Celler Lagravera – The 2024 Golden Vines® Fine Wine & Experience Online Auction Lot

Aug 5

Summary

Costers del Segre, Spain Experience: 3 different micro-cuvées "La Pell" from a vineyard dated 1889, planted with local and unique varietals, plus an experience for 2 guests that includes a visit to Lagravera vineyards, situated close to the longest gypsum mountain range in Europe and which were planted in 3 different centuries: IXX, XX and XXI centuries. This also includes a tasting of the wines made from these old plots.

Region

Costers del Segre

Country

Spain

Estimate

£1,000 - £2,500

Lot Components

Fine Wine Bottles ✓

Experience ✓

Estate Visit ✓

Vineyard Visit ✓

Tasting ✓

The Fine Wine

1 bottle of La Pell red X8 2019 I+D: a wine that no one else in the world can make, as this variety is only found in our vineyard. This production of 17 bottles that we made in 2019 gave us the keys for a solution against climate change: this is a varietal that ripes late, preserving fresh acidity, and showing of a very interesting profile that reminds us a style between the elegance of Pinot noir and the structure and freshness of the Carignan.

1 bottle of La Pell claret 2019: liquid history crafted with a field blend including 22 local varieties, of which 3 are unique from this vineyard in the world. These varietals are named X8, X Avi 1997, and X avi 2167. It also contains others in danger of extinction, such as Trobat negre, Trobat blanc, Picapoll roig de la Noguera, Sumoll blanco, Pirineos 17, Pirineos 4, Heben variety - that is the parent that created the Xarel.lo or the Macabeo or the Palomino Fino, and others. A truly unique blend that represents the pre-phylloxera vineyard style of our area. It is a wine made in stainless steel using wild yeasts in a semi-carbonic fermentation, and then aged on its lees in a clay vessel. This small production of 210 bottles was the best rosé in Catalonia in the “Vins de Catalunya guide”.

1 bottle of Pell white Trobat Blanc + Macabeu 2019 I+D: contains two historical varietals from the area, Trobat Blanc and Macabeu. Trobat Blanc was practically extinct after phylloxera and the invasion of foreign varietals, but we wanted to recover it, and find the style in this “wine marriage” with Macabeu. We believe that it is what best compliments it, and together are overall value. We carry out a microvinification of 120 bottles, fermenting in 500-litre tanks and then age it in an acacia barrel.

The Experience

Experience for 2 guests includes a visit to Lagravera vineyards, situated close to the longest gypsum mountain range in Europe and which were planted in 3 different centuries: IXX, XX and XXI centuries. This also includes a tasting of the wines made from these old plots.

The Estate

Lagravera is located in the nothingness, where everything lies. An exceptional and natural setting for making unique wines. The project was born in 2006 as a way to recover an old gravel pit (thus the name “la gravera”= the gravel pit), regenerate its soil and restore the winemaking tradition in the area. Thus, seeking the environmental recovery of this area and its landscape.

On the axis between the Pyrenees and the Ebro Valley, the longest gypsum mountain range in Europe rises. La Serra Llarga is part of this, and also happens to be where we have found an ideal place to make great wine. Indeed, Gypsum is the common thread between the 5 different terroirs, bringing freshness to all our wines.

A natural location where extreme Continental weather contrasts and soil composition make up the ideal setting for growing vines. This fact allows us to make fresher wines with fine styles, thanks to grapes such as our continental Garnachas with less alcohol and great freshness, differing completely from other wines made closer to the Mediterranean sea.

Historically, since the time of the Roman Empire, this little piece of the world was a land of vineyards and wine, but with the arrival of the Aragón canal, phylloxera, the rural exodus and the uprooting of vineyards, 90% of the vineyards in the region disappeared. We work everyday towards restoring history, helping to preserve old vineyards in the region, and making wines that are reflecting styles from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. We have recovered a vineyard from 1889 where there are 24 vine varieties coexisting, amid those 17 are indigenous, and 3 can only be found there. The wine that is made from this plot reflects 19th century varieties coherence and style but is made using the modern winery knowledge. These varieties are our wine heritage; therefore, we are breeding them in different terroirs. We also have got two further vineyards from 1935 that are showing the first part of the 20th century style. And another two vineyards from 1999 and 2006, that are an example of the evolution of the late 20th and early 21st century, when the people of Lleida began to blend French varieties along with Garnacha, Monastrell and others.

From our establishment in 2006, we have been farming in organic viticulture, and in 2013, we converted to biodynamic. Our winery’s philosophy is one of maximum respect for all natural processes, following the principles of biodynamics, certified by Demeter, as a tool to regenerate the soil and to make the best possible wine and keep our vineyards healthy and pest free, drastically reducing the use of chemicals.

We also have sourced some methods back from our ancestors, such as phytotherapy, distillation of essential oils, or the use of the Maria Thun biodynamic calendar to help us to get our goal. This implies that we consider the vineyards as a whole organism that we need to take care of, where not only the vines are important but also everything that surrounds them;

Fauna is as important to us as grapes. Its effect on nature gives us healthy and strong soils on which to cultivate our vines. Bees help biodiversity by carrying out pollination, sheep by eating the weeds and leaving the vegetation in perfect condition, and cows provide us with manure to fertilise the land.

We practise sensitive oenology: We observe and respect nature and its cycles so that our intervention in the wine-making process is brought to a bare minimum. We let it express itself freely, intervening as little as possible. We listen, observe and respect its cycles allowing wine to surprise us with rich nuances and elegant complexities from each vintage.

The wine is affected by everything that happens in the vineyards, the fields and the winery.
So we want ours to convey the positive energy and care with which we do everything: from cultivation to harvesting, fermentation to bottling, and sales to delivery. Good vibes make good wine.

Terms & Conditions

Up to 12 months after the auction.

Transportation to the winery and between the vineyards is not the responsibility of Lagravera winery.

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Alexander Lushnikov