We are thrilled to be welcoming Lucy Chilvers to the family!
Lucy makes dazzling expressions of the El Penèdes in Catalunya. These are pure, invigorating wines that we cannot wait to share with you. The wines are available now, and detailed below, but we highly encourage you to pop down to meet Lucy herself when she arrives in London to pour the wines next week at Antidote on Monday, April 15, alongside Ham Street and her Plumpton classmates from Titch Hill & Quatro Mustachios! Email to RSVP.
Lucy Chilvers first discovered natural wine while working at restaurants in London and Brighton. Bitten by the bug on visits to producers, she learned the fundamental importance of grape quality. Inspired and keen to learn more, she enrolled in the viticulture and oenology course at Plumpton. Here she met fellow classmates and our mutual friends in Sophie Evans, Alex Tristam (Titch Hill) Sam Bunker & David Haynes (Quatro Mustachios).
Following her degree, Lucy travelled to Italy to work with Sasa & Ivana Radikon in Friuli, a hugely influential experience on her approach: so much so that Lucy has a wine named for her mentor: 'Sasa'. After a couple of years back in the UK working in vineyards on the south coast, she soon felt the call to produce wine in Europe, and finally found a home in Catalunya.
Following her first vintage making wines with gifted grapes and guidance from Ignasi at Vinyes Singulars, Lucy met Ruben Parara, who offered work helping him in the vineyards and cellar space to produce her own wines.
Now focused primarily on Xarel·lo, a variety she loves for its incredible versatility, Lucy also works with Sumoll, Parrellada, Macabeo, Muscat d´Alexandria and Merlot grown over clay-rich, calcareous and sandy soils in the El Penèdes region at elevations between 150 to 400m, with some vines approaching 100 years old. She farms 4.5 hectares scattered over four micro-parcels, working organically with a little sulphur and a handful of biodynamic treatments. In the cellar, she makes no additions.
In 2022 Lucy moved from Ruben's cellar to a co-operative space designed for small-scale winemakers, ready to increase her production a little. More recently she has taken on a beautiful 400-year-old cellar in nearby El Bardoc.
We are so pleased to have Lucy joining the family, and are not only looking forward to enjoying these latest wines with you, but to watching her journey continue to unfold.
AVAILABLE NOW
Lucy Chilvers
Spain, Catalunya, El Penèdes
SPARKLING
NEW 2022 - Toca ́m - Sumoll
Sumoll hand harvested from Ca N'Aguilera - El Penedès at 400m altitude, vines planted in 2012 over Llicorella schist with clay and quartz. Whole bunch direct press, fermentation in stainless steel, bottled with residual sugar for carbonation. Seven months on the lees before disgorgement in late spring 2023. No additions.
SKINS
NEW 2022 - Flor De Maeve - Xarel·lo
90-year-old Xarel·lo hand harvested from Sant Joan Samora - El Penedès at 150m altitude over clay-rich and calcareous soils. De-stemmed and crushed, fermentation on the skins for two weeks with punch-downs in the first week and only wetting the cap in the second. No pressing, the wine is free-run by gravity. Naturally cold settled over winter in stainless steel, bottled after seven months on the lees with no additions.
NEW 2022 - Nuria - Moscatell d'Alexandria, Xarel·lo
Part Xarel·lo from the Sant Joan Samora parcel, alongside Muscat d´Alexandria from Torrelles de Foix - El Penedès at 320m altitude on sandy/clay soils. Two de-stemmed & crushed fermentations separate by variety: Muscat on skins for two weeks, Xarel·lo on skins for three weeks. Both pressed off together into stainless steel, naturally cold settled over winter. Bottled in early spring with no additions.
