Lucy Chilvers WineLucy Chilvers
Lucy Chilvers, a British winemaker based in the Anoia, forged her craft alongside Saša Radikon in Gorizia. Classical European training converted to natural wine: her wines combine technical precision and authenticity of territory — an uncommon combination in the natural segment, where character or technique often wins out, but rarely both at once.
Anoia, Catalonia. Bodega Ca l'Enric in the village of El Bedorc, a twelfth-century farmhouse extended in the seventeenth. Small plots at different altitudes, with soils of llicorella (slate), clay and sands.
- Organic viticulture with biodynamic practices
- No additives in the cellar — no SO2, no fining, no filtration
- Skin maceration (orange wines) and carbonic maceration (reds)
- Ancestral method for the sparkling wines (Sumoll)
- Varieties: Xarel·lo, Sumoll, Parellada, Macabeo, Muscat of Alexandria, Merlot
- Ageing: 225 L chestnut barrels and used French oak
- Sasa — Orange Wine, 100% Xarel·lo from Mallorca, skin maceration
- El Nem Sam — Red Wine, 100% Merlot, carbonic maceration
- Toca'm — Sparkling Red Wine, 100% Sumoll, ancestral method
The Anoia is a less visible wine region than the Penedès but has an extraordinary soil heritage: llicorella, calcareous clays and sands that make differences between plots less than a kilometre apart. Lucy Chilvers works precision as a craft: each wine is the result of a specific plot and an ageing time that is not rushed.
The collection at Terroir Radical
A tribute to her mentor Saša Radikon, the renowned natural winemaker from Gorizia who inspired her approach to winemaking. Xarel·lo from Mallorca made with skin maceration: no additives, no shortcuts, just natural expression from vine to bottle.
Light amber-gold colour. Nose of citrus peel, balsamic notes and fruit both ripe and fresh —Xarel·lo with skin maceration. Dense, textured palate, balanced by very lively acidity. Orange wine dedicated to Sasa Radikon, Lucy Chilvers' mentor in Friuli. One of the most interesting Xarel·los of the Penedès.
100% Merlot from 9 days of carbonic maceration, aged 14 months in used French oak. A red with the characteristic personality of the variety, made without additions in the cellar.
Transparent cherry-red colour, almost pinkish. Nose of cherries, raspberries, violets and a light herbal note. Light, delicate palate, fine and silky tannins. A Merlot without make-up, vinified to show the fruit in its pure state. Very different from the stereotypes of the grape.
Three varieties, three independent macerations in stainless steel, three expressions of one same territory. The Xarel·lo comes from vines from the 1930s, the Parellada and Muscat of Alexandria from organic vines with biodynamic treatments. Blended three days before bottling by the ancestral method: a wine of peach, ripe apple and wild honey, vibrant and dry on the palate.
Golden-yellow colour with orange reflections, clean but with the slight natural haze of unfiltered wines. Nose of exquisite Mediterranean fragrance: marked notes of wild plants, ripe stone fruit —apricot, medlar— and subtle echoes of earth and minerality. Solid, ripe, very tasty palate, enveloping, lively texture, perfectly counterpointed by crisp, refreshing acidity that gives a long, persistent finish. Minimal-intervention Xarel·lo from the Penedès.
100% Xarel·lo from vines planted in the 1930s in Sant Joan Samura, at 150 m altitude, on clay and limestone soils. Two weeks of skin maceration with native yeasts, without pressing — gravity fermented. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation and seven months on lees in stainless steel. Wild herbs, dried apricots and white lily on the nose; rich texture with saline acidity and crunchy tannins on the palate.
Light golden-yellow colour. Intense floral nose —magnolia, white flowers, citrus— with the complexity of a 15-day skin maceration from 80–90-year-old vines in Sant Llorenç d'Hortons (Alt Penedès). Delicate, elegant palate, precise acidity and mineral persistence. A Xarel·lo with the own character of the British winemaker.
Pale golden-yellow colour. Intense, floral nose —roses, jasmine, lemonade and tropical fruit. Muscat of Alexandria dominates, with Xarel·lo adding freshness and minerality. Aromatic, soft, very persistent palate. Lucy Chilvers, biodynamic viticulture in Sant Joan Samora.
Light cherry-red colour, almost translucent, with a light natural bubble. Nose of sour cherries, raspberries, violets and a mineral note. Fresh, effervescent, very lively palate. A Penedès Sumoll Pet-Nat made by Lucy Chilvers with biodynamic viticulture. No additives.
Editorial note
Lucy Chilvers represents what can happen when rigorous technical training is put at the service of terroir and not the market. She works in the Anoia, in Catalonia, with varieties of organic natural wine made with minimal intervention. Her wines have a precision that clearly sets them apart within the natural wine segment: clean, expressive and honest with the place where they are born.
— Terroir Radical