Codornìu-Raventos returns to the 70s

Codornìu-Raventos is taking its Spanish winemaking back to the style of the 70s, believing wines made in this decade to offer the truest expression of terroir and the biggest potential for ageing.

Arthur O’Connor, director of winemaking at Codornìu-Raventos, which owns Codornìu in Penèdes; Bodegas Bilbainas in Rioja; Legaris in Ribera Del Duero; and Scala Dei in Priorat, joined the company in 2006. 

Since then he has been working to revamp the group’s methods, taking its wineries  “back to the future” by turning down the winemaking and letting the terroir do the talking.

Speaking at a Codornìu Raventos masterclass organised by the drinks business in London this week, he shared the view that wines from the 1970s in Spain, when organic pesticides, bush vines and concrete fermentation were still in use.

“When tasting verticals from all our wineries our preference was for wines from the 70s and 60s, rather than 80s or 90s”, says O’Connor. “Just showing that structure, it’s all about structure.”

Winemaker Ricard Rofes of Scala Dei presented the winery’s 1975 Cartoixa – a blend of Garnacha and Carignan – at the masterclass. Identifying a preference for the wines from the 1970s, which he found to be fresher and more alive than those made in the 80s and 90s, Rofes is now trying to “build a wire” to connect future wines to the decade.

“It was strange because those wines were 10 or 12 years older”, says Rofes. “We thought the vineyards and grapes are the same and the vineyard is older, so there must be a change inside the winery. Looking at the notes of previous winemakers we found there were changes in winemaking. In the 70s all the wines were made with 100% of the stem and skin. All wine was fermented in concrete rather than stainless steel tanks and there also wasn’t a temperature-controlled system. The ageing in Priorat was never done in typical French 225 litre barriques, but in big tanks of 10 to 20,000 litres. The wines were aged with less oak and less oxygen.”

Consequently, the wines of the 70s were “harder to drink” after bottling, but represented the best potential to age thanks to their structure, says Rofes.

Similarly, Bodegas Bilbainas in Rioja presented a 1978 Viña Pomal at the masterclass, which winemaker Diego Pinilla said was one of the last vintages produced before much of Rioja converted from bush to trellis vines, and when organic pesticides were still widespread.

The 1975 Cartoixa presented by Scala Dei, and Vina Pomal’s 1978 gran reserva Rioja

“Even if it is light in colour, I think it’s amazing to see a wine that is still alive with freshness and acidity”, he said of the 1978 Viña Pomal.

A shift toward natural ferments, foregoing the use of cultivated yeast strains, is also high on Codornìu’s agenda as it strives to produce wines with structure that are capable of ageing.

“We don’t need to be adding stuff to wine”, says O’Connor. “Wine makes itself if you just step out of the way.”

Currently, 100% of the group’s wine production in Priorat is carried out using natural ferments, falling to around 80% in Rioja and Ribera Del Duero, while Codornìu is still working to perfect a natural ferment for its Cava wines.

“If you are adding yeast what you tend to get is a nice fruit hit but it’s transient”, says O’Connor. “It’s only with you for two or three years then it fades. What you really want is structure and a great skeleton and bones, Hence our reason for using natural ferments. You dot get a lot fruit right away but after two or three years this middle rose opens up versus a rose coming straight at you and then just collapsing, which is what we saw with those 80s and 90s wines.”