Wine of the Week! 01/23/24

Cellers de Can Suriol Azimut Blanc

Normally $19.99 / Now on Sale for $16.96
40% Macabeu, 30% Xarel-lo 30% Garnatxa, 10% Malvasia (Penedés DOP)

The Suriol Family has been living around Grabuac in the Penedés region of Catalonia (some 25 miles west of Barcelona and a 13 mile stone’s throw north of the Mediterranean) since … wait for it … wait for it … WAIT for it … the 1100s! They moved into the castle the current family still lives in in the 1600s.

Over the next few centuries, they switched their farming focus to grape growing, but didn’t start bottling wine until 1940. In the 80s, Francesc Suriol Cantí went organic, and, today, Assís Suriol farms biodynamically and sustainably. Their primary fermentation is spontaneous, and they use little sulfur.

They have two lines. The Cellars de Can Suriol wines use their own grapes, while their Azimut line (“Azimut” is a Catalan word referring to the line between the sun and the sea.) – features easy-going wines made from locally purchased organic grapes.

Suriol initially ferments this lush, citrusy white in stainless steel for thirty days before letting it go through malolactic fermentation and battonage in concrete for three months. It’s unfined and filtered through soft paper before being lightly sulfured at bottling.