Els Jelipins Orange Vi de Taula 2017 (Orange Wine)

Els Jelipins Orange Vi de Taula ORANGE WINE Biodynamic wine, Penedes, Sumoll and Garnacha, rare, unique, crystalline wine offering immense pleasure to the drinker. The new orange wine from Gloria is a delightful example of this increasingly popular style of wine. Jelipins Orange is made from Montanega (white grape with pinky skin) and sumoll (red grape). The name Sumoll is related to the local slang term ‘sumollar’, which means maturing or withering, from the Latin verb ‘submolliare’. Young wine from Sumoll grape has a slight roughness that disappears with aging. Its production is low and achieving quality wines requires high skills in wine production. The very rare Montanega variety is sparsely planted now in its native Penedes largely due to the naturally low yield of the vine, it has lost out to more productive varieties like Parellada. However Montanega has great quality potential, the berries are small and produce good sugar levels and thick skins lend themselves well towards orange wines. Montanega also has very good acidity so the wines are fresh and age well. The combination of these two red grapes leads to a fascinating and elegant orange wine with notes of wild flowers, subtle red and green fruits, yeast, baked apple, acacia honey, sultana, clove and much more. The texture is very delicate but the wine is still young and would benefit from ageing between 3 and 5 years to get more intensity.

The Spanish estate of Els Jelipins was born from the desire to create a viticultural family project that would allow Glòria and her daughter Berta to live in the hills of Font Rubi near Barcelona, enjoying a life of moderation in which they could find personal enrichment in tandem with the forces of mother nature and appreciation of the simpler things in life.

In 2001, this former engineer looked for the best plots of vineyards around Font Rubi, with special characteristics of soil, vine and climate. She found them in Penedès Superior. Glòria selects the grapes from various hillside vineyards cultivated without a single chemical or any other aggressive activity that disrupt natures natural flow. She carefully works each vineyard separately, adjusting to its individual needs and potential. She's in favour of achieving a fruit that can mature naturally and healthily without becoming trapped by a particular dogma or strict regime. Since 2003, Glòria has been making this now Iconic wine with a production of barely 2,000 bottles. She mainly uses a very old indigenous red grape variety called Sumoll, which almost totally disappeared from Spain, but she also puts some Garnacha (equivalent to Grenache) in the wine. If you try to ask Glòria about the name Els Jelipins, she will tell you that it's a name without meaning but a name with feeling that is magical and strong.