Tasting the base wines that will eventually become two of Loxarel’s flagship sparkling wines is always a captivating moment in the tearly cycle. This November, we sampled the first iterations of what will become Elisenda 2025 and Refugi 2025, two of the estate’s benchmark Clàssic Penedès cuvées.
Elisenda: a tribut to the past, a toast to the futur
For Loxarel, Elisenda is a homage to the generations of winegrowers who came before in the Mitjans-Nin family. Crafted form Parellada Montònega sourced form old, high-altitude vines in Pla de Manlleu and from Xarel·lo Vermell grown on the Can Mayol esate in Viloví del Penedès, the wine undergoes a slow primary fermentation lasting three to four months. This is followed by blending and a second fermentation, after which it vill rest for al least 15 months in the historic Refugi Antiaeri beneath Can Mayol.
The 2025 vintage promises an Elisenda of balance, freshness and longevity, shaped by favourable conditions throughout the growing season.
Refugi: history, memory and roots
Produced form Xarel·lo grown near the former airfield of Viloví del Penedès, Refugi begins with a tree-to-four-month primary fermentation in 500-litre oak barrels. In then proceeds to a second fermentation and an extended ageing of 60 month in the half-light of the winery’s old Refugi Antiaeri Republicà.
The 2025 vintage is set to yield a sparkling wine with soul and finesse, marked by a clean palate and precise acidity; a Refugi that carries the imprint of memory, history and the deep roots of both the land and the generations of Loxarel growers who have shaped it.
