Xarel-lo, it’s not just for Cava!

Pronounced “Char-el-Lo” with a Spanish accent of course, Xarel-lo is a white wine grape varietal from Spain that is one of the three grapes used in making Cava (Spain’s sparkling wine). In this review’s case it’s the only grape they used in making this still wine.

Raventos i Blanc continues their boss-like status producing excellent wines at an extraordinary value. They recently released two Xarel-lo with a vintage of 2015; “Sliencis” and “Extrem”. The super cool part was tasting the similarities and differences these two wines offered. Grab a friend, a couple of glasses, and have your own taste test!

Raventos i Blanc Xarel-lo “Silencis”, 2015 – From 50 year old vines this has gripping aromas of pear, lemon-lime, pineapple with flavors of lemon, crisp minerality, delicious acidity, and  finishing off with the salt of the sea (yeah, I said that).

Raventos i Blanc Xarel-lo “Extrem”, 2015 – A Bouquet of fresh lemon juice and minerals followed by flavors of sharp citrus coating the mouth. It’s a fuller-bodied Xarel-lo with what I found interesting, some chalkiness. Give this wine some time in the glass and the aromas and flavors will evolve into something pretty spectacular! The intensity calms down and the true character of the wine comes out showing you elegance, creaminess and the love that they put into this.

So which did I prefer? At first I was totally in love with Silencis but after I gave Extrem more time in the glass I started to enjoy that one more. So being the diligent student that I am, I tasted back and forth between the two wines over and over again. Honestly, I love them both, I can’t decide. But I’ll keep drinking these two bottles in hopes of coming up with an answer soon (or take a nap). 

Sláinte! TCW