Parés Baltà, Materia Prima, Orange wine 2025

Parés Baltà are one of Penedès's most adventurous organic estates, and Materia Prima is where they really let their hair down. Made from Xarel·lo - the backbone grape of Cava, here given an entirely different life - it spends extended time on its skins, picking up that characteristic amber hue, a grippy tannin structure, and a savoury, oxidative edge that makes it unlike anything else in the Parés Baltà range. This is orange wine in its most honest form: no artifice, no trend-chasing, just an ancient winemaking technique applied to a grape that turns out to be rather well suited to it. We find it beautifully poised between the fruity generosity of the Catalan sun and the earthy, bitter-almond complexity that skin contact brings. Dried apricot, quince, chamomile, a hint of beeswax, and that saline, mineral thread that Xarel·lo always carries.