Turó d’en Mota: Spain’s best sparkling wine according to R. Parker
The American wine publication Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has given Turó d’en Mota 2005 a score of 95.5 points, which means this terroir sparkling wine is once again Spain’s highest-rated sparkling wine. In the words of Luis Gutiérrez, the prestigious magazine’s official taster in Spain, Chile and Argentina, Turó d’en Mota represents “the pinnacle”. It is made with grapes of a single variety (Xarel·lo) from a single vineyard planted in 1940, grown on highly calcareous soil, and aged for a minimum of ten years on the lees.
The Turó d’en Mota vineyard, located in the Bitlles Valley Highlands of Alt Penedès, produced 3,984 bottles in 2005, a yield of 31 hectolitres per hectare.
This is the sixth vintage to see the light of day since October 2008, when the first bottle of Turó d’en Mota 1999—the first single-vineyard sparkling wine in the Penedès region ever—went on sale.
The order in which vintages of Turó d’en Mota are released is not strictly chronological as it depends on the ageing potential of each one. “2004 is an extraordinary vintage that needed patience and enough ageing time to express itself fully and harmoniously,” said Ton Mata, Recaredo’s general manager and oenologist. This is why the 2005 vintage—a historic wine with an intense, vibrant character—has been released before the 2004 vintage. “On the palate, it’s excellent, deep and mineral. Despite the long ageing, it remains lively—I’d even go as far as to say youthful,” said Luis Gutiérrez.
ABOUT THE VINEYARD
The Turó d’en Mota vineyard, which was planted in 1940 and trained traditionally, is property of Recaredo. This is located in the northwestern corner of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in the Alt Penedès county, on the north side of a hill named Turó d’en Mota, from which it gets its name.
ABOUT THE 2005 VINTAGE
The 2005 vintage materialises the persistence of memory, recalling a year of timid rains, bold winter months, and incandescent summer skies—elements that shaped the Mediterranean character of a great wine for laying down.
