Balsam NV Brut is an artisanal and certified organic sparkling wine made from the traditional varieties of El Penedès; Xarel•lo, Macabeu, and Parellada. Muscàndia is a family owned winery run by Eduard Viader, who's family name has been deeply tied to the Penedès region since 1823.
Balsam is fresh, clean, and crisp Cava with a pale straw yellow colour. Its tiny bubbles are extremely pleasant on the palate and give the wine a creamy texture. Aromas of green apple and citrus. In the mouth it has a delicate flavour that is well balanced between acidity and sweetness. Refreshing through and through.
Riddling is the process of hand rotating each bottle, stored in pupitres, by small increments so that the lees and sediment accumulate in the neck of the bottle near the cork. Disgorgement is the process of purging the bottle, shooting the yeast sediment (lees) out of the bottle.
Read more about Muscàndia and the Viader family history below in the 'winemaker' section.
Muscàndia is the personal adventure of brothers Albert and Eduard Viader. Their family name has been deeply tied to the Penedès region since 1823, when their great grandfather opened the first pharmacy in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, which later became the first laboratory to focus fully on viticultural and oenological analysis (the scientific study of wine).
Many of the rudimentary processes that are taken for granted by wineries today were first established by the Viader family. Their grandfather, Narcís, performed the first yeast-count under a microscope, something that is essential to quality wine-making today.
Both Albert and Eduard were drawn to the wine world from an early age, and encouraged by the prospect of producing a signature cava, applying all their ancestral knowledge. Eduard studied Agricultural Engineering and later focused on oenology. He embodies the spirit of Muscàndia and works with a blend of professionalism and enthusiasm in the small winery. Eduard is responsible for the blending operations and has no qualms about stacking, clarifying, disgorging and even affixing labels, absolute care and a meticulous attention to detail is what he and his brother learned from their forefathers.
In 2009 the Viader brothers carried out their first bottling operation of Cava Muscàndia. At that time, Albert was 27 and Eduard was only 21. As was the case back then, every process is carried out by hand, with a limited production using the local grape varieties of Penedès.
The centennial legacy on which Muscàndia is based is evident in the winery, a small establishment set up one hundred years ago in the center of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, and one of the first in the town. Muscàndia cavas are aged between twelve months and five years, and stored at a depth of thirteen meters below ground, to maintain a constant temperature during the aging process.
Eduard and Albert’s hands are part of every step in the process, because they believe in a job well done, as they like to say this is “el valor de ser pequeños” (the advantage of being small).
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