Lignum Negre Penedes DO 2023/2024 Albet i Noya Organic Wine

Nutritional information per 100 ml

Contains negligible amounts of fat, saturates, protein and salt.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Rooted in France, at home around the world: the red grape variety Cabernet Sauvignon is now found in almost every winegrowing area on earth and, with a total of 200,000 hectares, ranks among the ten most important grapes. Its homeland, however, is the Bordelais, around Bordeaux. Cardinal Richelieu evidently recognised its potential and instructed Abbé Breton in writing in 1635 to plant a large number of vines. Other European countries took a little longer to reach this conclusion, and this versatile red has only been permitted for cultivation in Germany and Austria since the 1980s. A DNA analysis in 1997 clarified the ancestry of this small, thick-skinned grape: Cabernet Sauvignon originated from a crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Uniquely, the wine retains its characteristic aromas of blackcurrant (cassis), liquorice, cedar and vanilla regardless of growing conditions. Such consistency merits the title 'noble grape'. Its concentrated fruit flavour is accompanied by a supporting tannin framework and harmonious acidity. These qualities mean Cabernet Sauvignon is usually found in blends and often in barrique. It is rarely made as a single-variety wine, yet always guarantees intense flavour and a dark colour. Cabernet Sauvignon suits richly flavoured red meat or game and generally has very good ageing potential.

2016 vintage

Silver Mundus Vini BioFach 2019

The grapes for Lignum Negre come from old Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in higher-altitude areas.

Albet i Noya

Albet i Noya is among the leading estates in the Penedès and is surely, deservedly, Spain's most highly regarded organic wine producer. Today, Antoni and Josep run the business, which their father bought at considerable financial risk from the former large landowner. The family had worked as estate managers for him for several generations. The two are typical representatives of the modern Catalan post-Franco generation: confident, enterprising and cosmopolitan, while deeply concerned with their region's autonomy and culture.

Their organic wines are also modern in a decidedly un-Spanish way: fresh and fruit-led, with the high-quality Colleccio wines influenced more by California or Bordeaux than, for example, the often somewhat old-fashioned Rioja. In their barrique-aged wines in particular, the two have now found a distinctive, harmonious style of their own. These wines are sought after internationally and available only in very limited quantities each year. They also enjoy an excellent reputation in Spain itself, with a presence in leading restaurants and fine wine shops almost everywhere. Alongside still wines, the Albets produce high-quality Cava, sparkling wine made by the traditional bottle-fermentation method. The modern technology important for such products also benefits the other wines, especially the whites and the Tempranillo made using carbonic maceration for drinking young.