Jan 18, 2022
Xarel-lo is a Spanish grape used in the production of Cava and
grown in the Catalonia region of Spain. It is indigenous to Spain
and I personally only thought of it as a blending grape. Little did
I know……A little research, special guests on Winephabet Street an
Xarel-lo is more than just a blending grape.
Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Exploring
the Wine Glass and I work our way through the alphabet exploring
wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the
third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend.
Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out
with us.
For episode X featuring Xarel-lo we had two special guests on the
show. Rick Fisher, SipWSET, SWS and Spanish Programs Director for
the Wine Scholar Guild along with Ignasi Segui from Vinyes
Singulars. Ignasi is the 23rd generation farmer/vinegrower managing
the family estate that has existed since 1405. He is the first
generation winemaker to bottle and produce wines with grapes made
from his vineyard.
This episode is so special, because as I mentioned, I only thought
of Xarel-lo as a blending grape in Cava. As you watch or listen,
you will see all four of us are drinking Xarel-lo produced in
different ways. I was drinking a Cava, Lori a Xarel-lo as a still
wine, Rick Xarel-lo as an orange wine and Ignasi, a late harvest
Xarel-lo. It was pretty amazing as we all got to discuss the
different ways the grape was used.
Sit back, grab a glass of wine and listen to the episode. If you
have any questions, feel free to email me and I will do my best to
answer them.