Picapoll

The Spanish territory of Catalonia is comprised of four provinces, namely Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Together, these provinces occupy over 30,000 square kilometres in the north-eastern corner of Spain (bordering France and Andorra) and are home to some seven and a half million people. Catalonia is one of a few regions in Spain, such as the Basque Country and Galicia, which has its own language apart from Castilian Spanish. Within Catalonia, you will find one of the most historic and elaborate histories of grape growing and winemaking that stretches back to Roman times and beyond.

While many international wine critics have visited the historical vineyards of Catalonia, especially its more famous wine regions of Priorat, Tarragona and Terra Alta, clustered west of the Catalan capital Barcelona, and Emporda and Alella further east, few of them tend to venture a mere 50km, just an hour and a half northwest up into the mountainous region near the city of Manresa, where you will find the small but increasingly influential Denominacion de Origen Protegida (DOP) of Pla de Bages.

The Exibis winery north east of Manresa.

One of the smallest DOPs in Spain, covering less than 500 hectares of vines (1,186 acres), it is also one of the newest denominacions having only acquired its official status in 1995. Consisting of only 16 wineries that produce just under 3,800 hectolitres of wine, you wouldn’t realise that this region used to be one of the most viticulturally significant areas of Spain in the pre-phylloxera 19th century when vineyards located in the valleys of the Llobregat and Cardener rivers and their weaving tributaries, numbered closer to 27,700 hectares in 1890. After being decimated by phylloxera which took hold in the Pla de Bages region in 1889, it would take almost a hundred years until the region properly resurrected its true winemaking heritage.

Today, 27 different municipalities are entitled to use the designation ‘DO Pla de Bages’ many of which encircle the city of Manresa. Splendid isolation is the word that comes to mind when you consider that this is one of Catalonia’s least densely populated regions. The climate in Pla de Bages is a mixture of Mediterranean and Continental influence with hot summers and cold winters as standard, with around 550 to 600mm of annual rainfall per year, something almost on par with Stellenbosch in South Africa.

Vineyard locations, and the corresponding grape-growing conditions are defined by two distinct types of terroir – The central basin at an altitude of 200m, which has predominantly clay-based soils and is slightly warmer in the growing season, and then the Alt Bages (Upper Bages), which lies at over 500m above sea level and is generally the cooler part of the vineyards with a significant amount of lime in its soils that helps retain moisture during the hot summer months. Another key to high quality grape growing is the significant diurnal temperature variations that help both the red and white cultivars retain their all-important acidity levels while developing flavour complexity, with an annual average temperature of only 13C (maximum 35C and minimum -5C).

The dramatic mountains around DO Pla de Bages.

Having myself also only visited all the famous wine regions to the west of Catalonia, I recently decided to explore this intriguing region of DO Pla de Bages, arranging a visit to the Can Serra dels Exibis winery that I firmly believe is producing some of the most exciting wines in the DO at the moment. Quite fortuitously for me, the founder, co-owner and winemaker, Joan Soler, who is a qualified agronomist and oenologist, used to be the president of the Pla de Bages designation of origin. A man with many talents, superb English, and a never-ending energy, Joan somehow also enthusiastically manages to consult to a number of other local wineries and artisanal projects that produce a wide array of unique wines, more often than not, using indigenous local cultivars.

Sumoll vineyard near the Exibis winery with traditional training on a pole.

Exibis is located between Cardona, with its castle and the salt mountain (must be seen to be believed!); Montserrat, the mountain of spiritual and geological reference; and Sant Benet de Bages, which typifies the expansion of the vineyards through the monastic influence in the region. With the Pyrenees lurking ever presently on the horizon in the north and Barcelona just over one hour to the southeast, Exibis is perfectly situated within the DO.

Joan Soler showing me the latest Exibis vintages still in tank.

Located at 500 metres in altitude, the Exibis winery was started in 2009 and has thrived while Joan has attempted to resurrect the historical wine making practices of the past, which inevitably involved rediscovering lost or abandoned vineyards of indigenous varieties that were once cultivated so successfully by his ancestors, but which are now being improved with the use of modern organic and biodynamic agricultural principals.

Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard over 80+ years old that Joan uses for his Blunt Cuvee.

Speaking to Joan while wandering though his high-altitude vineyards, I loved how he expressed his winemaking philosophy so simply… “to make wines that represent our history as well as our future. But above all, they are the present.” With this sympathetic mindset, Exibis focuses on cultivating both local cultivars like indigenous white Picapoll, red Sumoll, Mandó and Garnacha Tinta, as well as accepted international cultivars like Cabernet Sauvignon, to make “wines that express their terroir as well as the variety, balanced and each with its own unique personality.”

One of the 14th century Tines fermentation tanks carved into a boulder that’s still being used today.

After visiting several of their replanted vineyards, we returned to the Can Serra dels Exibis winery, located on one of the oldest farmhouses in the municipality of Castelladral, thought to have been built in the High Middle Ages during the reconquest of central Catalonia in the 10th century. With the modest winemaking facilities housed in a simple but effect neighbouring modern warehouse, we proceeded to taste through a selection of young wines in tank before moving on to a full range tasting of current release bottled wines.

Joan pulling barrel samples from the barrel cellar.

“Sumoll is a bit like Nebbiolo, thin in the mouth but beautifully powerful and intense with a low pH, rustic but then emerges as a very friendly wine on the persistent finish.” ~ Joan Soler

“Our Mandó is fermented in amphorae and our Sumoll in open topped six-year-old 300 litre oak barrels, before being blended in tank. A wonderful marriage.”

Myself with Anthony Crameri, one of the winery’s export agents, alongside Exibis co-owner Joan Soler.

A Rough Guide to Recent DO Pla de Bages Vintages:

2018 – Rainy fresh vintage making wines with goodfinal ripeness.

2019 – Warm vintage but generally a good, regular year of high quality.

2020 – May / June / July moving to a drier harvest time. But a much cooler, wetter year than compared to nearby Bordeaux.

2021 – A cool, fresh, well-balanced year.

2022 – Hot and dry year making ripe, good quality wines.

2023 – A hot and even drier year than 2022 but still produced wines with good freshness thanks to good diurnal temperature fluctuations.

Exibis Valentina d’Exibis 2023, DO Pla de Bages, 13% Abv.

A blend of 80% Macabeo and 20% Picapoll with a 20% portion of the Macabeo barrel fermented, the rest stainless steel tank fermented before blending and bottling after a light bentonite fining. This shows a deep complex aromatics full of earthy root vegetables, children’s plasticine, dried fennel seeds, buttered white toast, and subtle kerosene and waxy nuances. On the palate the wine is delightfully bright and energetic, packed full of tangy acids, dried orange peel, wet straw, white peach and lemony citrus pastille that ties in nicely to the slight kerosene hints on the nose. Really a very characterful expression from its second vintage of production. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Cellers Underground Pura Vida 2023, Costers del Segre, 13% Abv.

A blend of 40% Garnacha Blanca, 40% Macabeo and a 20% barrel fermented Chardonnay portion. Displays deliciously enticing aromatics of lemon and herbs, melted butter on grilled sweetcorn, sweet green herbs, pear puree, lemon pastille and subtle notes of almond skins and marzipan. The entry is fleshy and vibrant, the acids energetic and fresh – a wine that really speaks to you of its terroir. There’s impressive breadth and palate depth, pithy phenolics but also a long finish of picante green apple and crunchy pear fruits. Really quite an accomplished white blend. Drink now and enjoy its evolution over 5 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Exibis Les Tines 2023, DO Plages de Bages, 13.5% Abv.

All components are unoaked except for a 15% portion of the previous year’s 2022 cuvée that is blended back in after a further 12 months of ageing in used 300 litre French oak barrels. A blend of Mandó, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha Tinta and Sumoll, with 33% of the whole cuvee aged in sandstone hollowed ‘Tines’ tanks carved by locals in the 13th and 14th century. The blend reveals a deep rich expression of wet stone minerality, black berry fruits, sweet sappy oak, and a lactic blueberry complexity. On the palate, the acids are bright and pithy alongside saline, mineral black currant and pithy bramble berry fruits, kissed with a smoky, dusty mineral wet stone intensity. This is an energetic gourmet-friendly wine that is pithy and superbly bright, offering up an enjoyable energy in its youth. Drink now and over the next 5 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting the current vintages from bottle with Joan Soler.

Exibis La Rasa 2020, DO Pla de Bages, 15% Abv.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sumoll and 10% Mandó. The blend is made, and the wine is aged for 12 months in 300 litre French oak barrels with a 10% to 15% new oak portion. The aromatics are wonderfully bold and intense, brazenly sweet fruited, showing raisined black cherry, black plum and opulent notes of mint chocolate pralines. The texture and mouthfeel are vibrant and invigorating, the acids tangy, nervy but deliciously vivacious. This is a beautifully complete wine, full of broody dark fruits, a vital freshness and pithy fine grained grippy tannins. Modern-styled and pure in essence but retains a hint of Pla de Bages mountain wildness to it. Undoubtedly a very fine wine with years of ageing ahead of it. Drink now to 2036+.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Exibis La Rasa 2019, DO Pla de Bages, 15% Abv.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sumoll and 10% Mandó. The blend is made, and the wine is aged for 12 months in 300 litre French oak barrels with a 10% to 15% new oak portion. From a more ‘normal’ vintage, you see that balance in the essence of the wine’s character. Cool, calm and collected. With an extra year of bottle age, the aromatics are similarly youthful to the 2020, tightly packed with stewed black plum, raisined black cherry, burnt brown sugar and hints of creme de cassis and blueberry fruit opulence. Cooler vintages seem more nervous, but this more temperate expression is relaxed, harmonious and superbly elegant, packed with a fruit density that’s very supple and fleshy. Beautifully intense, tangy and focused, this wine is pure class.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Exibus La Baula 2020, DO Pla de Bages, 13% Abv.

A blend of 66% Sumoll (a portion coming from almost 100-year-old vines) and 34% Mandó fermented in amphorae and the Sumoll fermented in open topped six-year-old 300L oak barrels, then blended in tank. This shares many similar traits with the La Rasa cuvée but shows an extra depth of perfumedaromatics, seamless black cherry confit, bramble berry and sweet grilled herbs. This wine is beautifully elegant and bright, revealing a very sophisticated demeanour. But it’s also a very complete wine, not only fresh and energetic but plush, fleshy and deliciously dense and black fruited, yet always fresh, vibrant and weightlessly concentrated. A more harmonious endeavour, this wine will surely be a big hit with collectors and quality minded connoisseurs. Drink now to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Blunt 2018, DO Pla de Bages, 14.5% Abv.

A cuvée Joan started while working in a commercial winery that produced 16 million bottles of wine, realising that there is a deeper meaning to fine wine – a philosophy inspired by a Japanese importer. A 90% Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée with a 10% Sumoll portion, the wine is dense, black and opaque in the glass. The aromatics are beautifully layered with notes of sweet blackberry, salty black liquorice, tar, and baked plums with a vanilla pod spice dusting. On the palate, you experience a really plush, full-bodied wine that’s also incredibly easy to drink, with expressive hints of sweet damson plum, mulberry and wild strawberry and displaying sleek, fine grained creamy tannins that frame a wonderfully ripe, pure, harmonious mouthfeel. So balanced and complete, this is one of the most exotically seductive and alluring faces of old vine Cabernet Sauvignon I’ve ever experienced! Drink now to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)