El Rocallís 2016

I tasted the characterful and unusual 2016 El Rocallís next to the 2015. It's a varietal bottling of the obscure Incrocio Manzoni grape, a cross of Pinot Blanc and Riesling. It's a wine that seems to have adapted quite well to the conditions of the Garraf zone of Penedès and delivers a very different wine that evolves nicely in bottle. The vines were planted in 1981 on very shallow limestone soils (the name refers to rocks in Catalan). It fermented and matured for five months in 450-liter French oak barrels. It has some flinty and smoky aromas, reminiscent of toasted sesame seeds; it's perhaps faintly reductive, serious and not exuberant at all. The palate is even more austere, with a dry, stony sensation and very good length, finishing dry and with a very tasty, almost salty note. 3,315 bottles were filled in March 2017. - Luis Gutiérrez. 

Gently reductive nose with a fresh melon and pear edge. This has an attractive, dialed-in, minerally mode on the palate. Fresh, lemon and pastry finish. Drink now.