A Pedro Ximénez under a flower veil (biological aging for about half a year) is one of the spearheading wines of the new range of Alfredo Arribas in Priorat, although without being covered by the Qualified DO. It is a wine made at the initial limit of oxidative aging, the result of a single 300-litre barrel. It is, without a doubt, a free and unique version in Priorat. It is a white belonging to the TablaRRasa series.
Arribas affirms that "these are wines that are foreign to the references, sharing a distant tradition with the new naked naturalness". He also defines them as "cult wines". For this restless architect and winemaker, TablaRRasa represents "a new itinerary in which we have set the counter to zero to produce highly demanding wines and also a high gastronomic value."
Pedro Ximénez is the third white variety from Priorat. It is partly thanks to the branches contributed by Andalusian emigrants, who came in the sixties of the last century to work in the mines of Bellmunt del Priorat. A short distance from Clos del Portal, in El Lloar, a small pebble vineyard has allowed Alfredo Arribas to “rediscover its hidden splendor”. The 372 bottles of PXX 2020 were produced in biological aging for five months, until culminating with another nine months in traditional mode.
This wine, according to Alfredo Arribas, is "a look at and a tribute to the origins of Priorat and to a variety that, made in a traditional way, is boring." He also points out that "in Priorat there aren't many vines of this variety that are worth it." In 2021, he decided to grow by planting one hectare with Pedro Ximénez, given how well it adapts to the climate of the area and the "amazing" results he has obtained.
TablaRRasa PXX 2020 is born on slate and calcareous soils truffled with boulders on the L'Olivera estate, 250 meters above sea level. The grapes are daughters of organic and biodynamic agriculture. This small and precious vineyard of only 0.25 hectares, planted 45 years ago, is worked with animal husbandry. The berries were harvested in the first week of September 2020, a very complicated vintage due to the heavy and continuous rain and humidity, which caused great problems due to mildew. Only little more than 400 kilos of grapes were obtained.
The aging was carried out under flor veil (a thin layer of yeast that forms on the surface of the wine, isolating it from oxygen and providing it with micronutrients) for five months, and subsequently slightly oxidized. The subsequent complete filling of a 300-liter capacity French oak barrel was carried out, and finally the aging was completed for three more months on the lees in a small stainless steel vat. Around 5% of the blend is from the Garnacha Blanca variety.
TablaRRasa PXX 2020 is announced as "the magic of a wine that shows an almost unknown facet in the area, a white from deep soils, close to the Siurana riverbed, with generous fruit and vinification halfway between a distant tradition and the naked naturalness”. With 14º of alcohol and a pH of 3.9. Smoothness, an outstanding verticality and a vibrant volatile are the attributes that make up the DNA of this wine with minimal intervention (23 mg of total SO₂) and a very particular character. Straw yellow in color, with some turbidity.
It exhibits notes of white fruit (apple predominates), candied fruits, marzipan, lightly toasted bread and aromatic herbs from the Mediterranean garrigue (rosemary and chamomile). It is silky, dense, with tension and a salinity that can make one think of a Jerez wine. Its natural character (minimum intervention) is more evident in the olfactory phase.
A multidisciplinary architect, Alfredo Arribas has developed a large part of his international career in many enclaves around the world. And recently in his hometown, Barcelona. In 2001 he began his adventure in the world of wine, after acquiring the Clos del Portal estate, in Priorat, where he has more than 50 hectares. At the same time, he is carrying out work to recover some of the old vineyards –the Trossos collection- in the neighboring DO Montsant. And more recently he has incorporated a family that he describes as "extreme" of high altitude and natural wines (the Vins Nus). These Vins Nus are wines "in which there are more absences than additions: hardly any wood, no extraction, no alcohol, no color... Looking back, walking forward", and in which he seeks more freshness, acidity and fragrance.
The next evolutionary step in his oenological itinerary has been Mas de l'A, where he explores the finest wines, Burgundian and also with minimal intervention. Alfredo Arribas affirms that he has his own ideas about how to sculpt the landscape in interaction with the vineyards, and “how the conception of the winery participates and influences the character of the winemaking”. And he points out that he intuits and outlines "the material condition" (the textures or colors) of his wines.
Currently, between the projects of the DO Calificada Priorat and the DO Montsant, it produces around 150,000 bottles per year. It exports 75% of the total production. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany are its main international markets.
