2023 AT Roca, Rosat Reserva, Brut Nature Sparkling Wine, Classic Penedès, Spain.
Relatively new on the Sparkling wine scene, AT Roca is making some fabulous bubbly like this 2023 Rosat Reserva Classic Penedès, which I enjoyed recently, and which I want more of, especially for the Holidays! Made from 50% Macabeu and 50% Garnatxa Negra this AT Roca Rosé Brut style offering shows off pretty florals, wild strawberry, red apple skin, yeasty brioche, toasted almonds, wet stone and crisp dry cherry notes with a fine beading, almost creamy, but lively mousse. The owner at AT Roca, Agustí Torello Roca, along with his father and aunt, Agustí Torello Sibill and Lali Torello Sibill, founded AT Roca in 2013, with a focus on vineyards and wines with a sense of place. The name Agustí Torello is well-known and established in Penedès, having produced top quality Cava for three generations under the label “Agustí Torello Mata,” named after the patriarch of the family, which I can say was one of my all time favorite Cavas. For this exciting Rosat Reserva, the grapes, all organic, are hand-harvested and the Macabeu (white) is direct-pressed whole cluster while the Garnatxa (Grenache Noir) macerates for a few hours before pressing, to extract the color you seen the glass, into stainless steel tanks for primary fermentation. After, with no males, the Rosat saw 20 months of lees aging under cork with traditional riddling and was disgorged without freezing and without dosage, making for an elegant exceptionally dry bubbly. The AT Roca estate farms all its own vines, many well over 30 years old, all of which are certified organic, and they only work with indigenous Catalan grape varieties, with a focus on Macabeu. This wine’s grapes, as Farm Wines Imports told me, are sourced from 18 certified organic and regeneratively farmed parcels around their estate and the Macabeu comes from 14 parcels higher up and slightly cooler with gravelly calcareous soils, hence the balance and stony nature of the wine.
The difference here at AT Roca is just how unique and distinctive these bubbly wines truly are and as their importer José Pastor notes, AT Roca goes well beyond the typical Cava standards, with 100% hand-harvesting, as most grapes in Cava and Classic Penedès are harvested by machine, and aging their single vineyard wines on the lees with natural cork instead of crown caps, another rarity in the region. Things are better put into perspective, as Pastor (where most of my details came) adds, by the fact that over 75% of the total Cava production comes from just two behemoth wineries, and they also dictate all aspects of the DO rules. Interestingly too, is that the Cava DO is unique in that it does not have physical boundaries, rather the requirement is only that their sparkling wines be made in the métode tradicional, or Champagne style. The DO encompasses over 23 different regions across Spain, leading many of its Catalan members feeling that it cannot ever truly represent what is most important to them, the Penedès region and native varietals, so AT Roca goes their own way and does their non Cava, Classic Pendedes bottling, such as this gorgeous Rosat Reserva. I also learned, AT Roca is part of a growing movement to change the way people view Penedès sparkling wines and to start recognizing the uniqueness of this terroir. A growing number of wineries have chosen to no longer associate themselves with the Cava DO and have formed their own organizations with more stringent requirements such as aging and farming practices. AT Roca initially eschewed the Cava DO for the newly formed Classic Penedès initiative within the DO Penedès to reflect this terroir focus. As of October 2025, they have become part of Corpinnat, an independent collective initially formed in 2018 with a strict commitment to defending their terroir, using only native grape varieties, and practicing organic viticulture. More expensive that most Cavas, AT Roca is more like grower Champagne and worth every extra penny.
($29 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive