Good news to start the year at Albet i Noya, as we have been awarded two gold medals at the Challenge Millésime Bio contest in Montpellier.

One of these is for the new vintage of red wine, the icon of the winery: Reserva Martí 2016. The second medal was for a new wine which will be released on the market in the coming months; a Clàssic Penedès, with a long ageing period of 120 months, created with 100% xarel·lo grapes from the El Corral Cremat vineyard (Ordal Mountains).

El Corral Cremat is a very special wine for Josep Maria Albet i Noya. It is a sparkling wine that the owner of the winery decided to begin creating in 2011, thinking of the day of his retirement. Coincidentally, the winners of the Challenge Millésime Bio contest were announced on Friday the 14th of January, the very day that Josep Maria Albet turned 65. The presentation of the wine should have been in February at Barcelona Wine Week, but is now postponed until April.

With regard to Reserva Martí 2016, this wine is made with selected cabernet sauvignon, syrah and tempranillo grapes. It is aged for 24 months in French oak barrels, and rested in the bottle for over three years.

The Millésime Bio wine fair in Montpellier has been postponed until the 28th of February, although there is still a digital version on the 24th and 25th of January. It is one of the most important trade fairs specialised only in organic wines. At the Challenge Millésime Bio contest 2022, 1,960 wines from 16 different countries have been presented. This year, only three Catalan wines have reached the highest category.