Únic 2022
A unique thing only happens once, it is ephemeral and does not repeat itself. And it is in this transience that lies its uniqueness. With this Únic wine we want to create an unrepeteable experience: that of a wine that only happens once, an ephemeral wine that will not be repeated.
A wine that will never be the same, because we want this new wine to be different every year, to be the summary of the experimental work that is being carried out at the L’Olivera winery. And since no year is ever the same, every Únic will be different.
And so, with Únic, we want to share the daily experiments that form our essence. Those investigations that we love so much but that normally never leave the cellar. For this reason, Únic is a singular experiment, a very limited edition, which for the this vintage consists of 1,200 bottles of a blend of Malvasia (50%) and Xarel·lo (40%) and a small proportion of White grenache and Parellada. A coupage that aims to highlight the work that L’Olivera has been doing for years in the recovery of Malvasia, a variety that in Vallbona de les Monges gives a good balance between alcohol content and acidity and that gives the wines an interesting explosion of floral aromas. It is also a wine with minimal intervention, continuing the line started in the previous Únic vintage and which is also one of the lines that the Vallbona de les Monges winery has been working on in recent years.
Terroir
ORIGIN: Grape from the vineyards of Catxassa and Pep Bernarda, at 550 meters above sea level, in Vallbona de les Monges. Landscapes of plots characterized by dry stone walls, which delimit the vineyards and preserve the fertility of the soils and the efficiency of water.
SOIL: Chalky clay soil with variable levels of stoniness and depth.
CLIMATE: The climate is continental Mediterranean, with cold dry winters and hot summers tempered by the soft evening breeze blowing in from the sea that cools the night, particularly during the ripening season. The scarce rainfall is concentrated in autumn and spring (350-450 mm yearly).
Varieties
Malvasia (50%), Xarel·lo (40%), White grenache and Parellada (10%)
Vine growing
Organic farming. Manual harvest in crates of 10-12 kg and manual selection of the grape on the vine. Stepped with the feet, spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts from the vineyard itself. No added sulphites.
Production
Single lot of 1,200 bottles.
Technical sheet
Únic 2022
Characteristics of the vintage
The 2022 vintage was very complicated at an agronomic level: spring frosts, very low rainfall (30% lower than the average of the last few years) and various exceptional episodes of days with temperatures above 35ºC and average temperatures above the norm. All these elements caused a limited development of the plants and a considerable reduction in production (between 30 and 40% lower than the average in our rainfed viticulture conditions). These extreme conditions of heat and drought forced us to advance the harvest a lot to maintain the balance of the grapes. We started the harvest earlier than usual, on August 16, and finished it on September 26. The conditions of drought and low humidity allowed us, at least, to obtain a healthy grape without any fungal infections.
Viticulture and wine processing
Organic dry farming. Manual harvest in boxes of 10-12 kg and selection of grapes in the vineyard. The grapes are trodden underfoot in the vineyard itself, where spontaneous fermentation begins with wild yeasts. Fermentation ends in the cellar, in a stainless-steel tank, without temperature control and without additives, to obtain a wine with minimal intervention. Fermentation ends when all the sugars have been consumed and that is when the wine is bottled without the addition of sulphites.
Analysis
Alcoholic content: 14.5%
Total acidity: 3.9 g/l (sulphuric acid)
Volatile acidity: 0.25 g/l
Residual sugar: 1.34 g/l (glucose + fructose)
pH: 3.22
Tasting notes
Straw yellow colour. Intense nose, with a marked presence of floral bouquet and fresh notes of fruit. In the mouth, the primary aromas stand out, especially floral aromas of roses, which later evolve to almond blossoms and fruity notes of lemon and apricot.
Design
The graphic image of Únic is the work of the graphic studio 131.gd (Pau Llop + Esteve Padilla), which wanted to reflect the experimental and unique character of this wine. A label that plays with simplicity and honesty and makes use of typographic word game to make each label unique: the number of each bottle constitutes the image of each one, thus making each one unique.