{"title":"Espelt","description":"\u003cp\u003eEspelt's Mas Marés vineyard is about as Mediterranean as wine gets: 25 hectares inside the Cap de Creus Nature Reserve, on the granite headland where the Pyrenees meet the sea. The vines sit 25 meters above sea level, the sea is close at hand, and the wind is a constant presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Espelt family have grown grapes in the Empordà for three generations and built their own cellar in Vilajuïga in 2000. Anna Espelt studied habitat restoration and organic farming, joined in 2005 and now leads the estate. It is certified organic and farmed regeneratively, with vines sharing the land with oak trees, pasture and wild herbs. Standing stones on the property show people were living here more than 4,000 years ago.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe soils are sandy granite at Mas Marés, with slate elsewhere on the family's land, and the focus is the local Grenache family, called Lledoner here: Negre, Blanc and Roig. Grapes are picked by hand and fermented with native yeasts, then aged in neutral oak and concrete eggs. The result is fresh, herby, salty wine rather than heavy Grenache. The Pla de Gates red and white are the place to start.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"espelt-emporda-pla-de-gates-negre-2023","title":"Espelt, Empordà Pla De Gates Negre, 2023","description":"This is Grenache for anyone who thinks Grenache means jammy and heavy. It comes from a windswept vineyard with the Mediterranean on three sides, and it's made in the lively, new-school style that's catching on across Spain, with fresh herbs and a salty, mineral finish. All the fruit comes from Mas Marés, Anna Espelt's personal 25-hectare project inside the Cap de Creus Nature Reserve. There, organically farmed vines grow in granite and sand among oak trees, pastures and wild herbs, and the near-constant wind is what keeps the wine so bright. Pla de Gates is a real spot on the estate's land, where the Espelts have put cows back out to graze. The cattle thin out the flammable scrub, cut the fire risk and feed the soil, which is the kind of thinking you'd expect from someone trained in habitat restoration. Anna's fruit is all picked by hand, then sorted once in the vineyard and again in the cellar. Empordà, in Catalonia's northeast corner, still flies under the radar, which is good news for anyone who wants a thoughtful Mediterranean red that overdelivers for what it is.","brand":"David Bowler Wine [DBW]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50516408238137,"sku":"NYC-W-DBW-`DB3528-23`-092126-1","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0125\/1518\/0601\/files\/IMG-4585.jpg?v=1790208147"},{"product_id":"espelt-emporda-pla-de-gates-blanco-blanc-2024","title":"Espelt, Empordà Pla De Gates Blanco Blanc, 2024","description":"A white Grenache grown so close to the Mediterranean that the wind does the work: in Anna Espelt's Mas Marés vineyard, hemmed in by sea on three sides inside the Cap de Creus Nature Reserve, near-constant wind off the water shrinks the clusters and thickens the skins, which is exactly why she planted Lledoner Blanc and Roig — the Catalan names for Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris — here rather than in the warmer inland sites. The granitic soils are farmed organically, and Pla de Gates is not a marketing name but a real high point on the estate's land, where Espelt has put cattle back out to graze down the scrub, cut fire risk and feed organic matter back into the soil. That kind of thinking comes honestly: she studied habitat restoration and organic farming before joining the family estate in Empordà in 2005, and the 25 hectares of Mas Marés are her own personal project alongside it. Empordà, tucked into the far northeast corner of Catalonia between the Pyrenees and the sea, still flies well under the radar for whites of this seriousness — which is the good news for anyone reading this. A thinking person's Mediterranean white, and one that overdelivers for what it is.","brand":"David Bowler Wine [DBW]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50516408270905,"sku":"NYC-W-DBW-`DB3529-24`-092126-2","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0125\/1518\/0601\/files\/IMG-4579.jpg?v=1790208073"}],"url":"https:\/\/nyc.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/espelt.oembed","provider":"Flatiron Wines \u0026 Spirits NYC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}