pouilly-Fumé. Pepe firmly believes Raventós i Blanc should “convey our viticultural traditions, the strength of our land and the characteristics of our soils”. As a result, he withdrew from the Cava DO in 2012, to focus on their distinctive Conca del Riu Anoia region in Alt Penedès. His risk has paid off, and in 2024 Raventós i Blanc was named `Catalan Sparkling Producer of the Year` in Tim Atkin’s Catalunya 2024 Sparkling Wine special report.

Raventós are one of Spain’s most historic winemaking families, whose viticultural tradition dates back to 1497. Josep Raventós Fatjó produced Spain’s first traditional method sparkling wine in 1872 from estate-grown Xarel·lo and his descendant, Josep Maria Raventós i Blanc (Pepe’s grandfather), went on to become a key figure in Spanish wine. Following the civil war and years of dictatorship, Josep Maria worked tirelessly to promote his family's estate, Codorníu, alongside Penedès sparkling wines, eventually helping to establish Cava as a ‘Denominación de Origen’. In 1986, the energetic Josep Maria sold his share of Codorníu and founded Raventós i Blanc, making high-quality wines from the family’s original vineyards around Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.

Raventós i Blanc’s 50 hectares of vines, nestled among picturesque woodland, are divided into 44 plots, according to soil and microclimate, within seven larger areas, Clos del Serra, La Vinya Més Alta, Costers del Serral-Vinya dels Fòssils, Les Barberes-Oliveres, El Llac, La Plana and Travesseres-Gran. The climate here is Mediterranean and the estate's vines are planted on limestone soils replete with marine fossils, protected by three mountain ranges: Sierra Litoral to the east, Montserrat to the north and Sierra d’en Compte to the west. Pepe believes in polyculture and biodiversity and the family’s land is home to many crops and animals. Biodynamic principles are employed alongside traditional Catalan farming practices, such as horse ploughing. “I believe that to express origin, you really need to bring a lot of life into your farm,” says Pepe.

Raventós i Blanc’s wines are vintage-dated and made from 100% indigenous, estate-grown varieties. Their wines undergo at least 18 months of ageing on their lees in stainless steel tanks. The Blanc de Blancs is a traditional blend of Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada and Malvasia de Sitges. It is a gentle, citrus and mineral-inflected wine with soft Mediterranean herbs, superb freshness and a persistent finish. The ‘De Nit’ blends local white grapes with Monastrell, producing a lovely pale sparkling rosé. Both wines are extra brut and produced from younger vines.‘De la Finca’ is produced from the Vinya dels Fòssils site, which is planted with an original massal selection carried out by Manual Raventós Domènech in 1888. It was the first sparkling wine made on the estate by Josep María Raventós i Blanc. This zero-dosage wine benefits from 30 months on lees to add complexity, resulting in a saline expression with delicate lemon and fennel accents. ‘Textures de Pedra’ is a Blanc de Noirs from Vinya Més Alta, the estate’s highest plot. It blends pale-skinned Xarel·lo Vermell with Sumoll and Bastard Negre and spends a minimum of 42 months ageing on its lees. With zero dosage, the resulting wine is intense with a layered palate of fig, walnut and acacia honey.