The current vintage of the rare white varietal Incrocio Manzoni is the 2018 El Rocallís, which shows aromatic complexity and development, very balsamic and medicinal. A variety that has a tendency to develop minty notes, it's very original and behaves well in warm climates, and they find it resistant to climate change. Carlos Esteva told me that he discovered the variety in Verona (Il Carro Armato). It matures nicely in bottle. It comes from a plot they planted on sandy soils and limestone mother rock. The full clusters were pressed, and 50% of the must fermented in barrel and the other 50% in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, and it was bottled after six months. 2,000 bottles were filled in October 2019.

I tasted the characterful and unusual 2016 El Rocallís next to the 2015. It's a varietal bottling of the obscure Incrocio Manzoni grape, a cross of Pinot Blanc and Riesling. It's a wine that seems to have adapted quite well to the conditions of the Garraf zone of Penedès and delivers a very different wine that evolves nicely in bottle. The vines were planted in 1981 on very shallow limestone soils (the name refers to rocks in Catalan). It fermented and matured for five months in 450-liter French oak barrels. It has some flinty and smoky aromas, reminiscent of toasted sesame seeds; it's perhaps faintly reductive, serious and not exuberant at all. The palate is even more austere, with a dry, stony sensation and very good length, finishing dry and with a very tasty, almost salty note. 3,315 bottles were filled in March 2017.

Slightly riper compared to the 2016 tasted next to it, the 2015 El Rocallís comes from a dry and warm year, a little drier and warmer than 2016. This is a unique varietal of the white cross of Pinot Blanc and Riesling called Incrocio Mazoni that was planted on the property in 1981. It fermented in 450-liter French oak barrels with natural yeasts and matured in those same barrels for some five months before it was bottled. I find more developed aromas in this 2015 compared with the youthful 2016, and there are some notes of caramel that give it a slightly oxidative character. It has notes of beeswax and pollen that make it very attractive. The palate combines volume with some dry minerality, coming through as generous but serious. 2,683 bottles and 25 magnums were filled in March 2016.

The somewhat exotic and Riesling-like 2014 El Rocallís is a single-vineyard white produced with the obscure grape Incrocio Manzoni, even though it's not mentioned on the label. Not surprisingly, the variety is a cross between Pinot Blanc and Riesling and has definitely inherited some characteristics of the latter, with aromas of white flowers and lime zest. There is something chalky and talcum powder-like as well that gives it a faint perfume. The palate revealed citrus acidity and nice balance. The vines were planted in 1981 on a very shallow part of their estate, where the mother rock can sometimes be seen on the surface (hence the rocky name). It fermented in 450-liter French oak barrels where it matured for four months. As with many of the whites here, it's kept in bottle for no less than two years before it's sold. 1,705 bottles and 50 magnums were filled in March 2015.

The only varietal Incrocio Manzoni I know is the 2013 El Rocallís, a crossing between Pinot Blanc and Riesling that seems to transmit quite faithfully the limestone character of the Garraf soils. It fermented and matured in 450-liter French oak barrels with indigenous yeasts, where the wine was kept for four months. The bottles are held for two years before they are released. 2013 is again a cool vintage where the fruit feels fresher and there are less Mediterranean aromas, they are there but fell subtler and intermixed with notions of wet chalk and some hay and straw. The oak is still noticeable. The palate shows the almost saline tastiness of the limestone soils, with clean, focused and pure flavors. A great version of Rocallís. 3,616 bottles were filled in March 2014.