MENDALL
Terme de Laureano 3 Blanc 2021 [1.5 L]
Catalonia, Spain
Macabeo from forty five year old vines planted just under five hundred metres above sea level in Vilalba dels Arcs. The grapes were fermented for two days, before being pressed to vats for nine months of rest. Pale, straw yellow in the glass, this is almost classical in style, balancing rich, complex notes of peach, white flowers and sea salt with aplomb.
Macabeo
ABOUT THE PRODUCER
Laureano Serres’ home and cellar are based in El Pinell de Brai, a hot, dusty little town that looks like something out of a Spaghetti Western and serves as the unlikely ground zero of Catalunya’s lively wine scene.
A pioneer who has been influential in inspiring others in the area to return to their winemaking roots, Laureano was also there the night the Brutal Wine Corporation was founded and is an organiser of one of Europe’s most talked about wine fairs, H2O Vegetal. His spirit, sense of community and love of life are both legendary and infectious and like so many before us, when we visited for the first time we were welcomed with open arms.
Laureano was working as a computer programmer in Madrid when he decided a change of scenery was necessary and returned to his hometown to head the local winemaking cooperative. A couple of years later he set off on his own, bottling wine under the Mendall label from the 1999 harvest. He has worked with organic fruit from the very beginning and since 2002, after forgetting to add any sulphur to the wines and enjoying the results, he has never looked back.
He now farms five and a half hectares of vineyards spread over parcels in El Pinell at around 170 metres of altitude and higher up in the Terra Alta, where they reach some 500 metres above sea level. There is little topsoil, meaning the vines dig right into the limestone below. This unique terroir lends the wines a freshness and complexity that is not always common in this part of the world.
The wines are made in all manner of vessels in his small cellar in the town centre. Limited space dictates that the majority of wines are bottled young and brimming with an energy that comes about from Laureano’s unique brand of wine making, which combines creativity and restraint to brilliant effect. Truly one-of-a-kind, they offer vivid expressions of man, grape and place.