Saturday 23 November 2019

In praise of Xarel-Lo Vermell



Xarel-Lo Vermell grapes
Xarel-Lo, Xarel.lo, Xarello, Xerello, also known as Cartoixa, Pansal, Pansa Blanca etc. is a familiar high quality Catalan grape used for both Cava and still wines.

Xarel-Lo Vermell is the red or pink mutation which is much rarer - practically on the verge of extinction some time ago but now being revived by producers such as Loxarel and Gramona.

Loxarel's Xarel-Lo Vermell seen at ViniVeri Cerea.
Our first contact with the golden wine from Xarel-Lo Vermell was at the fair at Cerea. We included it in a tasting in August 2015. Since then it has not figured particularly in our researches.



Cue a visit to Grau, Palafrugell (near Girona), one of Catalunya's largest and best liqor stores. Our main objective was to find some of the wines recommended by Chambers Street Wines of New York for Thanksgiving. This year CSW is going with rose wines to compliment the traditional turkey.



That is what led us to this bottle of Xarel-Lo Vermell found in the Rose section at Grau. Now, dear Slotovino reader, you will notice the bottle is empty. This is a sure sign of the extreme pleasure with which this wine has been consumed. No time to take a photo with any wine in the bottle you see. Sherlock Holmes would also have deduced that there had been no initial expectation from this bottle as no picture had been taken before consumption.

Xarel-Lo Vermell's beautiful golden colour is well caught in this picture

How wrong could we have been. This Gramona Xarel-Lo Vermell was heavenly. If we awarded points it would have earned the maximum. Our regret at having failed to take a picture of Gramona's bottle is all the keener given the lovely golden colour typical of this grape.

Vermell is Catalan for Red. The classification of Rosat or Rosado we assume is correct but we like to think of both Loxarel's and Gramona's Xarel-Lo Vermell as white.

Pinot Gris





Cereza

Gewurztraminer

Koshu


After all, quite a few other grapes are pink skinned and almost invariably classed as white.

In any case, Gramona's Xarel-Lo Vermell alone is worth the trip to Grau. No need to put Xarel-Lo Vermell in the Slotovino Hall of Fame: it was already there.

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