Ancestral - Metodo Alquimico

Trepat from Verdu, made as one continuous fermentation

Ancestral - Metodo Alquimico is a 2025 biodynamic Trepat sparkling wine from Verdu, Lleida. It is built from a 100 kg Trepat lot and designed as a single continuous fermentation: the wine begins fermenting in a 100 L stainless deposit, is bottled while fermentation is still active, finishes in bottle, then rests on lees before disgorgement. The expected production is about 100 bottles.

The Symbiogenesis AI constructor was used to convert the local protocol corpus, wine chemistry files, sensory targets, source literature and process notes into cellar checkpoints. The winemaker remains the decision-maker. The system marks the measurements that decide the wine early: density, temperature, YAN, pressure risk and sensory drift.

Why this wine exists

Most ancestral sparkling wines are judged by immediacy: fruit, energy, turbidity, and fermentation charm. This project asks a more difficult question: can the ancestral method keep its living single-fermentation character while gaining the clarity, pressure control, and lees depth normally associated with traditional-method sparkling wine?

The answer is a hybrid method. No liqueur de tirage is added. No commercial yeast is used for this wine. The original residual sugar and the indigenous Trepat yeast population create the pressure in bottle. The wine is then aged on lees and disgorged, giving a clean presentation while preserving the fact that it came from one fermentation.

Origin and biodynamic material

Variety: 100% Trepat.
Origin: Verdu, Lleida, Catalonia.
Farming: precision biodynamic; natural products; irrigation permitted when needed; one sulfur treatment in July at veraison.
Climate logic: inland continental conditions with Mediterranean moderation and large day-night shifts during the harvest window.
Source lot: 100 kg whole clusters, yielding about 100 L of base must.

Trepat is suited to this role because it can hold acidity and aromatic lift at moderate sugar. The protocol files describe the 2025 must at 21.2 deg Brix, pH 3.5 and 4.0 g/L titratable acidity. That sugar level supports an estimated final alcohol around 11.5-12.0% vol, reducing the yeast stress that often appears in high-alcohol spontaneous fermentations.

Constructor logic

The constructor selected Trepat from Verdu for this wine because the intended style requires four conditions at once:

moderate potential alcohol;
enough acidity for a Brut Nature sparkling finish;
an indigenous yeast population capable of completing fermentation;
low phenolic extraction so the wine can stay pale, precise and bottle-fermented.

The key cellar decision is the bottling point. The protocol uses the practical sparkling-wine rule that approximately 4 g/L fermentable sugar can generate about 1 bar of pressure at cellar temperature. A 6 bar target therefore requires bottling with about 24 g/L fermentable sugar remaining. The working density target is 1008-1010 g/L.

The constructor is most useful at the bottling point. It identifies where the future wine is decided: density must be checked several times per day as the ferment approaches the target. Too much remaining sugar creates overpressure risk; too little sugar gives insufficient pressure.

Cellar method

Whole-cluster Trepat pressing with strict fraction separation. The clean cuvee fraction is kept; later press fractions are excluded to limit phenols and potassium-driven pH rise.
Cold settling at 8-10 deg C for 24 hours in a sealed stainless deposit.
Indigenous fermentation with a natural rise to 14-16 deg C.
Bottling at the density target, while fermentation is still active.
Bottle fermentation and lees ageing at 12-14 deg C.
Remuage, disgorgement and zero dosage.

The protocol is low-intervention cellar work with active measurement. YAN is explicitly listed as a critical measurement: if yeast assimilable nitrogen is below the working threshold, the lot becomes a risk for sluggish fermentation and H2S. This point should stay visible in the product story because it separates biodynamic precision from unmeasured cellar work.

Measured and protocol chemistry

Parameter	Value	Interpretation
Harvest sugar	21.2 deg Brix	Moderate potential alcohol; lower yeast stress than high-Brix ferments
Harvest pH	3.5	Upper end for sparkling base; managed by clean handling, cold and anaerobic conditions
Post-fermentation pH	3.05 estimated	High freshness and microbial stability at release
Post-fermentation TA	7.2 g/L estimated	Electric acidity and Brut Nature structure
Alcohol	11.5% vol estimated	Freshness without weight
Volatile acidity	0.38 g/L target/estimate	Clean fermentation target
Residual sugar at release	0 g/L	Brut Nature, zero dosage
Total sulfur	<10 mg/L target	No SO2 added in this protocol
Pressure target	6.0 bar	From about 24 g/L sugar at bottling

Some values are protocol targets or estimates pending final bottling and disgorgement analysis. The public feature should distinguish measured harvest data from projected release chemistry.

Sensory direction

The intended profile is a pale Trepat Brut Nature with wild strawberry, rose petal, citrus, white pepper and a saline line. Lees ageing should add bread crust and subtle autolytic texture without obscuring the fruit. The acidity and zero dosage define the finish.

The sensory claims are tied to the files as follows:

acidity and freshness: pH, TA and Brut Nature residual sugar values;
fine bead and texture: bottle fermentation plus extended lees contact;
fruit and floral notes: Trepat variety, cool indigenous fermentation, and ester targets listed in the chemistry file;
saline finish: Verdu limestone narrative and zero dosage.

Advantages

Single-fermentation identity: pressure comes from the original fermentation rather than a separate tirage yeast and sugar addition.
Biodynamic integrity: indigenous yeast is preserved as the fermentation engine.
Precision without routine correction: the protocol replaces broad correction with density, temperature, YAN and sensory checkpoints.
Small-lot clarity: about 100 bottles make the process auditable from vineyard to bottle.
Strong trade story: a sommelier can explain the method in one sentence and defend it with numbers.

Best audiences and service

This wine is strongest for sommeliers, wine educators, collectors of method-driven sparkling wine, and buyers interested in biodynamic work with technical transparency. Serve at 8-10 deg C in a white-wine or tulip glass. Pair with oysters, raw fish, spring vegetables, goat cheese, sushi and dishes where acidity and salinity are assets.

Evidence dossier

Primary local sources:

products/ancestral/manifest.md
products/ancestral/03_technical/protocol_followed.md
products/ancestral/03_technical/chemical_analysis.json
products/ancestral/04_sensory/target_profile.md
products/PROCESS_Ancestral.md
global_assets/region_description.md
protocols/Ancestral_es.pdf
protocols/Analysis_Holobiont.pdf

Constructor evidence:

literature-derived wine process graph in concept_natural-wine/merged_wine_up_5.md;
biodynamic constructor manuscript and cellar-control analysis in tex/analysis_hyperion.tex;
product protocols and measured/estimated chemistry in the Symbiogenesis product folders.