Finca Parera, "Fosc" 2020

In the Alt-Pénedes, Ruben Parera has been cultivating low-intervention (zero/zero!) wines from biodynamically farmed vines for nearly two and a half decades. On its face, the idea of a renegade, essential, pioneering natural winery in the heart of plonky Cava country in Spain’s northeast, doesn’t seem to make much sense. However, as all good rebels, you need something to rebel against; the proliferation of chemical farming and chemical wines in the region provided all the motivation he’d needed to offer not only an alternative beverage but an alternative vision, an alternative politics! “It doesn’t need to be this way,” feels like the kind of thing a Finca Parera wine would say to a typical Catalunyan Garnacha or Cava – the wines burst with life, they brim with enthusiasm and they may feel slightly rugged around the edges. This is what makes you love them: they are truly living wines.

A blend of Sumoll, d'Ull de Llebre (aka Tempranillo), Garnatxa Negre, Monastrell and Syrah. The grapes are hand-harvested, macerated with the skins in concrete tanks, and fermented with wild yeasts. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, with no SO2. Pale, ruby red, earthy and mineral-driven, with a zingy pop of acidity to freshen it up.