Terra Vermella 2015 (75 cl.)

Once again, I tasted the second white the produced in the Pla de Manlleu zone within Penedès, the 2015 Terra Vermella de Nin. It's produced with the local Parellada Montonega grape grown on red soils ("vermella" is the Catalan word for "red," as the vines are grown on red soils). It fermented and matured in three 300-liter oak barrels for eight months. It's getting more mineral with time in bottle, and there is a notable absence of fruit; it's more spicy and stony, with some balsamic notes, something reminiscent of diesel (think of a mineral Riesling or a Chenin Blanc), dry and with a clean, pure finish.