The story will sound familiar to most of you out there by now. People in search of a slower life, rooted in nature move to the country and start making natural wine. Wholesome. The story of Partida Creus founders Massimo Marchiori and Antonella Gerona is much the same. Both are qualified architects who gave it all up in search of the good life. Originally from Piedmont with agricultural backgrounds both felt the pull to a simpler life in the vineyard and packed it all up to start Partida Creus, just south of Barcelona. Now into their thirty-second year of marriage and their fourteenth making wine together, we'd say they made the right decision. All the wines (and there are many) are distinctive, expressive, raw and wild-edged. Each wine tells a story. Each wine is made with love.
The focus of their winemaking is in making what they like to drink (and wine their family used to make) and doing so from the ancient and often over-looked grape varieties of the region - garnacha, ull de perdiu, sumoll, queixal de llop, samsó, garrut and trepat. They're totally in the zero-zero camp - work in the vineyard is organic, completely free of chemicals and they only use indigenous yeasts and no additions in the cellar. The pet-nats are crisp, effervescent and full of personality. The whites are high energy, fresh with dazzling balance. Reds are all crunchy, crispy with their trademark raw vibe. Bonus round for everyone playing along at home - there are two, never seen-before cuvees, a more serious, structure red that our friend and importer Liz Carey had a hand in creating and a skin-contact macabeu that's all peach and lemon-pith good times. Both delightful. Both super spesh.