Cosmic Vinyaters Gratitud Negre 2024

Country: Spain

Region: Catalonia

Type: Red Wine

Grape: 70% Cabernet Franc/20% Sumoll/10% Marselan

Còsmic Vinyaters is the product of young visionary Salvador Batlle. Descended from a family of Catalan grape growers, Salva started making wine as a teenager. He subsequently studied agriculture, viticulture, and winemaking at university. In 2011 he moved to New Zealand to learn English while working abroad, learning other forms of viticulture and winemaking, then returning to the family estate the following year. Feeling the need to forge his own path, Salva purchased a small property that came with a cellar in Agullana within the Empordà D.O., a town that sits just 15 minutes from the French border and shares much culturally with the neighboring Roussillon. 

Alongside his partner Joana Padilla, he now works 9.5 hectares of vines split up between the Alt Empordà and his native Baix Penedès. The couple are rigorous in the vineyard, grafting over the many non-native grapes with indigenous varieties such as Carinyena Gris, and working organically and biodynamically. They embrace winemaking with a creative spirit, working with many different vessels for fermentation and aging, searching for pure, energetic and harmonious wines that show a direct vibrational connection from their grapes and two distinct terroirs.

This wine comes from two organically farmed parcels planted in 1999 and 2003 on red clay and limestone soils at 300-500m elevation. The grapes were harvested by hand, partially destemmed and macerated for 3-7 days, then pressed to 90% stainless steel tank and 10% clay amphora. The wine finished fermentation and aged on fine lees for 4 months before bottling without fining or filtration and very low sulfur.

A fresh, medium-bodied wine with soft red fruit, light spices, and an underlying earthiness.