R. Parker (91/100)
The 2023 Astral L'Ancestral de Planetes is a new ancestral sparkling wine produced with the Garnacha grapes from some vines of the Planetes vineyard, from which they select the greener bunch of the plant. It finished fermenting in bottle, because he was looking for very fine bubbles that he reckons the wine needs 16 grams of sugar per liter to achieve. The wine was kept in bottle with lees for 18 months. It has a bright ruby color, almost like a light red, with notes of wild berries and herbs, with integrated bubbles that give the sensation of freshness but still with some creamy vinous sensations and some complexity. A fresh, bubbly Priorat with a bone-dry finish, it's disgorged from the stopper and closed with natural cork. It has 13% alcohol and went through full malolactic. It's produced with grapes from Priorat, but sparkling is not a category allowed by the appellation. 1,500 bottles produced.