wine@catalonia

Grape gathering at Mas Sinén

2011-09-19T21:24:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday, in the highest of spirits, I drove to Poboleda in DO Priorat, to the friendly Mas Sinén winery, to feel what cutting grape feels like.

The winery ready to receive the grapes.

Salvador was just leaving the winery to climb the hill with his four-wheel-drive and join the people already working up in the vineyard. When we arrived, they stopped and sat down to breakfast. My timing was perfect!

I was offered a piece of delicious coca de recapte, a precursor, some say, of Neapolitan pizza (in the Middle Ages, Naples and Catalunya were ruled by the same family for some time), and a drink of … not wine, but rather water from the fountain close to the winery.

Mas Sinén winery from the vineyard.

Refreshed, we turned to the vines, not before a patient Salvador explained to me the principles of proper grape cutting and selection. It may look easy, but to avoid harvesting gatolls (late-maturing clusters that are still unripe) requires attention. By the way, this is one of the advantages of manual harvesting; machines do not discriminate, but take everything, ripe or otherwise..

At the beginning, all was very well; it was fun, it was relatively early, and friendly clouds obscured the sun.

Carinyena clusters freshly cut.

However, after two hours of bending continuously to reach the grapes, my back started to remind me of several things: my overweight, my sedentary habits, and having left behind my 50th birthday. To compound things, the clouds cleared and the sun started to shine down on our backs.

Tough work ahead (at least for me!)

One hour later, to my shame, I had to sit down in the shade, utterly exhausted, while my fitter, leaner and younger colleagues clicked on merrily. Fortunately, lunch time was near, and I could make a relatively honourable retreat to the winery.

The Montsant ridge protects from Northern winds.

There Salvador was entertaining some visitors, who looked curiously at my rather battered appearance and agreed with me about the high quality of the wine they were sipping: the new Petit Mas Sinén. After they left, Conxita and Salvador prepared lunch: fresh, real tomatoes (nothing to do with the somewhat similar fruits found in the cities’ markets) and lettuce, small Arbequina olives, coca de recapte, Catalan sausage and fried white beans, sweet coca with dark chocolate. Excellent! Some friends of the winery came for coffee, and we sat for some time discussing the harvest and future projects of this dynamic pair.

Skins float to the surface to form the cap.

After coffee it was time for work (light this time – or perhaps the lunch had given me extra strength): a small tank of Merlot was fermenting, and the cap, formed by the skins and pips that float to the surface, had to be broken and mixed with the must below. In the process, the gas foams through the must showing off the beautiful pink colour that contrasts with the dark cap.

After breaking the cap, the gas foams up showing the beautiful colour.

This process is called pigeage, and is done by mechanical means in bigger tanks, but has to be performed manually five to six times per day in the smaller containers.

Manual pigeage.

Bloodstains? Wrong! Merlot juice!

Suddenly it was seven in the evening. I had to drag myself to my car and leave Poboleda, thankful to Conxita and Salvador for an amazing, if exhausting, day. I must come back next year, but better trained!

Happy, tired me.

Wine in restaurants 1.4: wines in Mas Mariassa

2011-09-08T22:07:00.002+02:00

This year’s holidays we did not fly abroad, but rather spent ten days in a small hotel (seven rooms) in the Catalan countryside. Mas Mariassa, a former farmhouse perched in the Serra de Llaberia hills that separate Priorat from the Mediterranean, is a haven of peace and silence. The nearest village, Pratdip, with picturesque remains of walls and castle, was haunted by vampire dogs (the dips) in the Middle Ages, until heavenly intervention rid the village of the scourge-or so say the legends. Anyway, the dogs in Mas Mariassa showed no vampirical inclinations, but were extremely friendly.

Not a vampire!

I can recommend Mas Mariassa for the place, the nice premises, the excellent cooking, and the personalized, professional service, but this blog’s focus is on wine. The wine list is a very good introduction to the wine zones around the hotel (DOQ Priorat and DOs Tarragona, Montsant, and Terra Alta), featuring a nice blend of well known warhorses and more independent, out of the way wines. In addition, a sprinkling of interesting wines from other zones.

Francesc, the owner and chef, is very knowledgeable and gives sound advice. Good glasses and prompt decanting in many cases. Temperature perhaps a little on the warm side.

We enjoyed several remarkable bottles, including a Cava one while in the candle-lit outdoors Jacuzzi, late after dinner under the stars and with strawberries. Here some details about them.

L’Heravi criança from the Vinyes d’en Gabriel winery in DO Montsant is a blend 50/50 of old vine Garnatxa and Carinyena, organically farmed. After one year in oak, l’Heravi is deep cherry red, with red fruit still dominant over cedar and spicy notes. Fruity and well balanced in the mouth.

From the relatively undistinguished DO Tarragona, Serra de Llaberia is a winery not far from the hotel. A family project. Their Elisabeth 2003 red has mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a little Garnatxa and Syrah. Twelve months in French oak. Deep red, shows little evolution in the rim. Ripe red fruit in the nose, cocoa and balsamic herbs. Big in the mouth, with well-rounded tannins and long. A Pleasant surprise.

Clos Nelin is one of the greatest whites of Priorat. Crafted by the master hand of René Barbier of Clos Mogador, he mixes, on a base of Garnatxa blanca, small parts of Viognier, Macabeu, Pinot Noir, Marsanne, Escanyavelles, Roussanne and Pedro Ximénez. The varietals are processed separately and in different types of container (stainless steel, concrete, oak) and aged for nine months. Pale yellow, with noticeable legs, shows a very full palette in the nose: white flowers and fruits, the mineral touch of Priorat, citrics, butter, hazelnuts. All these come again in the mouth, with a velvety yet crisp sensation.

Another interesting Montsant was Terròs, from La Cova dels Vins of winemaker Sisco Perelló. Garnatxa, Carinyena and Syrah aged for fourteen months in French oak, giving a deep cherry red wine, with lots of red fruit, minerality and tobacco and leather notes. Wide and long in the mouth.

The Cava in the Jacuzzi was Agustí Torelló Mata Gran Reserva. The testing conditions were not what could be termed scientific, but this is a great wine from one of the best Cava producers. A Brut Nature with no less than 36 months of ageing, and from a blend of the three classic Cava grapes: Macabeu, Xarel•lo and Parellada. Comparatively light and flowery (for a Gran Reserva), perfect for the moment.

A perfect place to make trips to the wine zones around and then relax and, with a good dinner, enjoy a nice bottle.

http://www.masmariassa.com/index.php?lang=eng
http://www.domontsant.com/

http://www.doterraalta.com/#/home
http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html
http://www.serradellaberia.com/?page=portada&idioma=en
http://www.agustitorellomata.com/en/
http://www.vinyesdengabriel.com/

Down from great-grandmother Bàrbara Forés.

2011-08-24T22:52:00.000+02:00

Sometime in 2001, my friends from Vins Noè, knowing my partiality to good reds, told me to taste a new wine. It came from Terra Alta, a comparatively obscure DO better known until then for strong, partially oxidized whites.

House entrance

The wine, Coma d’en Pou, was outstanding, and the first of a series of bottles from this and other wines made by the Bàrbara Forés winery that I have enjoyed in this last decade.

The winery is in Gandesa, relatively far (two hours drive) from Barcelona. This may explain the fact of having waited for ten years, until spending holidays in the Tarragona parts, to visit them.

My wife and I approached the unprepossessing house in the centre of Gandesa, only the placard on the wall announced we were on the right track. However, after entering, the interior was beautiful and airy, and hid some surprises. Underground, the glazed tiled underground tanks once used for wine production now harbour oak barrels.

Barrels underground

But first to the vineyards. Carme Ferrer, great-granddaughter of Bàrbara Forés (born in 1828), explained en route that Bàrbara’s pharmacist son, Rafael Ferrer, inherited her mother’s love for winemaking. He built the house and winery, and wine production continued with ups and downs until in 1994 Carme and her husband Manuel Sanmartin upgraded the winery installing state-of-the-art technology.

In the meantime we arrived to La Cometa plot, where we could see the Garnatxa blanca vines that were planted there 60 years ago, grown as bushes in the calcareous, sandy soil.

We then moved closer to the Pàndols hills, where the Garnatxa negra and Morenillo vineyards grow in a soil with higher clay content, fenced to avoid attacks of wild goat.

Close to Pàndols hills

And we finished the tour at the magnificent Coma d’en Pou vineyard, in the lower lands at the feet of the Cavalls hills near Corbera d’Ebre (a coma is a shallow depression). Here grow the red varieties mainly (Garnatxa Negra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot) along with some Garnatxa blanca in a calcareous soil.

Grapes are harvested by hand and placed in small boxes after a first selection. The winery has a number of smallish tanks that enable separate processing for different grape / plot combinations.

The wines are as follows.

Bàrbara Forés blanc is the young white, Garnatxa blanca with 5% Viognier. Shows the typical citric aromas, very fresh.

Garnatxa blanca

El Quintà, a 100% Garnatxa blanca white from old vines, is fermented and kept for six months in French oak. Pale yellow with white fruit aromas, along with vanilla and toast notes. Unctuous and long. One of my favourite oak fermented whites.

El Quintà's Garnatxa blanca vines

Bàrbara Forés rosat, a rosé with body, from Garnatxa negra, Syrah and Carinyena. Raspberry red, with red fruit aromas, and a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Bàrbara Forés negre, the basic red out of Syrah, Garnatxa negra and Carinyena and with fourteen months of Allier oak. Deep cherry red; nose rich with red and black fruit, well structured and long in the mouth.

Tasting room

Coma d’en Pou is the red mentioned at the beginning. Garnatxa negra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot aged for sixteen months in Allier oak. Cherry red, with lots of red fruit and balsamic reminiscences of the flora around the vineyard. Wood and tobacco as well. Wide and full in the mouth, but still elegant and long.

Coma d'en Pou

El Templari is a red wine that, contrary to normal Catalan practice, it is actually termed as red (vi vermell) and not black (vi negre). Half of it is Garnatxa negra, but the other half is Morenillo, a variety close to extinction. The vines are quite big in all their parts, including the grapes, and perhaps due to that the colour of the wine is a bright cherry red. Cherries also predominate in the nose, along with other red fruits, and the mouth is acid, light and elegant, rounded by sixteen months in oak. The name (The Templar) is a homage to the warrior monks that protected the zone after it was fought back from the Muslims in the Middle Ages.

Morenillo

Bàrbara Forés Dolç Natural is a natural sweet white from overripe Garnatxa blanca. Deep gold, not very sweet and well balanced with acidity, and white fruit aromas. Production limited to ca. 500 half-litre bottles.

Garnataxa blanca for sweet wine at Coma d'en Pou

All together, Carme and Manuel produce some 50’000 bottles each year. Look for them; they are good, personal, with excellent QPR and a great introduction to Terra Alta, a DO that is finding its place in the sun.

http://www.cellerbarbarafores.com/fores-en.html

http://www.doterraalta.com/#/home
http://www.vinsnoe.com/

Sweet night

2011-07-24T22:24:00.001+02:00

In the placid gardens of the Mas Figueres rural hotel, the Dolça Nit (Sweet Night) took place. Ten wineries, mostly from DO Montsant and DOQ Priorat, gave us an opportunity to taste their sweet wines together with selected pastry and sweets. The deliciously cool night and live music added to the enjoyment.

Mas Figueres rural hotel

Celler El Masroig is the cooperative winery of the El Masroig village, DO Montsant, and is leaving the mediocrity of other coops producing some personal, high quality wines. In the sweet segment, their speciality are mistelas (mistelles, obtained adding alcohol to the unfermented must and later aging): Mistela Negra and Mistela Molt Vella (Very Old). Both come from Carinyena grapes, but while the former is just aged for one month, the latter is kept in a Solera system forty years old. Mistela Negra is a deep cherry colour, with a nose with red fruit and aromatic herb and refreshing acidity in mouth. The Molt Vella shows a more evolutioned orange tinge, with ripest fruits, chocolate, nuts, coffee, tobacco…in the nose. Sweet but balanced with acidity, very long. For me, one of the stars of the show.

Orto Vins, DO Montsant, is a new winery with vineyards in El Masroig and owned by four well-known winemakers, one of them Joan Asens, Alvaro Palacios’ oenologist. Dolç d’Orto Blanc is made mainly from Garnatxa blanca, left to dry for some time and then pressed and fermented. Citrus aromas, good integration, long. Dolç d’Orto Negre is a 100 % Garnatxa negra from individually selected berries. Dark cherry red, with lots of fruit (black, figs, all ripe). Fresh and long.

The Falset-Marçá cooperative winery from DO Montsant is another outstanding coop. Their wines Etim Verema Tardana Blanc and Negre come, respectively, from Garnatxa blanca and negra grapes of late harvest. Both wines are aged in oak for four and ten months. The white is fresh, with honey, citric and floral aromas. The red goes more for red and black fruit, cocoa, raisins. Dense and balanced in the mouth. Some of the best QPR in the night.

As a guest from a DO that also boasts excellent sweet wines, Mas Estela from Empordà displayed their Estela Solera and Moscatell. The Estela Solera is 100% Garnatxa negra, a late harvest coupled with a Solera system. Dark amber, with black fruit and the oxidative aromas typical of soleras, lighter than others in sweetness in the mouth. Estela Moscatell is 100 % Muscat, and shows the characteristic aroma profile of the grape. Balanced and long.

Costers del Siurana, one of the DOQ Priorat pioneers, contributed with their Dolç del Obac: 80 % Garnatxa negra, 10 % Cabernet Sauvignon and 10 % Syrah. Dark, complex, dense and powerful, but perhaps somewhat overpriced.

Mas d’en Gil (DOQ Priorat) offered their Nus, which means knot, named so because of its complex winemaking. Garnatxa negra, Syrah and a dash of Viognier, using three different winemaking methods, give as a result a wine with cherry colour and cherry aromas, plus orange, wood and minerality.

The Capçanes coop (more details in this older post) poured their Pansal del Calàs, a 70 % Garnatxa negra and 30 % Carinyena fortified at mid fermentation. Comparatively light, not too sweet, designed to pair even some meat dishes.

Pleret Blanc Dolç from DOQ Priorat Buil & Giné winery is a naturally sweet Garnatxa blanca, Macabeu and Pedro Ximénez white, aged in oak and with white and red fruit notes.

There were two wineries that offered non-commercial wines (although most of the other wines have productions well below 3’000 bottles). Cellers Capafons-Ossó had a very special Mas dels Masos, their flagship wine, from a vintage in which the adverse climate forced them not to produce the normal dry wine. Instead, they painstakingly selected the over mature berries that had survived and made a sweet red that they pour on very special occasions.

Mas Martinet presented a ranci dolç made with a very old solera system that they could save some years ago in one of the historic wineries of Priorat. It is not clear whether Sara Pérez, its oenological mother, will finally market it, but I do hope she does!

I really enjoyed this exhibition. Many wines, almost all of them coming from the same zone and from similar grapes, but very different outcomes, most of them with high quality. It is about time that quality sweet wines get a better recognition and are not considered as the lesser offshoot of the wineries.

http://www.builgine.com/index2.asp?lan=eng

http://www.cellercapcanes.com/

http://www.capafons-osso.com/eng/index_esp.html

http://www.costersdelsiurana.com/en/index.html

http://www.domontsant.com/en

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.masdengil.com/ang/index_main_menu.htm

http://www.masestela.com/entraGB.htm

http://www.masmartinet-ass.com/eng/index.html

http://www.cellermasroig.com/info.php?id=en
http://www.etim.cat/
http://www.doemporda.cat/en/home/action-actualitat.html
http://www.masfigueres.com/index_us.html

Wine in the cloister 2011

2011-07-14T20:01:00.013+02:00

Last year I wrote about the highly pleasing public tasting organized by Vins Noe in my town’s Abbey cloister. Here we go again!

The Tast de Vins amb Ritme had this year eight wineries on display. One of them was a very promising Rioja: Tobelos. The other seven were Catalan: as usual, we will focus on them.

Three of them have been already reviewed in this blog. It was an opportunity to sample new vintages and, in one case, taste a novelty.

Can Feixes Huguet (DO Penedès and Cava), Gramona (Penedès and Cava) and Ferrer Bobet (DOQ Priorat) offered me the chance to revisit their wines and see that they continue to perform notably well, each one in their style.

In the case of Gramona, there was a surprise in the form of Frisant de Gel.

This 100% Gewurztraminer is produced by the selective cryoextraction process, exactly at the beginning as the Gewurztraminer Vi de Glass. As late autumn temperatures do not freeze grapes in the vineyard, Gramona has a cold chamber at minus 24 to freeze the already overmature grapes. Pressing renders a highly concentrated must that is slowly fermented. Additional fermentation in the final bottle produces a degree of gas that gives the Frisant its name. The floral aromas that are typical of the Vi de Glass evolve to white fruit, especially pear. A very unusual wine!

Acústic is a Montsant winery that can boast one of the outstanding reds of the DO. Auditori is a 100 % very old vine Garnatxa of very limited production that I was fortunate enough to taste some months ago.

Their white is called Acústic blanc and is a blend of Garnatxa blanca, Garnatxa roja, Macabeu and Xarel.lo, partly fermented in French oak. Pale yellow, with white and tropical fruit, fresh and silky.

Acústic negre is the simpler red, from Garnatxa and Carinyena vines some forty years old, and with ten months in French oak. Braó is the flagship of the winery, with a blend similar to Acústic negre but coming from older vines and with thirteen months of aging.

There were two wineries from DO Pla de Bages. One was Abadal, the most refined part of a large company with its main interests in the lower price segment, and the other was a newcomer, Collbaix (Celler el Molí).

Abadal was the main force behind the creation of the Pla de Bages DO (I must write a post about it soon) and leads the way with a drive to produce wines with personality, especially around the Picapoll white varietal. Indeed, there was on offer the Abadal Picapoll, a white made 100% with these grapes. Also Abadal 5 Merlot, a complex blend of Merlot coming from five different plots and aged for twelve months in American, Hungarian and French oak.

Abadal 3.9 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah coming from a single plot, with one year of aging. A new wine for me was Abadal 25 Aniversari, a special blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah that celebrates the 25 years of the launch of the winery.

Collbaix is a new winery with organic farming and promising wines. Collbaix blanc is made from Picapoll and Macabeu: crisp and fruity. Collbaix rosat comes fully from Merlot grapes and boasts an attractive ruby shade and red fruits in nose and mouth.

The third wine on display was La Llobeta, a red with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and twelve months of aging in American, Romanian and French oak. Deep cherry red, with a complex nose showing ripe fruit, lactic and spicy notes.

The last winery was still newer: Herencia Altés, from DO Terra Alta. For the time being, their only assets are old-vine plots; the winery is still to be built and they use the premises of a neighbour.

However, their wines repay attention: Benufet is a 100% Garnatxa blanca, complex and dense. The red Garnatxa negre is young, very fruity and with mineral notes. L’Estel is old vine Garnatxa negra and Syrah with three months oak ageing; more complex and tannic.

These two last wineries are really worthy following; I will keep you posted!

http://www.vinsnoe.com/

http://www.cellerelmoli.com/en

http://www.abadal.net/index_ING.html

http://www.ferrerbobet.com/

http://www.canfeixes.com/
http://www.gramona.com/web/en/home.html
http://www.acusticceller.com/
http://www.dopladebages.com/index
http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://doterraalta.com/esp/index.html#/home
http://www.dopenedes.es/en
http://www.domontsant.com/en
http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

Top cavas from Gramona

2011-06-28T22:45:00.000+02:00

130 years ago, the Batlle family started a business to export to a phylloxera-ridden France the wines they were producing since the beginning of the 1800’s. Also in that moment they built the Celler Batlle, concentrating wine production there, in the centre of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.

In parallel, the Gramona family were well known wine sellers through several pubs.

In 1913 Bartomeu Gramona and Pilar Batlle married and started what has become one of the most celebrated Cava companies. In 1921 they started Cava production under several names, and finally in the 40’s the Gramona brand was developed.

In 2001 a new winery was built in the surroundings of Sant Sadurní, with state-of-the-art winemaking facilities. Nowadays all wines are produced there, but the noblest Gramona Cava bottles still go to the underground corridors of the former Celler to age until they are ripe for the connoisseur.

Gramona have around 150 ha of vineyards, either directly owned or closely controlled, with fifteen different varietals, to produce not only Cava but also a vast range of still wines, from a premium Sauvignon Blanc to remarkable sweets including Eiswein-type Riesling and Gewurztraminer. The Cava offering is also broad, but I will concentrate on the top bottles.

In the old Celler Batlle five Cavas are aged. You may know that the typical Cava grapes are Xarel.lo, Macabeu and Parellada. The latter is mainly used for the younger Cavas, as it is fresh and aromatic. But for the long-aged Cavas Gramona use mainly Xarel.lo and Macabeu, along with the classical Champagne varieties Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

While for the bulk of Cava production the processes of riddling and degorjat are automated, for the longer aging Cavas Gramona still use manual riddling, cork stopper for the second fermentation and degorjat by hand.

Another distinctive trait of Gramona is the expedition liquor. Secret recipes involving ranci wines and brandies, elaborated in soleras in their own cellars, give a finishing touch to Gramona Cavas, which are mainly Brut, not Brut Nature as some of the other top Cava companies.

Soleras for expedition liquor

The five top Gramona Cavas:

Argent Rosé, a 100 % Pinot Noir Gran Reserva Brut Nature, with the base wine partially fermented in oak. Onion skin colour, lots of red fruit and floral aromas, with some pastry and butter notes.

Argent, Gran Reserva Brut 100 % Chardonnay. Pale straw, with golden streaks and fine bubble. White fruit in the nose, along with citric and balsamic aromas. Crisp, creamy and well structured.

Gramona Brut Imperial Gran Reserva: 50 % Xarel.lo, 40 % Macabeu and 10 % Chardonnay, with at least 3 years of aging. Pale yellow, with white fruit and citrics.

III Lustros Brut Nature Gran Reserva: 70 % Xarel.lo and 30% Macabeu. At least five years of aging, with gas perfectly integrated, tiny and persistent bubble. Lactics and bakery notes, with white fruit and aniseed.

And last, the jewel of the house: Celler Batlle Brut Gran Reserva. The base wine is the same as III Lustros, but aged at least eight years and with the finishing touch of expedition liquor. Complex in the nose, with the full pack: ripe fruit, butter and bakery, toasted overtones. Wide and creamy in the mouth, with refreshing acidity and long finish. One of the very best Cavas around.

What to eat with these Cavas? They are not ideal for a slight refreshment (try them anyway), but are perfectly equal to the task of pairing with a full meal. In the picture below you can see my menu for my last birthday’s dinner at home: not exactly a light snack, but the pairing was great!

Birthday dinner

http://www.gramona.com/web/en/home.html

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

Wine in restaurants 1.3: Coma Vella and Cérvoles negre at Cal Joan del Batlle

2011-06-14T20:04:00.000+02:00

This last weekend, a long one in Catalonia because Monday was a holiday, my wife and myself escaped the city and climbed up the Pyrenees (in our car) to Cal Joan del Batlle, a small but well appointed hotel at 1’250 meter height close to Sant Llorenç de Morunys. Contrary to most surrounding restaurants, that serve straightforward, nourishing mountain food, Cal Joan del Batlle’s menu is made up of rather elaborate recipes cooked very competently.

Cal Joan del Batlle courtyard

Going more in detail about their wine service, the wine list attracted me immediately. It is not very long; adequate in my view for a remote place with less than a dozen tables. But with a nice balance of Catalan / foreign wines and mainly filled with carefully selected bottles from smaller cellars, it gives a compelling backdrop to the restaurant’s cooking with enticing proposals to the wine lover.

There is a good selection of dessert wines by the glass; the wine temperature was adequate; and a wine pairing was offered with the tasting menu.

On the minus side, glasses are certainly substandard. They know and are considering how to address the issue.

A mark-up of around 50% over shop prices is in line or lower than many comparable restaurants and rounds off, in my opinion, a very attractive offer.

We had dinner on Saturday and Sunday, and both bottles were worth mentioning.

Coma Vella 2006 is a red from Mas d’en Gil, based in Bellmunt, DOQ Priorat. This winery has over forty plots with different grapes; its wines show this complexity. They also produce excellent virgin olive oil and vinegar.

It is a coupage of 40 % garnatxa, 25 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 % Carinyena, 10 % Syrah and 5 % Merlot., Harvested by hand, with a first selection in the vineyard, grapes are collected in 20 kg boxes and taken to the winery, where they undergo a second selection. The wine is aged for twelve to fourteen months in French and American oak and clarified with egg white before bottling.

Dark cherry red, with a lot of fruit both red and black, balsamic, the minerality common in Priorat and some spicy overtones. In the mouth shows big structure, noticeable acidity, with fine tannins and long finish.

It paired perfectly with my veal entrecote with goat cheese fondue.

Cérvoles negre 2006 is a DO Costers del Segre red from Cérvoles Celler. Handpicked and manually selected grapes from Ull de Llebre 38 %, Cabernet Sauvignon 32%, Garnatxa 18 % and Merlot 12 %. Vine planted ca. 25 years ago in loamy soils at around 700 m over sea level.

Aged for twelve months in fine grain, slow growth French oak. Not-too-deep cherry red, with fruity nose and medium structure in mouth. Fine, fresh, elegant. A great match for my cêpe-stuffed pigs’ trotters.

I would like to end this entry, one year and forty-five posts since I started this blogging adventure, thanking my readers for their patience and menacing with more posts to come. Salut! Cheers!

http://www.caljoandelbatlle.cat/

http://www.masdengil.com/
http://www.cervoles.com/home.php?lang=EN
http://www.costersdelsegre.es/eng/index.php
http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

Clos Martinet vertical: today may be a great day…

2011-06-10T21:40:00.000+02:00

The lyrics of the song by the local folk singer Joan Manel Serrat were dancing in my head as I drove towards Priorat. This may be a great day…will it? The first steps were clear and had its roots some months before.

When I was visiting Mas Martinet in March, Josep Lluís Pérez, while discussing with him his first wines, made a remark: “We must make a vertical tasting of Clos Martinet!” I agreed heartily, and, with the help of Oleguer from Vins Noè, gathered a group of twelve fortunate wine lovers, including some top bloggers like David González (Adictos a la Lujuria), Jaume Aguadé (Vins de Catalunya) and Ricard Sampere (Els vins que vaig tastant).

Josep Lluís Pérez

We first met in Mas Martinet with Josep Lluís and then visited his Serra Alta vineyard. I had been there in March; the sight was more astonishing then, with all the iron rings plainly in view, but now it was beautiful with all the green shoots blooming.

Serra Alta in March

Serra Alta in May

There, by the plot, we could enjoy an impromptu master class about vineyard management by Josep Lluís. His absolutely scientific approach (he had figures and ratios for everything) left us speechless, especially those with scientific background. He spoke, among other things, of vigour, production limitation, watering, leaf surface, bag-in-box wines…always with this scientific yet practical approach.

Some of the happy participants

A phone call from his daughter Sara pulled us back to reality and the winery. There we met her laying the last glasses for the tasting.

The grapes-to-be

I (most of us, perhaps) had several goals in mind:

The most obvious, enjoy a bunch of excellent wines
Meet Sara and Josep Lluís and benefit from their knowledge and personality
Last but not least: check whether great Priorat wines age well. This was a big discussion from the beginning of Priorat’s new era, and many voices had cast doubts on the aging potential of wines with a high proportion of Garnatxa.

Let us start with the wines.

The first was 1990. This was in fact still a wine made together with Rene Barbier, Alvaro Palacios and Carles Pastrana, and bottled under different labels for each of them. Very much alive, with utter elegance.

The second bottle was 1993, the second year than Josep Lluís made his wine independently. I was a little bit disappointed; I had looked forward to tasting again a 1992, the first Clos Martinet I had, but never look a gift horse etc…And 1993 did compensate: big, flowery, long, one of the best.

1996, said Josep Lluís, was his last wine. Sara answered back instantly: “It was my first, not your last. You still have a lot of wines in you!” It was great to witness the play between the two personalities, sometimes agreeing, sometimes not; after all, as explained in my previous post, if he is the scientist, she is the philosopher, or perhaps the mystic (thanks, Oriol!).

The lineup

1998 was a wine in turmoil. Sara explained that, after some 12 years, their wines undergo a transformation from big, youthful puppies to more elegant, sedate adults. 1998 had just done this, and showed still many primary and secondary aromas, but the tertiaries had started to appear. A great wine nevertheless; racing with 2000 in the preference of many.

2000 was perhaps the most appetizing for me. Still young, very fresh, fruity, big, but starting to migrate to the senior status.

2004 was in comparison young and, although it showed plenty of potential, needed time to show its hand.

As Sara and Josep Lluís explained, with aging, after the twelfth year transformation, wines smoothed the differences between vintages and tended to homogenize, showing the minerality and common terroir underneath.

I have now little doubt that Priorat wines can age well, and will have to seriously plan ahead to be able to taste these memorable wines at a riper age than I am doing now.

Explanations by the two winemakers were both precise and emotional. They remembered the details of each year in terms of weather and coupage (there was a trend to increase Carinyena and decrease Cabernet) and seemed very happy to share these memories and their wines with us. It was a real pleasure to be invited to this event, which will be one of my most remarkable wine memories so far.

Sara and Josep Lluís

But the day was not over. In the afternoon, after a quick but rewarding visit to Mas Sinén to taste, just before bottling, their Coster 2009, Mas Sinén Negre 2009 and a surprise they have up their sleeve (I am looking forward to it!), I was back home in time to see FC Barcelona beat Manchester Utd to our fourth Champions League title.

It sure was a great day!!

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.masmartinet-ass.com/eng/index.html
http://www.massinen.com/

Lo Jaume's wines at Topik

2011-06-05T12:17:00.006+02:00

Ten days later, in the Topik restaurant in Barcelona, I had another pairing led by Lo Jaume.

Topik is a restaurant with a blend of Catalan and Japanese cuisine. The owner, Adelf, having trained in Japan for some time, is able to dish out surprising combinations and a master rice cook.

The wine list shows a fair balance of Catalan and rest of the world wines, with many well chosen labels from small producers or less-than-glamorous zones. Prices are perhaps at a 50% premium over wine shops. Adequate service and glasses.

The white Vall Novenes blanc, from Algramar Celler in DO Terra Alta, was the first wine. A coupage of Garnatxa, Sauvignon blanc and Chenin, it was fruity and crisp.

The Parellada 100 % 2010 from Celler Carles Andreu, one of the leading wineries in DO Conca de Barberà, is rather unique. Parellada is often waved aside as the lesser part of the Cava trinity (Xarel.lo, Macabeu and Parellada). But properly grown, with lower yields, and using carbonic maceration and batonnage, this white shows a very fruity nose, acidity and creaminess in the mouth, and is a wine to have in mind.

From the same winery, Carles Andreu Rosat Brut, a rosé Cava with aging for fifteen months, made with Trepat, a red variety typical from Conca de Barberà that gives elegant, medium bodied, spice-scented wines. Perfect for the spicy dish it matched.

Later came Clònic 2008, a DO Montsant red from Celler Cedó Anguera. Carinyena, Cabernet and Syrah aged for eight months in new Allier oak. We tasted with the same dish Gènesi 2006, also from Montsant, the older brother to Petit Gènesi mentioned in the previous post. Old Garnatxa and Carinyena vines, aging for twelve months in French and Hungarian oak give a wine with more elegance but less structure than the Clònic.

The last course, rice with duck, also featured two reds. La Guinardera 2006 from Celler Balaguer Cabré is already described in my previous post. Celler Aixalà-Alcait from DOQ Priorat was represented by Destrankis 2009, Garnatxa and Carinyena with nine months in oak. Red fruit, chocolate, balance.

The sweet Algramar Dolç, again from Algramar Celler in Terra Alta, comes from overripe Syrah grapes, with a controlled fermentation and twelve months in oak. Not too sweet and with noticeable acidity.

An evening to remember; with a avocado-raw blue fin tuna-caramelized foie combination as culinary highlight and the balance of the wine choice.

http://www.domontsant.com/
http://bonviure.blogspot.com/
http://www.doterraalta.com/#/home
http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html
http://www.algramar.com/english/index.html
http://cellerbalaguercabre.blogspot.com/
http://www.cavandreu.com/en/index_en.html
http://www.vermunver-genesi.cat/en/qui_som
http://www.cedoanguera.com/english/history.html
http://pardelasses.blogspot.com/
http://www.topikrestaurant.es/index.php
http://elsvinsdeltopik.blogspot.com/

Lo Jaume’s wines

2011-05-28T00:10:00.000+02:00

Jaume Balaguer (Lo Jaume, The Jaume (James) in Western Catalan parlance) is a many faceted man. He runs Bonviure, a wine and delicatessen shop in Gratallops (Priorat), and Celler Balaguer Cabré, a boutique winery in the same village; helps in Piró, the family restaurant; and sells to restaurants and wine shops wines from a number of small Catalan wineries. Apart from these trifling tasks, he writes a blog and is great in proposing wine-food pairings. What he does in his spare time, such as it may be, is something I have never dared to ask him.

It is about this last capacity that I wanted to tell you about. After the Tast amb Llops, my wife and I attended a pairing in his restaurant. By (lucky) chance, a few days later I enjoyed a similar occasion in a restaurant in Barcelona. That will come in my next post, to allow proper labelling of wines tasted.

Piró is a restaurant serving mainly typical Catalan food. As you know, I do not comment on a restaurant’s food unless I am disappointed. This was not the case.

The wines we tasted were the following:

Les Brugueres 2009 is a 100% Garnatxa blanca white from La Conreria de Scala Dei, DOQ Priorat, with a light golden yellow colour. Intense in the nose, with white fruit notes. Well structured in the mouth, with good acidity, and very long.

Humilitat 2008 is a red coupage of Garnatxa and Carinyena, produced by vino, amor y fantasia. Medium bodied, with lighter colour and spicy nose, its winemakers claim to have produced “the Burgundy of Priorat”. Quite true, although not a Grand Cru.

Trio Infernal 1/3 2007 is a Priorat red from 60% Garnatxa and 40 % Carinyena by Trio Infernal. Black fruit, complex nose, powerful but fine tannins.

Petit Gènesi 2009, Garnatxa, Carinyena and Syrah coming from the Vermunver winery in DO Montsant. With six months in different oaks, the nose points to black fruit and balsamic notes. Fresh in the mouth, with adequate structure.

Last but not least, La Guinardera 2006 is a 100% Garnatxa from Celler Balaguer Cabré, owned by Lo Jaume. This is no nepotism; La Guinardera is an elegant, medium bodied wine that comes from the property of the same name, an old vine plot that receives sunshine the whole day. Red fruit in the nose, with tobacco notes. Silky and long.

A perfect end for a day that included the visit to the Falset Wine Exhibition and the Tast amb Llops. Ten days later I was to have another pairing with Lo Jaume; and I was indeed looking forward to it.

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.domontsant.com/

http://bonviure.blogspot.com/

http://www.scaladei.org/

http://www.vinoamoryfantasia.com/

http://www.vermunver-genesi.cat/en/qui_som

http://www.trioinfernal.es/

http://cellerbalaguercabre.blogspot.com/

Scratching the wolf: Tast amb Llops

2011-05-22T13:10:00.000+02:00

In a previous post I already commented on the fact that Catalan villages with wolves in their names tend to produce excellent wine. This time we will speak about Gratallops.

Philologists tell us that Gratallops means the place where wolves sing, but the straightforward translation of the name from Catalan would be scratch wolves.

Gratallops was the original place where the five Priorat pioneers set up their wineries and still now are producing their wines, solidly installed among the best in Priorat.

In these surroundings the hotel Cal Llop (Wolf House) hosts the Tast amb Llops, Tasting with Wolves. No actual animals around, but rather nine of the twenty-odd wineries active in Gratallops (not bad for a village with 260 people), plus four from other Priorat villages, and a guest from the Rhône valley, Maison Tardieu-Laurent.

In the very pleasant plaza in front of the hotel, in a cool afternoon (in many ways), with music and some tasty tapas on offer, I was able to taste and chat, and discover or find again several treasures. These were the wines I enjoyed most:

Celler Alvaro Palacios, the winery of one of the five pioneers, with their Alvaro Palacios Gratallops Vi de Vila (village wine, a concept resembling the parallel in Burgundy, and now being introduced in many of Priorat villages).
Celler Clos Mogador, with Rene Barbier, another of the pioneers, explaining his Manyetes and Solertia.
Celler Clos i Terrasses, maker of Clos Erasmus, with their second wine, Clos Laurel.
Celler Vinya del Vuit, with their Vuit, in its 8th anniversary. This is relevant because Vuit means Eight, the number of people working in this project, which includes names like Sara Pérez, René Barbier Jr. and Ester Nin.
Celler Trio Infernal, with their Trio Infernal 2/3.

Alas, time flies, and I could not taste all the wines on exhibition. Better luck (or planning) next year. But at least I could scratch the wolf’s fur, tasting some of the best wines from this outstanding village.

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.tastambllops.com/

http://www.facebook.com/search.php?q=closabatllet&init=quick&tas=0.412739808644216#%21/closabatllet

http://www.bodegasmasalta.com/
http://www.cellercecilio.com/
http://www.closfigueras.com/
http://www.cellerdelpont.com/
http://www.trioinfernal.es/
http://www.vinissimus.com/es/bodegas/index.html?id_bodega=sare
http://saodelcoster.com/
http://www.cellerabadia.com/
http://www.vinissimus.com/es/bodegas/index_html?id_bodega=cmog
http://www.europeancellars.com/portfolio_region.cfm?producer=107
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/los-oficios-de-la-cultura/los-oficios-de-la-cultura-enologia-alvaro-palacios/1001327/
http://www.cellerpasanau.com/es/index.html

Missenyora 2009

2011-05-15T20:31:00.002+02:00

Missenyora is one of my favourite whites of Costers del Segre and I come back to it regularly. 100 % Macabeu, fermented and aged for six months on its lees in new French oak, in the glass shows a bright, pale straw yellow. In the nose it is flowery, also with citric notes and well integrated wood. Off-dry in the mouth, silky, crisp, with long finish. Production limited to twelve thousand bottles.

It is produced by L’Olivera, a cooperative that provides jobs for the mentally challenged. They have a range of white, sparkling, red and sweet wines worth exploring, not to mention top quality olive oil.

At a price of around 11 EUR, the QPR is outstanding IMHO.

The wine’s name (My Lady) is the title of the Abbess of the nearby Cistercian Monastery of Vallbona de les Monges, really worth a visit, together with Poblet and Santes Creus, which configurate the Cister route in the zone. As may be expected, all three have remarkable wines produced in their immediate surroundings.

Vallbona de les Monges monastery

http://www.olivera.org/php/index.php
http://www.larutadelcister.info/index.php?lang=en&id=&gal=

http://www.costersdelsegre.es/eng/index.php

Wines at Torrelles

2011-05-10T22:58:00.001+02:00

The village of Torrelles de Llobregat, 20 km west of Barcelona in the first hills of the Garraf massif, is not famous for its wines; rather, its cherries (and those from the surrounding villages) are prized in the Catalan markets. However, and for the second time, David González (Vinoscopio) has gathered a group of winemakers in the Torrelles Wine Fair that amply reward inspection.

Up to four groups of wineries (apart from high quality beer, cheese, cold meats and pastry producers) were available:

Natural wine producers
Wineries from a selected “special guest” wine zone; from Torroja in Priorat this time
Wineries represented by smallish wine distributors
Other wineries collaborating with Vinoscopio

All producers were small, some of them still cutting their teeth, and giving a good representation of their terroir. David has a detailed knowledge of the grass-roots wine world, especially Catalan, and a fine nose to detect potential stars.

Unlike more publicized events, this fair has a human scale and allows a short chat with the winery representatives, usually the owner or winemaker, given the size of most enterprises. For an amateur like me, it is a great opportunity to learn and make useful contacts to visit later.

Happy me at the opening tasting Miliarium blanc

I had only three hours and could not taste all wines and meet all winemakers. But I certainly liked some enough to purchase a bottle to be able to enjoy them at home:

Cava Berdié, a young Cava winery in Castellví de la Marca with a modern approach based nonetheless in traditional grape varieties and managed by three enthusiastic siblings.

Miliarium, an engaging public-private project in Ulldecona that pools vineyards no longer farmed by their owners (usually old people with no children interested in the wine world) and employs young people. In the able hands of oenologist Juan Manuel Gonzalvo, it is a project to track closely.

Mas de la Caçadora, a Els Guiamets, Montsant winery with a wide range of wines; I especially liked their Garnatxa Blanca sweet wine and a most tasty, enjoyable rosè.

Rampell, from Torroja, Priorat, the project of Cristian Francès, Trio Infernal oenologist, with a very personal Chenin blanc and also a striking red.

Celler Aixalà-Alcait from Torroja, Priorat, with highly regarded red wines.

Celler Sabaté Franquet from Torroja, Priorat, with their first wine, promising coming from young vines.

Llicorella Vins from Torroja, Priorat, with a range of three reds. I took a bottle of the most aged and complex, the one I liked best (perhaps I am aged and complex myself!).

Celler Ronadelles, a biodynamic winery at Cornudella del Montsant, DO Priorat. I enjoyed especially their red from old vines and a sweet from Garnatxa roja.

There were other wineries I like, but these were for me the highlights of a fair with a very consistent level. Surely an event to write down in the agenda of the seeker of uncommercial, terroir driven wines, looking for nice surprises and a sound QPR.

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.cavaberdie.com/
http://pardelasses.blogspot.com/
http://www.llicorellavins.com/
http://www.masdelacasadora.com/index.php/en
http://www.ronadelles.com/en/index.php
http://www.adictosalalujuria.com/

http://www.adictosalalujuria.com/2011/03/vinoscopio.html

Carinyenes at Porrera

2011-05-05T22:47:00.000+02:00

In my last 2010 post I explained my views on public wine tasting events and mentioned some of them I had already attended.

The Priorat and Montsant Wine Exhibition (Fira del Vi) in Falset mentioned there is a major mass attraction that is surrounded by smaller, more selective events that are worth attending. From Friday April 29th to Tuesday May 2nd the wine lovers (that can spare the time and cost) have their hands full with tastings, pairings, presentations and winery visits. I was able to attend a few of them, and in the upcoming posts I will endeavour to tell you about my experiences.

In the village of Porrera, already mentioned elsewhere in this blog, are located some of the oldest and finest Carinyena vines in the Priorat DO. In many cases, they are processed separately from other grapes, and the coupage is made just before bottling. Few Porrera wines, however, are pure Carinyena; usually the blend contains also Garnatxa and perhaps Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah.

Porrera wineries offer a unique opportunity every year at the “Carinyenes a Porrera” tasting. They present their best pure, unblended Carinyena wines before the coupage is done. Of course, in many cases the wine comes directly from the cask, without any bottle aging; however, the potential is there, and is very rewarding to taste them and have an inkling of what the wines in which they take part will be like.

One surprising aspect of this event is that is somehow illegal. Not that tasting wine is forbidden in Priorat; rather what is forbidden is the commercial use of the word Carinyena to name the grape varietal, because there is an Aragonese village, Cariñena, in the DO of the same name. Silly enough, but the wineries usually have to resort to the name Samsó, which is in fact another grape (some say the one named as Cinsault in France) or devise misspellings such as Caranyana. But if you ask the old winegrowers basking in the sun in the village square, they will tell you they have farmed Carinyena vines since childhood…

There were over twenty-five wines from eighteen different wineries; it was not the time or place to take down detailed notes of each, but I can name the ones that pleased me most:

Ardévol i Associats
BalmaPrat
Celler de l’Encastell
Cims de Porrera, with three different, outstanding wines
Clos Dominic
Ferrer Bobet
Joan Simó
Mas Martinet
Trosset de Porrera

Many wines, but all of them different, as a result of the microclimates of each plot, the age of the vines and the winemaker skill. A feast for Carinyena lovers, showing that this variety, often despised as unrefined, when in proper conditions can yield great wines.

http://www.cellerardevol.com/

http://www.roquers.com/index3.html

http://www.grupperalada.com/cimsdeporrera/index.htm

http://debrujasyvino.blogspot.com/

http://www.ferrerbobet.com/

http://www.cellerjoansimo.com/

http://www.masmartinet.com/

http://www.cellersdeporrera.com/

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

Ferrer Bobet and Joan Simó: two strategies

2011-04-24T23:44:00.001+02:00

In the village of Porrera, as in the rest of Priorat, there are few wineries, apart from cooperatives, that have been in business as such for more that twenty years, when the Priorat revolution started. Modern Priorat wineries can be divided in two groups, which I think are well represented by the two Porrera enterprises I will now describe.

Ferrer Bobet winery

Ferrer Bobet is a joint venture between Sergi Ferrer-Salat, owner of one of the largest Catalan pharma companies and acknowledged food and wine enthusiast, and Raül Bobet, famed oenologist at Torres. They purchased land over the winding road that leads from Porrera to Falset. There they planted 20 hectares of Garnatxa, Carinyena, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier, and built a spectacular, if discrete, cellar with a distinctive semicircular glass walled tasting room with fabulous views.

Stunning panorama from Ferrer Bobet tasting room

Grapes from these new plots are not yet used: vines are too young. Rather, Ferrer Bobet buys grapes from selected vinegrowers that organically farm costers planted with old Carinyena and Garnatxa. Grapes are harvested manually in small boxes, taken immediately to the winery and stored at 3 ºC. Grapes are then selected manually before destemming and after.

Inside of the cellar, and mainly underground, the latest technology and stainless steel combine with the best wood to enable organic winemaking with gravity powered wine movements. The pharmaceutical background of Sergi Ferrer (I am also in the pharma industry) shows in the attention to cleanliness and the careful choice of materials in contact with wine.

Ferrer Bobet

Fermentation takes place in smallish oak vats, allowing separation of individual vineyards. Later on wine ages for fifteen to eighteen months in new French oak and twelve months in bottle.

Ferrer Bobet

Ferrer Bobet produces only two reds, both coming from the old vine costers:

Ferrer Bobet, with about two thirds Carinyena and on third Garnatxa, with the occasional sprinkling of Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah
Ferrer Bobet Selecció Especial, with over 85% Carinyena and the balance for Garnatxa.

The winery produces a total of around 25’000 bottles of these intense, elegant, mineral and fruity reds.

Joan Simó is a winery located in the centre of Porrera, in a two hundred year old house, complete with sundial. Gerard Batllevell Simó, the owner, farms land from his family and also other plots more recently purchased. In 1999 and 2000 he planted Garnatxa, Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in La Garranxa, a plot that had been barren since the phylloxera onslaught.

Joan Simó winery

Winemaking facilities are located in the lower part of the Porrera house, with the dimensions of a garage winery. Still active, Gerard's uncle gives advice and produces a superb ranci, or oxidized wine, that unfortunately is not for sale.

Gerard makes three wines, all red:

Sentius, from Garnatxa, Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from La Garranxa. Fifteen months in French oak.
Les Eres, the flagship of the winery, is made with grapes of four different plots, using Garnatxa and Carinyena eighty to ninety years old, and some younger Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is kept for eighteen months in new French oak.
And since 2006, Les Eres Especial Els Carners, 550 bottles coming from the Els Carners plot, planted ninety years ago with Garnatxa and Carinyena (75/25). Two barrels, one of Allier and the other of Tronçais oak, hold the wine for eighteen months.

All three are dark, concentrated, complex examples of Priorat. Total production of around 20'000 bottles.

Joan Simó

The two different ways are clear. On one hand the external money from a wealthy wine lover that is invested intensively, starting with a spectacular winery and building the wine later. What we call in Catalan to start building the house by the roof. On the other, the local step by step approach, using money only when needed and not before, utilizing old village houses and vines from the family or purchased at the cost of personal involvement.

Which is best?

I tend to judge them looking at two variables mainly: the impact on the land and its economy and, of course, the quality of the wines. For the first group, respect to the environment and to free trade, trying not to dominate the market, and contributing to local economy can have a very positive impact. The second strategy permits in the long term local accumulation of wealth and better prospects for the young.

Ferrer Bobet

I think we can find examples of better and worse wineries in both groups. In the first, I find that much depends on the personality of the capital provider. If he is personally involved, has not invested a critical part of his wealth and has the good sense to listen to expert professionals, chances are good. If some of these conditions are not met, and a crisis pushes the market down, chances of survival are slim, as can be seen just now in some sad cases.

In the second group, chance of survival is more linked to the quality of the wine and the way it is marketed, often the great weakness.

Ferrer Bobet

A third way is when foreign winemakers invest, but I think they tend to be more cautious and mimic the step by step approach of the locals, I do not know if out of experience or lack of money.

For me, a good blend of strategies is likely to benefit Priorat (or any other zone in a similar situation) and the wine lovers. Ferrer Bobet and Joan Simó do.

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.ferrerbobet.com/

http://www.cellerjoansimo.com/

Can Feixes, a château in Penedès

2011-04-18T00:40:00.000+02:00

The Can Feixes seal

Fifteen years ago I visited Can Feixes. For some time I had appreciated the quality of their wines, and I wanted to see the source. The owner, a delightful old school gentleman (he was an architect by training), showed us his property with enthusiasm and explained his plans for the future.

Fifteen years later, Mr. Huguet is, regretfully, no longer there to steer the course of the winery

It is easy for the successors, in these cases, to either let the enterprise languish and eventually die, or to completely change the spirit and philosophy, with uncertain results and the assurance of losing the former charm. The fact that not one heir, but three, have to take decisions makes all even more difficult.

Old and new together

However, his three sons have come up to scratch splendidly. The Can Feixes philosophy remains; they concentrate on their land and grapes, respect the environment both in the vineyard and the construction of the winery, and stick to their six proven and mastered wines. Josep Maria looks after winemaking; Joan is in charge of the vineyards and Xavier takes on administration.

The old winery

The name comes with the property. Can Feixes means house (the physical building) of the Feixes family. And it was so at least from the late fourteenth century till beginning of the twentieth, when the Huguet family took over after the Feixes extinguished. The property has some beautiful old buildings, including the one that houses the old winery, now a showpiece, with the door with the seal that can be seen on bottles.

The Huguets respected the complex and have enlarged the winery mostly underground, with room for cask and bottle cellaring; in this way, the buildings look from outside pretty much the same as a century ago.

Bottle cellar

In the rear, the distinctive peaks of Montserrat

The estate, in the hilly northern part of the Penedès DO, has over 350 hectares, 80 of them under vine. Medium height over sea level is 400 meters, and soils mainly rich in limestone, with varying slate and clay additions. Temperature, being the estate higher and farther from the sea than most of Penedès, shows a bigger difference between day and night, beneficial for slower maturing of the grapes and better acidity.

Old parellada vine

Old Parellada vineyard

On the selected plots most suitable for each, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Malvasia de Sitges, Ull de Llebre and Petit Verdot grow on trellises, together with older (70 year) bush grown Parellada and Macabeu old vine plots. Wines are organically farmed and produced; the seal of the Catalan Council for Ecological Production (CCPAE) will start appearing on the 2010 bottles.

Vineyard with planted vegetation in between rows

The estate can be compared with a Bordeaux château, with the winery sitting in the middle of the vineyards. In this way, the grapes, manually harvested and having undergone a first selection in the vineyard, reach the winery in minutes where they are again selected and enter the processing stage. The white varieties are fed into the pneumatic press without breaking the grains, so the first must to come out is of the highest quality.

The still wine range has four items:

Can Feixes Blanc Selecció, a white made from Parellada, Macabeu, Chardonnay and Malvasia de Sitges (40/30/20/10), unoaked, light and fruity with citric notes
Can Feixes Chardonnay (100%) fermented and aged for eight months in new French oak and twelve months in bottle. White fruit and well integrated wood.
Can Feixes Negre Selecció, a red Merlot, Cabernet, Ull de Llebre and Petit Verdot (40/25/25/10) aged for seven months in tank and twelve in French oak. Dark red, with minerality and red fruit to balance more tertiary wood and coffee aromas.
Can Feixes Negre Reserva Especial, the top wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (80/20) especially selected grapes and only in the best years. Aged for 14 months in new French oak and at least four years in the bottle. Dark cherry, elegant and complex aromas of ripe red fruit, balsamic, spice and wood, and a long finish.

Like many other Penedès wineries, they also produce Cava, with the Huguet brand. In fact, although in the market you can find both Huguet Gran Reserva Brut and Huguet Gran Reserva Brut Nature, it is essentially the same wine: a rather uncommon Parellada, Macabeu and Pinot Noir blend (50/26/24) aged for six months in tanks before second fermentation and at least thirty months after. Brut receives a small quantity of sugar after degorjat and Brut Nature does not. Both have the distinctive small, persistent bubble and creamy aromas of Gran Reserva Cavas; the degree of sweetness (not at all or very slight) will determine the choice.

A finishing point: wines leave the winery ready to drink; no further cellaring is needed; all bottles are numbered, and those of Cava show the date of degorjat, something which is, unfortunately, not mandatory, but shows compromise to quality, in line with the philosophy of Can Feixes.

http://www.canfeixes.com/

http://www.dopenedes.es/en

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

Gobe's friends

2011-04-10T19:37:00.001+02:00

In the early eighties little Josep Barceló, still too young to read, would identify the peg to hang his coat on at his Priorat school by a drawing of a mushroom (“rovelló”) over it. In his childish speech, he would not pronounce the “r” sound properly, so his schoolmates promptly nicknamed him “govelló”, later shortened to Gobe.

Gobe grew up among his friends, meeting them also after school to play football (their team was called “La Xusma”, the rabble), and, later on, to share a bottle of wine. In due time, many of them worked in the world of wine; Gobe himself at the Celler de Capçanes, while planning to make wine from a small family vineyard farmed by his uncle.

Sadly, in 2004 Gobe died in an accident. A few weeks later, his friends visited Gobe’s family and suggested making the wine Gobe dreamt of, as a common effort, in a non for profit way, as a tribute to his memory. The twelve friends, with the help of Gobe’s uncle and brothers, would endeavour to make Gobe’s wish come to reality.

And so it did.

Amics del Gobe (Gobe's friends) was on its way.

The vineyard is in the Montsant DO, at a height of some 300 m: 1 hectare of sandy soil with 80-year old Carinyena and some new Garnatxa, farmed organically. Grapes undergo a first selection in the plot, are gathered in 12 kilo boxes and taken to the Venus La Universal winery, where a second selection is made before starting the winemaking process.

After destemming and 20 days of contact with the skins, the wine goes to second year 300 l French oak casks, where it stays for twelve months.

The wine itself is a good example of Montsant red. Dark cherry colour, with slightly tinted legs. In the nose red and black fruit, not overripe, with tobacco and balsamic notes. Not too much wood, letting the fruit shine. Tannins still noticeable, good structure in mouth, with a long finish. A very pleasant, straightforward, drinkable wine.

The output being around 1’000 – 1’800 bottles, it is not easy to secure one. I got mine in a visit to Gratallops, in the Bonviure wine and delicatessen shop, where Jaume Balaguer showed me his small winery (more on that on another post) and other small gems he has.

What is the future of this initiative? In the short term, the 2009 vintage will start to include some wine from the Carinyena planted in 2005. This will allow to eventually increase output to a maximum of 3’000 bottles. And with the support of winelovers, Gobe’s friends intend to go onforever; a support not so difficult to give, because at around 10 EUR per bottle the quality / price ratio is excellent.

Any of you interested in further details can join the Gobe group in Facebook or have a look at the video in Vintaix (see links below).

Perhaps from somewhere Gobe still looks after his vineyard…

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=181198642078&v=wall
http://vintaix.com/comunidad/blog/2009/12/10/els-amics-del-gobe/

Selected Clos Dominic Seleccions

2011-03-24T20:48:00.005+01:00

I have tasted often the wines of Dominic and Paco (see post) but never before in a session focused on the Clos Dominc Vinyes Altes Seleccions.

In the homely premises of Oscar Gallifa’s oenogarage (thanks for the pic!) a few friends gathered to better know these rare and personal Priorat wines. As a bonus, Dominic, in a wine tasting calendar based on moon phases, had rated that day as top.

We started with Clos Dominic blanc, not actually a Selecció, but also with very limited output. It was a 2008 in Magnum bottle. The old Garnatxa blanca and Macabeu, with a sprinkling of Picapoll and Riesling (sic), vines from La Tena release a deep golden, bright white after 12 months in French oak. In the nose the whole range of low bushes, and a funny tomato whiff now and then. Unctuous in mouth, with still noticeable acidity.

Seleccions, named after their children, represent the top of the winery production: only selected barrels, usually one or two every year, and from special zones of the vineyard are chosen. Twelve to eighteen months in French oak in special corners of the cellar are needed to produce the magic.

The first Selecció tasted was Míriam 2006. In normal 0.75 bottle, Míriam is basically Carinyena, with a small proportion of Garnatxa. It was the oldest of the night, and it showed. Rounded and fruity, with the typical minerality, and still youthful deep cherry colour. The most balanced.

Then came Selecció Ingrid 2007, 100% Garnatxa in Magnum. Closed at the beginning, with bright red colour, slowly released red and black fruit, balsamic notes, toast. Powerful yet rounded tannins, with lively acidity. A wine to keep for a few years more.

And last of all Selecció Andreu 2007, 100% Carinyena in Magnum. Dominic and Paco have probably special love for Andreu (he is the youngest child) as Selecció Andreu was the best of them. Still very closed, after decanting of four hours (as all others), it opened gradually with a lot of wristwork with the glass. Very deep red, with red fruit, mineral, spices . Enormous structure yet velvety feel, with long finish. Again, a wine to be retasted in five years.

An event to remember. Unfortunately, given the scarcity and cost of these wines (Andreu sells for 220 EUR the Magnum bottle) this pleasure cannot be repeated easily, unless Dr. Jay Miller declares them unfit to be drunk in his next review, something I personally tend to doubt...

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://debrujasyvino.blogspot.com/
http://oscargallifa.com/

Science and philosophy at Mas Martinet

2011-03-23T22:36:00.002+01:00

Josep Lluís Pérez

When in the early 80s Josep Lluís Pérez arrived in Priorat to head the local Tech School, the zone was a stagnant, back of beyond winemaking region producing sturdy bulk red wine to be mixed elsewhere (see my previous post on the matter). But after establishing the first Oenology studies there, with the aid of his Biochemist wife, and together with the other four pioneers, he put Priorat upside down and in the radar of wine connoisseurs around the globe. Myself included; Mas Martinet were the first new Priorat wines I enjoyed, and Clos Martinet is since a given in my Christmas lunch.

A root struggles through the slate

A biologist by training, Josep Lluís has the typical scientific enquiring mind. He wants to know whats, whens and whys of everything, and experiments tirelessly to improve, defying conventional wisdom, even now at 75. In the beginning (early 90s) he established his Clos Martinet – Martinet Bru wines in the first – second wine model of Bordeaux, using the best grapes for Clos Martinet. From the start, even being a big, dense, dark red wine as great Priorats usually are, Clos Martinet was one of the most elegant of the bunch. Martinet Bru was a good introduction wine at a more moderate cost.

But when in 2001 he surrendered the sceptre to his daughter Sara, she changed the concept. Wines would be single vineyard sourced, with the goal of expressing the terroir as much as possible. If her father is a scientist, Sara goes for philosophy.

Llicorella in Els Escurçons

Did Josep Lluís retire and relax after 2001? Not at all! He is very active experimenting and acting as consultant to other wineries, something he has done extensively in the last fifteen years. Present projects include making wine in unlikely countries like Egypt or Sweden. And if you meet him in his winery or at an event, he will ensnare you with fascinating descriptions of his methods and experiments, which include selective, timed watering of the vines, and closed circuit, anaerobic fermentation. A born teacher.

Mas Torrent, the vineyard of Martinet Bru

Nowadays Mas Martinet has four different plots and wines, as follows:

Martinet Bru comes from the vineyard of Mas Torrent, close to the Montsant DO, and planted with Garnatxa, Syrah and Carinyena. Grapes go to a separate facility, Mas Martinet Assessoraments. Relatively lighter, perhaps due to the vineyard’s closeness to Montsant; an excellent wine altogether.

Clos Martinet comes from the land around the winery. These are the vines at less height over sea level (200 m), with warmer nights and earlier ripening. A blend of Garnatxa, Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Dark cherry, intense, more fruity than its cousins.

Serra Alta and the rain pool of Mas Martinet from Els Escurçons

Camí de Pesseroles comes from three neighbouring small plots along the path to Pesseroles. Two of them are planted with Garnatxa, and the other with Carinyena; all of them very old. Dark, mineral, concentrated, complex.

Els Escurçons

Els Escurçons (The Vipers) is a vineyard on top of a hill (600 m) with stunning views, including most of the plots of Mas Martinet. With increasing Garnatxa and decreasing Syrah grapes, it is lighter and more floral that Camí de Pesseroles.

Natural yeasts are used, and the wines ferment in concrete vats. Aging is done partially in oak foudres and partially in oak casks.

Serra Alta

There are two additional plots, Serra Alta and Mas Seró, used for experimental purposes and also to produce kosher wine. Serra Alta is remarkable because vines are planted more tightly and develop around iron rings of adjustable height. This disposition allows increasing by two thirds the number of vines per hectare and tripling the leaf surface, enhancing vine metabolism.

Weather monitoring at Serra Alta

All these are organically farmed, with the idea of giving back to the vineyard all that is taken away: skins, pips, stalks...except the wine, of course! Certification is expected soon.

In another post I may explain the other wines that Sara Pérez makes (not to mention her brother Adriá or her cousin Marc), alone or together with her partner, Rene Barbier Jr., son of the other great guru (imho) of Priorat. Guess what their children will be good at…

Sara Pérez

http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php

http://www.masmartinet-ass.com/eng/index.html

Oriol Rossell Brut Nature Reserva de la Propietat 2006: Cava for castellers

2011-03-21T22:48:00.000+01:00

The December selection from the Vins Noè wine club brings usually Cava. This year was not different, and a few days ago I poured one of the bottles, Oriol Rossell Brut Nature Reserva de la Propietat 2006.

The composition is 70% Xarel•lo, 20 % Macabeu and 10 % Parellada, with 5 % of the Xarel•lo aged in oak. Vines are 40 – 50 years old, and there is a double grape selection: at the vineyard and just before pressing. Only the first juice is used. After second fermentation, bottles are aged for at least 45 months before degorjat.

Colour is pale yellow, with small, persistent bubble. In the nose I could find apple and pineapple, together with pastries, balsamic tones and toast. Complex and elegant, not too intense.

In the mouth is still fresh, in spite of the ageing, creamy, with well integrated gas and acidity.

Balanced and versatile, can be enjoyed by itself or with a full meal without red meat. Price at shop: around 28 EUR.

Oriol Rossell, the founder of the winery, passed away recently, and he was mourned not only by the wine people, but by the castellers as well, as he was also founder of the Castellers de Vilafranca del Penedès, and member of their Consell de Savis, Council of the Wise. But what are castellers? Easy: those that build castells.

Castells were inscribed in 2010 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I now quote the description of UNESCO:

“Castells are human towers built by members of amateur groups, usually as part of annual festivities in Catalonian towns and cities. The traditional setting is the square in front of the town hall balcony. The human towers are formed by castellers standing on the shoulders of one another in a succession of stages (between six and ten). Each level of the tronc, the name given to the second level upwards, generally comprises two to five heavier built men supporting younger, lighter-weight boys or girls. The pom de dalt – the three uppermost levels of the tower – comprises young children. Anyone is welcome to form the pinya, the throng that supports the base of the tower. Each group can be identified by its costume, particularly the colour of the shirts, while the cummerbund serves to protect the back and is gripped by castellers as they climb up the tower. Before, during and after the performance, musicians play a variety of traditional melodies on a wind instrument known as a gralla, setting the rhythm to which the tower is built. The knowledge required for raising castells is traditionally passed down from generation to generation within a group, and can only be learned by practice. “

Castellers de Vilafranca at work

A pretty good description of a popular Catalan tradition that has special following in the wine zones close to Tarragona (with Valls as a center) and Penedès. Castellers de Vilafranca is one of the leading colles (groups) of castellers, toghether with those of Valls.

I can only encourage you to visit those parts, taste their wines and look up at the castells that rise amid the sounds of the gralles (see video below). An experience not to be forgotten.

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

http://www.oriolrossell.com/default.asp?pag=201

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b68Nl8iYGt4

http://www.vinsnoe.com/

Three generations in thirteen years at Mas Foraster

2011-03-15T23:57:00.002+01:00

In the outskirts of the beautiful medieval town of Montblanc, walled since the 14th century and seat to a dukedom, sits the winery and vineyards of Mas Foraster. My wife and I had to attend a calçotada in the zone later in the day and we took the opportunity to visit one of my favourite wineries of DO Conca de Barberà.

Eating calçots

(For those of you unfamiliar with calçotades: in the lands around Tarragona, mainly around Valls, it is typical to gather in winter to eat calçots, young onions that are in fact slightly burned by a dried vine shoot fire. Eaters peel with bare fingers the burnt outer layers to expose the juicy, tender inside, which is then dipped in a special sauce and taken dripping to the mouth, with a vertical entry. A giant bib saves the shirt. A rustic yet delicious meal, a feast for onion lovers, followed by sausages and lamb, topped with crema catalana and wetted with red wine and Cava).

Ricard Sebastiá and his mother, Julieta Foraster

Since 150 years, the Foraster family has grown vines. Not until 1998 Josep Foraster took over from his father and decided to make and sell quality wine himself. Unfortunately, he died prematurely, just before the first bottles of his wine hit the market. But his sister Julieta carried on, and now her son Ricard Sebastiá is at the helm, reaching the goals his uncle had dreamed up.

The property has 32 hectares (a little over 79 acres) of vineyards at about 400 m of altitude, with wide temperature differences between day and night. Soils are largely sandy, with slate on the surface. Vines are generally trellised. Harvest is done mainly by hand. Output per vine is around 0.8 and 3 kg of grape; and 2’500 to 6’000 kg of grape per ha. Total yearly production is around 100’000 bottles, with a maximum of 140’000.

The winery houses a small but delightful museum of rural life and winemaking as it was a century ago, together with temporary exhibitions of modern artists.

Mas Foraster wine range starts with the white Josep Foraster Blanc Selecció. Garnatxa blanca and Macabeu, with a little Chardonnay, is partly fermented and kept in steel vats and partly in French oak, with batonnage. In this way the wine is complex, with a properly integrated wood, but fresh at the same time. Unctuous and long.

Josep Foraster Collita is a young red wine of the year made from Ull de Llebre (aka Tempranillo) and a little Cabernet Sauvignon. Grapes are picked slightly underripe to accentuate freshness. The resulting wine is fruity, refreshing, easy to drink, with deep cherry colour with bluish overtones.

Josep Foraster Criança is for me the flagship wine of Mas Foraster. Coming from Cabernet Sauvignon and Ull de Llebre, with Syrah occasionally, it is aged for twelve months in French oak, and additionally twelve more in the bottle. A more complex wine, dark cherry with little evolution. Red and black fruit in the nose; also spices at the end. Full mouth, with rounded tannins.

Josep Foraster Selecció is the top wine of Mas Foraster. Produced only in selected years out of the oldest (20+ years) Cabernet Sauvignon vines, harvested in 20 kg boxes, with about 10 % Ull de Llebre. After the aging of 18 months in French oak and a similar time in bottle, the result is a dark red wine, with brown edges and good legs. Red fruit, wood and spice in the nose. Well structured and silky in the mouth. Limited production of around 4’000 numbered bottles.

Last wine in the market is Josep Foraster Trepat, made from 45 year old Trepat vines. This is a local variety, with medium colour intensity, a distinctive black peppery nose and great elegance. Five months of aging in French oak.

I guess that Josep Foraster, if he had the opportunity to look upon his winery, would be proud of the evolution.

http://www.doconcadebarbera.com/catalan/frame.htm

http://www.josepforaster.com/index.html

Alella Vinicola: looking forward

2011-02-28T22:32:00.000+01:00

Alella Vinícola is the historic reference of the Alella DO. It was founded in 1906 as a cooperative in the wake of the Phylloxera disaster. A cellar was built in the Modernist or Art Noveau style by the architect Jeroni Martorell.

The coop gradually incorporated some 90 % of the vines on the Alella village, and acted as an avant la lettre regulation council, defending the prestige of Alella wines and fighting counterfeiting, that became rife after receiving the King of Spain’s seal of appointment in 1928. In this time Alella white was branded “Marfil” (“Ivory”) because of the colour of the wine.

After Spanish Civil War, production, trade and counterfeiting resumed as usual until in 1953 the Alella DO was created. In the meantime, Jeroni Martorell had effected an enlargement of the winemaking facilities. The boom continued well into the 70’s, when large scale housing project started to eat into the vineyard surface and vinegrowers settled for the easy money of selling their lands. Grape production declined from ca. 3 million kg to around 200’000 kg.

The coop struggled for survival in the 80’s and 90’s, with timid attempts at modernization, but nothing important changed till 1998, when it was sold to private investors.

Since then change rhythm has stepped up. Vines were planted, winemaking facilities improved, bottles and labels changed, and new wines have been introduced or, in some cases, recovered from the past. More on that later.

Not surprisingly soils and weather are those typical for DO Alella: sandy and comparatively dry in terms of rain, but with wet breezes blowing inland from the sea.

Plots and grape varieties are allocated as follows:

Pansa blanca (aka Xarel.lo) at Can Sala, plot at 200 meters over sea level. 13’000 vines were planted in 2001.
Syrah in Rials Valley, in four plots at heights between 200 and 400 m. 12’000 vines from 2001 and 2002.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in terraces at heights between 200 and 350 m at Rials Valley. Some 15’000 plants from 2001.
La Molassa at the top of the Rials Valley, facing the sea, and with ca. 10’000 vines of Moscatell (2004) and Garnatxa negra (2003).
Mas Coll, at the top (350 to 500 m) of the hills of the same name. The sandy soil (sauló) is a trifle more acidic than in other properties, and temperatures more extreme. Planted in 2003 with Garnatxa negra, Syrah, Monastrell and Carinyena, with a total of 25’000 vines.
Vinyes velles, a scattering of old vineyards that have survived till now: Pansa blanca, Pansa Vermella, Malvasia, Sumoll, Garnatxa peluda and Garnatxa negra.

All these lands produce 80 % of grapes used: the rest is sourced from some of the former cooperativists, which have had to adapt their farming methods and gear them towards quality and organic principles.

Grapes are collected manually in 25 kg boxes and refrigerated till processing. Stalks are taken back to the vineyards: production is not fully organic…yet.

White wines have been the specialty of Alella. The Marfil Blanc Classic is 100% Pansa blanca and a wine very easy to drink, crisp, unctuous, with floral and white fruit aromas and a note of sweetness. The drier Marfil Blanc Sec has the same composition but less character. The Ivori Blanc is a more complex blend with Pansa blanca, Chardonnay, Garnatxa blanca, Sauvignon blanc and Moscatell, and oak aging.

As for rosé wines, they produce Mayla, an onion skin coloured blend of Pansa blanca and Syrah, fruity and with a hint of gas and Marfil Rosat, from Garnatxa negra and Syrah.

There are three reds. Marfil Negre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Garnatxa negra and Syrah, and aged for twelve months in French oak. Ivori Negre, from Garnatxa negra, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, from selected plots in the Rials Valley, and fourteen months in French oak. Vallmora, coming from old vine Garnatxa negra and over a year of oak.

As many other wineries, Alella Vinícola produces Cava; both Brut and Brut Nature Marfil. But more original are the sparkling wines under DO Alella, that differ in the elaboration: first fermentation is stopped by cold before sugar is completely used up, and resumes in the bottle. Besides, there are two of these wines made from Garnatxa negra, unusual in sparkling: Marfil Escumós Rosat Brut and Marfil Escumós Blanc de Negre Brut. Both have the typical aromas of red fruits in a sparkling; a surprise. Also worth trying are the Marfil Escumós Blanc Brut Nature (Pansa blanca / Chardonnay) and Marfil Escumós Moscatell Dolç, a sweet dessert bubbly.

But perhaps the most personal wines are the soleras, made with this oxidative method. There are four wines. Two of them started their solera in 2003, reviving long-lost wines. Sweet Marfil Violeta is made from 100% Garnatxa negra and has indeed a cherry-violet colour. Marfil Molt Dolç, as his older brothers Marfil Generós Semi and Marfil Generós Sec, with soleras dating from 1976, are 100 % Pansa blanca and range from very sweet to dry, but always with balancing acidity that makes them very fresh in the mouth. The usual oxidative aromas of dry fruits together with chocolate, toast and citrics are predominant in the nose.

Alella Vinícola is becoming very active in the Enotourism sector, with special visits, a restaurant located in the winery, and above all collaboration with the Cella Vinaria, a former Roman settlement with winery where wine production as Romans did it is being reconstructed.

For me, Alella Vinícola is right now interesting especially for its Marfil Blanc Classic and its soleras. Also the DO Alella sparklings show potential. The other wines are nevertheless good value and will probably develop when vines are older. I also expect them to take more advantage of existing old vines that can surely yield wines with greater appeal.

http://www.doalella.org/index_eng.php

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

http://www.alellavinicola.com/ang-inici.htm

Ètnic 2006

2011-02-22T21:05:00.003+01:00

Today I start a new kind of post, evaluating more in depth a wine I have recently tasted. There are some other blogs that usually take this approach with proficiency, such as Els vins que vaig tastant and Els vins del Bonviure (both in Catalan, but with automatic translator).

Here I face a typical dilemma, that recently came up in Els vins del Bonviure: shall I write negative reviews of wines? After thinking it out, my intention is not to do so unless I am sure that the flaws found are really present in most of the bottles and not a result of bad cellaring, my own clumsy tasting capability or simple bad luck. This means in practice that I should find similar problems in two independent bottles (not coming from the same source or stored in the same way) to make a negative report. A single unsatisfactory bottle will generate no remarks.

Another matter is a wine that, without actually showing flaws, does not deliver according to its fame or price. In these cases, with due allowance for my inexpert tasting, I may try to explain how and why I am disappointed.

Do you agree with this approach? Should I do otherwise? Please feel free to comment!

And now to the wine.

Ètnic is a red wine from DO Montsant. It is produced in the facilities of Celler el Masroig, following the directions of a group of people that includes some wine shop owners with no direct experience in winemaking. This 2006 is the first vintage. It comes from old Samsó (aka Carinyena) and Garnatxa vines. Curiously enough, the vineyards are actually sited in neighbouring DOQ Priorat soil. It was aged for fourteen months in French oak. Alcohol content of 14.5 % in a black Burgundy bottle.

The result is a very dark cherry red wine, with slow dark legs. In the nose, after some time in the glass (decanting is highly recommended), it opens to release black ripe fruit, balsamic wild herbs, hints of red fruit, chocolate, yoghourt.

Structure in mouth is big, with adequate acidity and notes of minerality. Tannins and alcohol are well integrated into a silky feel. Long finish.

At a retail price around 13 to 15 EUR in Catalonia, it gives good value. The trick is to find it, as production is very limited.

A wine to follow in coming years to see if it confirms the good start.

http://www.cellermasroig.com/?id=en&m

http://www.domontsant.com/

Espectacle by Selecció Ingrid at Auditori

2011-02-15T21:07:00.002+01:00

Fifteen months ago I had the luck to be invited to enter the GMT, which has nothing to do with Greenwich or time, but rather surprisingly stands for Grup de Matemàtics Tastavins, or Mathematician Winetasting Group. The other five members are Maths Professors in the Autonomous University of Barcelona (I am a pharmacist by training). I had longed for years to become part of a tasting group, but somehow the expected background of its members did not include this specific profile. Nevertheless, no formulas or equations are needed for the tasting we do: it is basically hedonistic (three different bottles for six people), and we do not rate the wines apart from an informal “Which one do you like best?”

Led by a master wine blogger, Jaume Aguadé of Vins de Catalunya, we have had some memorable sessions; among them the one last week. We tasted three wines that had in common coming from very old Garnatxa negra vines:

Auditori 2008, Acústic Celler, DO Montsant
Espectacle 2006, Espectacle Vins, DO Montsant
Vinyes Altes Selecció Ingrid 2005, Clos Dominic, DOQ Priorat

All three were decanted one hour before the tasting. An additional hour would have been welcome.

Albert Jané, from the family that owns Jané Ventura in DO Penedès, moved to DO Montsant to start his own project, Acústic Celler, in the village of Els Guiamets. Using 60+ year old garnatxa vines (aptly described as “magical old vines” in the label) coming from three small plots with poor sandy soils, and with thirteen months in French oak, Auditori is the top product of the winery.

It was the youngest of the three wines; it showed in its dark, intense colour with still bluish overtones in the rim, and the comparative lack of tertiary aromas. But anyway the nose was overwhelming, kaleidoscopic, with lots of fruit (mainly red) and spice (at one moment it positively smelt like a pepper-pot) developing over the two hours that we enjoyed tasting. In the mouth acidity and tannins were very present, but rounded and integrated, with length and width. A great wine, and no doubt that a few years in the bottle will help to develop its full potential.

Espectacle Vins is a joint venture of the Barbier and Cannan families, of Clos Mogador and Clos Figueras fame, to make wine from a centenary Garnatxa vineyard in Montsant. The wine is actually produced in the Celler Laurona winery, partially owned also by the Barbiers. Once the fruit is ripe, it is harvested manually in small boxes and kept for one day at 4ºC. After berry selection and gentle pressing the grapes go to a new French oak vat where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place; afterwards the wine is aged for some fifteen months.

Cherry to crimson in colour, with medium intensity, the nose is extremely complex, with layers of black and red fruit, tobacco, balsamic notes. It fills the mouth but silkily, with great elegance and finesse.

Espectacle is an intellectual wine. This is a nectar to enjoy reflectively, putting forth all one’s senses, not carelessly. Supremely subtle and elegant, it needs time and wrist work to release its complexity.

As explained in a previous post, Clos Dominic is a small family-run winery in Porrera, DOQ Priorat. The best cask from its century old Garnatxa vines in La Tena vineyard goes into the Vinyes Altes Selecció Ingrid, named after one of the daughters of the owners, Dominic Bairaguet and Paco Castillo. Fermented with its own wild yeasts, it is aged for eighteen months in French oak.

Colour is similar to Espectacle, but with higher intensity. The nose is very particular, probably in part due to the non-standard yeasts. Red and black fruit, wild balsamic herbs (rosemary, thyme, all those that grow in and around La Tena), spices, liquorice, cigar box, cocoa, the lot.

Ingrid Castillo Bairaguet ready to pour for Jay Miller

The mouth is packed with flavour, good acidity, ripe tannins, and the minerality coming from the slatey soil. Round, very long. A wine that impacts the senses. A wine to be enjoyed shamelessly, boisterously.

Towards the end of the tasting, as mentioned before, the question of which was the best of the three came up. As a backdrop, Parker ratings: 94 for Auditori 2008, 96 for Espectacle 2006, and no rating for Clos Dominic Selecció Ingrid…yet.

Auditori was handicapped by its youth, and the jury is still out about the other two. Espectacle or Ingrid? As somebody said, Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe? George Clooney or Brad Pitt? Rolls Royce or Lamborghini? Probably depends on when, where, with whom, with what…although I have always loved Lambos…

http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.espectaclevins.com/default.asp?pag=230

http://www.acusticceller.com/

http://debrujasyvino.blogspot.com/
http://www.cellerlaurona.com/index.php?i=1
http://www.closmogador.com/
http://closfigueras.com./site/?lang=en

DO Montsant: up and coming

2011-02-08T23:40:00.002+01:00

The DO Montsant was defined ten years ago as a solution to the issue posed by a number of villages (actually seventeen) encircling the prestigious DOQ Priorat yet included in the much less glamorous DO Tarragona. These villages had already a defined personality, recognized with a subzone denomination (Falset) but the quality differential with the rest of the Tarragona DO finally led to the creation of the DO Montsant.

Wine has been produced in the region since Roman times, but the monks of the Scala Dei priory gave a major push to winegrowing in the late Middle Ages. Phylloxera, as everywhere in Catalonia, all but destroyed the wine industry, but in Montsant the cooperative effort managed to bring back wine production to acceptable levels. Now some of these cooperatives, led by the example of Capçanes, are making significant strides in the race for quality. Many of the other wineries in the zone are small (perhaps 20’000 bottles per year), family owned and in the hands of young, enthusiastic people that have decided to remain in the country rather than depart for the big cities.

Montsant vineyards, between 200 and 700 m above sea level, present a wealth of microclimates due to the hilly terrain. Yearly rainfall is about 500 liters by square meter as an average, and concentrated on spring and autumn. Winters are cold, and summers hot and dry. In summer evenings wet sea breezes bring precious moisture that, combined with a big temperature difference between day and night, ensure optimal ripening of the grapes.

Soils are varied, with three main types:

Limestone rich compact soils
Sandy soils coming from granite decomposition; sited largely around Falset, the main town and seat of the DO Council
Slatey soils, known as llicorella, similar to those of Priorat.

The two last soil types have low content of organic matter and drain water extremely well, forcing vine roots to dig deep in search of moisture.

Altogether there are 2’000 hectares under vine, with an average production of 10 million kg of grape. Some fifty wineries are active. Evolution of sales since the establishment of the DO has been astonishing: in 2002 only 10 % of the wine was sold bottled; in 2008, 78 %, one third in Spain and two thirds in international markets, mainly Germany, France, UK and the US.

The range of grapes used are a mixture of traditional local varieties, often more than fifty years old and grown in bush form, and international varieties. For white wines Garnatxa blanca, Macabeu, Parellada, small-berry Moscatell, Pansal and Chardonnay are allowed. For reds Carinyena (aka Samsó), Garnatxa negra, Garnatxa peluda (hairy), Monastrell, Ull de Llebre, Picapoll negre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.

95 % of wine produced is red. Reds are usually dark and concentrated, while whites can be young and crisp or oak aged, with more structure and complexity. Fruity rosés are sourced largely from Garnatxa negra.

Noteworthy are the rancis and mistelas. Rancis are brown, nutty wines that undergo oxidization in the oak casks for years. Mistelas are produced adding alcohol to unfermented must and aging in oak, sometimes with sherry-like solera systems. These can be perfect wines for aperitif and dessert.

My favourite Montsant wineries:

Acustic Celler
Celler de Capçanes
Celler Dosterras
Celler el Masroig
Joan d’Anguera
Coca i Fitó
Orto Vins
Portal del Montsant
Venus La Universal
Vinyes Domènech

Some outstanding wines are produced in very small wineries (for instance, Espectacle) and some interesting producers only have one or two wines (as Laurona).

Many wines of Montsant exhibit two excellent attributes: personality and a great quality price ratio, as they have not (yet?) achieved the fame of their Priorat neighbors. This is a DO to watch closely.

http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.acusticceller.com/
http://www.falsetmarca.com/eng/FRAMES.HTM
http://www.cellercapcanes.com/english.htm
http://www.dosterras.com/english/index.html
http://www.cellermasroig.com/?id=en&m
http://www.cellersjoandanguera.com/ing/index.htm
http://www.cocaifito.com/website_eng.html
http://www.portaldelpriorat.com/
http://www.vinyesdomenech.com/VD_2008/
http://www.cellerlaurona.com/celler.php?i=3
http://www.espectaclevins.com/default.asp?pag=230

Vintaix Magnum Rave

2011-01-30T19:06:00.007+01:00

Do not be confused; I do my best not to praise extravagantly any wines, and I hope I am not starting to lose my head. It is rather a wine tasting I attended recently, which its organizers, Vintaix, call Rave. It was not a wild party, as the name may suggest, but certainly informal, with live jazz and fluid protocol, and ably led by Miguel Figini.

The first wine of the night was a DO Cava: Castellroig Brut Nature Gran Reserva 2005. This Cava was explained by its winemaker, Marcel Sabaté, who stressed his obsession with terroir and its combination with a given grape variety.

The wine, as a Gran Reserva should, showed developed secondary aromas of bread and croissant, together with a very fine, well integrated and persistent bubble. It comes from a coupage of old-vine Xarel.lo and Macabeu, with no less of 36 months aging. This is not the ideal Cava for a refreshing single glass, but rather a great wine to pair with a full meal.

The second wine was a Petrea blanc 2003 barrel fermented white from the Mas Comtal winery, DO Penedès. It has mainly Chardonnay with a dash of Xarel.lo, with 10 months of Hungarian oak. The colour was a developed lemon yellow, not surprising since it was from the 2003 vintage. In the nose it was understandably closed at the beginning, but with time it developed aromas of butter, white fruits and a hint of wood, with some mineral notes at the end. In the mouth it confirmed the aromas detected; it was unctuous, still fresh and with a long finish. It showed the master hand of one of the leading Penedès winemakers, the late and lamented Joan Milà, who died prematurely last year.

The first red came from DO Empordà and the Espelt winery. Terres Negres 2007 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carinyena, aged twelve months in French oak. Deep cherry colour, with the oak evident in the nose, along with ripe fruit. In the mouth it is well structured, somewhat oaky, with enough tannins and acidity to keep for several years, when it will probably show greater balance.

Signes 2008 is a DO Catalunya red from Bodegas Puiggrós, in the town of Òdena. It is composed of Sumoll and Garnatxa coming from 60+ years vines. Sumoll is a local grape variety that all but disappeared and is now being revived by a handful of wineries, using modern winemaking techniques hitherto never available to Sumoll wines. The old vines, still grown as bushes, are harvested manually and the grapes are collected in small boxes. Aged in French oak for ten months. Deep red, with aromas of toast and spices, with kaleidoscopic evolution in the glass after a few minutes of swirling. In the mouth also show up citric fruits and licorice; excellent balance. Explaines by its enthusiastic winemaker, Josep Puiggrós, it shows how Sumoll wines can be in the future.

Moving now to DO Montsant, we sampled Dosterras 2007 from Celler Dosterras. It comes 100% from 100+ years old Garnatxa vines, harvested manually in 10 kg boxes and aged for sixteen months in French oak. Intense red, with fine legs, there is black fruit and minerality and flower aromas; with a very smooth mouth, freshness and an excellent balance with the wood notes.

The last red was one of the DOQ Priorat pioneers, Clos Martinet 2004 from Mas Martinet. As Magí Batllevell explained, it has 40 % Garnatxa, and 20 % each of Carinyena, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, aged in French oak for sixteen months. Very deep red with few signs of evolution. As for aromas: very mineral, balsamic, black fruits, coffee and toast notes. It fills the mouth, with still noticeable acidity, noble tannins, velvety, long lasting.

After the tasting I had the opportunity to discuss with Silvia Naranjo some of the comments I made on the Guide of Catalan Wine in a previous post. An appropriate end to the Rave, an experience I hope to repeat soon.

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html
http://www.do-catalunya.com/english/engmenu.html
http://www.doemporda.com/index.php?action=presentation
http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.dopenedes.es/en
http://www.doqpriorat.org/eng/index.php
http://www.castellroig.com/
http://www.mascomtal.com/eng/index.php
http://www.espeltviticultors.com/
http://bodegaspuiggros.com/4/
http://www.dosterras.com/english/index.html
http://www.masmartinet.com/
http://vintaix.com/comunidad/

Guides and ratings

2011-01-20T21:43:00.008+01:00

Jay Miller, the Wine Advocate specialist covering the wines of Oregon, Washington, Spain, Australia, South America, Greece and Vintage Ports, is in Catalonia for a much awaited tasting visit. In ten days he will sample some 1.300 wines, mainly red and Cava.

Given the Wine Advocate’s influence, this visit has stirred considerable excitement in winemaking circles. Up to now, Catalan wines reviewed by Robert Parker or Jay Miller had been tasted mainly in the US, without first hand knowledge of vineyards, wineries and winemakers. It is to be expected that this year’s ratings will benefit from this deeper evaluation, which is the same used for other leading winemaking regions.

Oriol Guevara, head of INCAVI, the Catalan winegrowing official Institute, Jay Miller and Pancho Campo MW

What do I expect from a wine guide? Apart from the baseline, independence and tasting competence, there are other things:

An evaluation based solely on the wine quality as evaluated in the tasting
A clear description, in the book or in the webpage, of the rating criteria: what is included and what not, and what weight is given to each part
Some kind of description (this might be the toughest point) of what is the ideal wine or gold standard of the tasting panel.

Let us elaborate on these points.

Why this focus on tasting quality? What I want from a guide is to tell me what I cannot see, smell or taste unless I buy the bottle. There are some features of the wine that are readily available, mainly its price, appearance, overall data about the terroir. Others, like the grape varieties used, are normally not difficult to find. It is good to have this info next to the rating of a wine, but this should not influence the ratings. To include in the ratings other items like bottle type or label design is contentious, as a given label design may be loved by some and loathed by others.

It follows easily that well explained rating criteria must be available. What are the factors that have greater weight? Color? Aroma? Taste? Complexity of aromas? Intensity of aromas? Bottle color?

The third point is more difficult to explain. Most professional wine tasters, due to place of birth, personal and professional experience, and personal taste, will probably have, maybe unconsciously, a mental model of what the perfect wine should be like. For instance, there are many mentions of “parkerised wines”. It is indeed difficult, but some kind of open, honest self analysis may yield a description of the mental model used and so enable readers to decide whether it fits with their own.

This can explain some ratings that otherwise may look surprising. An example was when, some years ago, a tasting in Paris of two groups of similarly priced Rioja and Penedès reds showed a clear advantage for the Penedès wines, opposed to ratings in Spanish guides. The general explanation was that, as most Penedès reds include French grape varieties, they were closer to the gold standard of French critics involved in the tastings, while Spanish guides have the Rioja gold standard.

All this is relevant because some weeks ago the third edition of the Guide to Catalonia Wines (Guia de Vins de Catalunya) reached the bookshops.

The GCW is based on blind tasting panels and gives a lot of info for every wine rated: winery, grape varieties, method of grape harvest and winemaking details, price range, main commercial channel (supermarkets, wine shops, restaurants; there is in Catalonia limited overlap between the offerings of supermarkets and wine shops), a small picture of the bottle, suggested food pairings, and highlights of the tasting notes.

More than 2200 wines have been evaluated; in spite of the absence of a handful of significant wineries, the GCW gives a good overview of the diversity of the Catalan wine range. Wines are arranged by DO, and further organized by type (young white, oaked white, young red, oaked red, young sparkling,…), ordered by descending rating. Most of the information is with icons, so the language barrier is not an issue.

One of the most interesting parts is a general comment on Catalan wine under the name L’ull de l’ocell, the bird’s eye; the guide authors, Silvia Naranjo and Jordi Alcover, discuss the main risks and opportunities in a very open and constructive way; alas, it is in Catalan (or Spanish), as the rest of the guide.

What about the ratings? Although some complain that in several cases the lesser wines of some wineries get more points than their older and supposedly better siblings, I tend to consider that as part of the error inherent to the blind tasting processes and the comparatively short track record of the tasting panels as a team, although I would advise the user to be aware of this fact.

My main concern about this guide is that the rating rules are not published anywhere I can see, and sometimes it appears as if price and grapes used influence the ratings. As explained above, I need to know the rules and the standard against which wines are rated to get full benefits from a wine guide.

All in all, the GCW gives a fair and quite comprehensive view of Catalan wines, and can be an excellent introduction tool. Let us see, in some months’ time, how the ratings compare with those of the Wine Advocate.

http://guiadevinsdecatalunya.com/

DO Costers del Segre: continental wines

2011-01-09T22:18:00.003+01:00

Costers del Segre is a rather geographically disperse DO with different zones that have three main things in common: its location on the basin of the Segre river (Costers del Segre may be translated as Banks of the Segre river): the soils, largely calcareous and with a healthy dose of sand; and the comparatively greater distance from the sea, offering better conditions for cold climate varieties. This is the more “Continental” of the Catalan DOs.

There are seven sub zones (see map) that show some difference in terms of height and climate. Raimat and Segriá are the ones with more continental climate, with extreme differences of temperature between day and night and foggy winters. Les Garrigues, Valls del Riu Corb and Urgell are drier and sunnier, more adequate for strong red wine but with a winery with excellent whites: L'Olivera. Artesa de Segre and Pallars Jussà are starting to climb the slopes of the Pyrenean foothills, with colder and longer winters; excellent conditions for some Central European grape varieties.

The short-term history of Costers del Segre is chiefly determined by Raimat, a very large winery owned by the Raventos family of Codorniu fame that invested heavily in the lands and winery a century ago. Still now, Raimat is the largest operation by far, focused on high volume production, with mechanized processes like grape harvest. Another historic player is Castell del Remei, a winery built at the end of the 19th century in the style of a French Chateau and one of the pioneers in the introduction of foreign grape varieties. The rest of the DO’s wineries are generally smaller.

Costers del Segre is one of the Catalan DOs with a lower proportion of local grape varieties in its wines. Allowed whites are Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada, Chardonnay, Riesling, Garnatxa blanca, Gewürztraminer, Malvasia, Moscatell d’Alexandria, small berry Moscatell, and Albariño. Allowed reds are Garnatxa negra, Carinyena or Samsó, Ull de Llebre, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, Syrah, Trepat, and Pinot Noir.

With this range there is production of white and red wine mainly. A few rosé and sweet wines and a quality sparkling with second fermentation in the bottle with features and quality comparable to Cava. Raimat produces mainly monovarietals, while the other wineries tend to favour coupages, especially in the reds.

My personal choice of wineries:

Castell del Remei
Castell d’Encus
Cérvoles Celler
Celler Cercavins
L’Olivera
Tomàs Cusiné
Vall de Baldomar
Vinya l’Hereu de Seró

Some excellent wines are to be found in Costers del Segre, especially among the smaller wineries (Raimat aims more to the middle segment). The main issue for me has to do with personality. There is potential to produce great wines, but they lack personality: with their international grape assortments it is difficult to taste one of them and identify it as a Catalan wine, let alone a Costers del Segre, and that is for me the true test for the great wine zones.

http://www.costersdelsegre.es/eng/index.php

http://www.castelldelremei.com/en/chronos.php
http://www.encus.org/en/index.php
http://www.cervoles.com/home.php?lang=EN
http://www.cellercercavins.com/
http://www.olivera.org/php/index.php
http://www.tomascusine.com/en_index.php
http://en.vinyalhereu.com/
http://www.raimatvinas.com/

Public wine tastings

2010-12-31T21:51:00.005+01:00

As in most winegrowing zones, in Catalonia amateur wine tasting is an activity not only to be done individually or around a dinner table. There are many options, from the private wine tasting group or visit to small cellar, to the public wine exhibition with thousands of wine lovers.

My general position in this case is, yes, I like to attend these exhibitions. It is a good opportunity to:

know interesting new wines
taste different vintages of those I already know
perhaps most important, chat with winegrowers.

The extent to which these three activities can be done depends on several variables: cost of the fee, popular appeal, and focus of the exhibition. In the very popular, unfocused events like the Mostra de Vins i Caves de Catalunya (Catalonia Wines Exhibition), held annually in Barcelona, the selection of wineries is not very rigorous, being official and, therefore, political. Also part of the large numbers of people who attend are not always interested in the quality of the offerings but rather in its alcoholic content. Catavins in Sabadell is less crowded and with a better selection.

However, often this bigger exhibitions include smaller events, often labelled as "for professionals", with greater interest (and price), such as a sideline of the Priorat and Montsant Fira del Vi (Wine Exhibition) in Falset: the Tast Presentació. In this case the top wines of ca. 60 wineries from Priorat and Montsant can be sampled just after leaving the barrels; in 2010 the wines from the 2008 vintage. All wineries complain that thewir wines should not be tasted yet, but all share the same problem and that evens things out.

The Fira del Vi in Falset is similar to other DO events, held in the DO capital, like ViJazz in Vilafranca del Penedès, Mostra del Vi de l'Empordà de Figueres , or Festa del Vi Gandesa (DO Terra Alta). They are often paired with other food exhibitions, like olive oil or cheese. Local restaurants are also on display.

Other opportunities arise in the local festivities. I have already written about the event in my own town, Sant Cugat de Vallès (Wine in the cloister) and in many winegrowing villages a wine tasting is one of the highlights. I was recently in Porrera (DO Priorat) for the TastaPorrera (TastePorrera) where over thirty wines of sixteen local producers could be tasted.

There are also specific wine festivities, especially around grape harvest. One of the nicest is Poboleda’s Festa de la Verema a l’antiga (Old Way Harvest). Apart from actually harvesting and treading grapes (a method no longer favoured by Poboleda’s wineries), more than 25 Priorat wineries offer their wines from the large halls of the beautiful houses that line the Carrer Major (High Street).

And then there are focused events, like the Fira dels Vins de Torrelles de Llobregat, with many small, organic producers.

Needless to say, these are not opportunities for what I may call scientific wine tasting, but wine must be seen as a source of happiness and merriment, and it is good to let go of the tasting notebook and just enjoy the infinite variety of the fermented grape juice and the sound, enthusiastic people that perform the miracle.

I would like to close this post with a wish of happiness and luck (and nice wines!) in 2011 for all of you that have taken the time to go through my clumsy prose and travel with me in this exciting adventure in the net. Thanks for your support and till next post.

http://www.festadelvi.cat/ca/index.htm
http://www.figueres.cat/eng/index.html
http://www.firadelvi.org/
http://mostradevinsicaves.cat/
http://www.vijazzpenedes.com/defaultvijazz.asp?idi=en
http://www.adictosalalujuria.com/2010/10/fira-de-vins-de-torrellas-conclusiones.html
http://catavinssabadell.com/

Jean León: from Santander to the White House

2010-12-16T20:15:00.002+01:00

In 1941 a terrible fire turned into ashes most of the centre of the city of Santander, located in the Atlantic coast of Spain. The Carrión family, all its property lost, had to emigrate to Barcelona. A few months later, the father and the eldest son died when their boat was torpedoed.

In this difficult environment, the remaining family struggled along somehow, and in 1947 young Ceferino packed his meagre belongings and left for Paris first and then stowed himself away to New York. One step ahead of immigration authorities, he crossed the US till he reached Hollywood. He enlisted in the Army and served in the Korea War. He then obtained US citizenship and started working as a waiter in a famous Italian restaurant, Villa Capri. As a finishing touch he changed his less than glamorous name of Ceferino Carrión to Jean León.

Jean León or perhaps still Ceferino Carrión?

He made good friends in Villa Capri; to start with, the owners, Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio, to whom, according to some reports, he provided with an alibi when they assaulted a suspected lover of Marilyn Monroe, married at the moment to the baseball superstar. This was one of the shadowy moments of Jean León’s career, marked by the friendship with the Sinatra clan.

Aided at first by James Dean, and in spite of the young actor’s untimely death, he opened in 1956 his own restaurant in Beverly Hills, La Scala. Very soon the place was a favourite of the Hollywood star system, with some actors even dining in the kitchen if there was no table available.

Jean León at La Scala

In 1962, in another sensational moment of his career, he served a take away dinner to Marilyn Monroe in her own house. The next morning she was found dead. Jean León never commented on what or whom he saw there.

At the same time, Jean León was a very discerning wine lover, and he wanted to craft his own wines to match his recipes. So he started searching world wide for a suitable place to establish his winery. Finally in 1963 he settled in a 150 hectare estate in Torrelavit, Penedès. In another bold move, he replanted most of the land with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay reputedly bought (others say stolen) from Lafite-Rothschild and Corton Charlemagne. This was unheard-of in Penedés at the time-he became arguably the first to plant foreign varieties in Catalonia. He hired a gifted young oenologist, Jaume Rovira, who built the winemaking facilities in the middle of the estate, following the pattern of Bordeaux chateaus, and they started production.

Jean León and Jaume Rovira

His wines, always a limited production, steadily improved as vines aged, and were, for instance, served in 1981 in the celebration of Ronald Reagan’s accession to the White House, one of the five US presidents he got to meet.

Cancer claimed Jean León’s life in 1996 as he was sailing in Thailand. A few years later, the giant Torres bought the state and has continued with a similar philosophy; in fact, Jaume Rovira is still at the helm.

The property is generally oriented towards the south, with a gentle slope and an average height of 300 m. Soils are sandy, with limestone and clay in variable proportions; this is a vital factor in the comparative quality of the different plots. The four main vineyards are:

La Scala, with the highest proportion of limestone and planted with the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines.
Le Havre, planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc.
Gigi: less limestone, more clay and Chardonnay vines.
Palau, with lowest limestone / clay ratio, and Merlot vines.

Wines presently produced start with Magnolia, the introductory range. The white, Magnolia Blanc, is Chardonnay/Xarel.lo, lightly oaked, young and fresh. Magnolia Negre is Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot, also lightly oaked, fruity, to be drunk still young.

Next comes the oak fermented Chardonnay from the best grapes from the Gigi plot. Five months in oak and six in bottle round it off.

The Merlot spends 12 months in oak and 6 in bottle before leaving the cellar and offers the red fruit aromas typical of the variety.

Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva spends 18 months in oak and 24. The last I tasted gave me the impression that perhaps a little less barrel would have produced a more lively wine; it tasted tired. Wrong bottle?

Selected Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from La Scala plot are used for the Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva, aged for 25 months in barrel and 36 in bottle. The label is specially designed each year by a different, well-known artist. The wine is dark red, with the ochre overtones of long ageing, tertiary aromas of toast and spice. Wide, well structured.

And last of all, Zemis is a special blend of the three red Bordeaux varieties, with 20 months of oak and striving for balance and that elegance that Ceferino had in himself and showed as Jean León.

http://www.dopenedes.es/index.php?lang=en

http://www.jeanleon.com/eng/index-eng.html

http://www.torres.es/wps/portal/web/inicio/home/

Cava Llopart: leopards never change their spots

2010-12-06T20:07:00.001+01:00

As early as in the 14th century, records in Latin show that a Bernardus Leopardi owned vineyards in the present Llopart estate. Wheat and olives were grown there, too, until by end of 18th century the Llopart family focused on wine. One century later, they were among the first to start Cava production, but emphasizing quality over quantity. To this date, and after more than 600 years, this remarkably resilient family continues to do what must be engraved in their DNA, like the leopard’s spots.

The Llopart estate is located in the hilly countryside south of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, the Cava capital, and within the boundaries of the village of Subirats. Its 60 hectares of vineyards have been divided into 3 sub zones according to microclimate and soil features. They have an average altitude of 340 m and enjoy, being protected from harsh North winds by the Montserrat massif, mild winters and sunny, not excessively hot summers. The vines receive an average 500 l / m2 of rain per year.

The fancy shapes of Montserrat are a barrier to North winds

Soils are generally poor, a mixture in different proportions of sand and lime, with clay here and there. Farming methods are reportedly organic, although there is no official certification.

The main varieties used are the three classical for Cava, Parellada, Xarel.lo and Macabeu, plus Chardonnay, Monastrell, Pinot Noir, Subirat Parent, Garnatxa negra, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Ull de Llebre. Grapes are picked by hand and selected in the vineyard. Thus Llopart produce yearly ca. 450’000 bottles of eight Cavas and three still wines.

The old engraving depicting the estate that is included in most labels

Still wines, under the DO Penedès label, are two whites, the Clos dels Fòssils (Chardonnay / Xarel.lo), and the Vitis (Xarel.lo, Subirat Parent / Muscat); and one red, the Castell de Subirats (Merlot / Ull de Llebre / Cabernet Sauvignon).

The winery

But the star in Llopart is Cava. Cava production follows, as it should, the traditional (aka Champenoise) method of second fermentation in bottle, closed with crown caps. Yeasts are local. Riddling is done manually, and degorjat mechanically (you may want to read my previous post about Cava production Is Cava a Catalan wine?). Degorjat date is not explicit, but the batch number is composed of the degorjat month and the last digit of the degorjat year. Most bottles show the vintage year.

Bottles biding their time

Nèctar Terrenal Reserva is one of the few sweet (in fact a semi-dolç) quality Cavas available, made from 50/50 Xarel.lo and Parellada with 18 months of aging, and appropriate for dessert.

Llopart Brut Nature Reserva is the workhorse of the firm: Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada and Chardonnay 30/40/20/10, and 26 months of bottle give a fine, elegant and versatile Cava.

Rosé Cava is on the rise, and Llopart offer two different examples: Llopart Rosé Brut Reserva, from Monastrell, Garnatxa negra and Pinot Noir 60/20/20, and 18 months in bottle; and Microcosmos Brut Nature Reserva: Pinot Noir and Monastrell 85/15 kept for 24 months in bottle.

The Llopart Integral Brut Nature is the lightest of the range. Parellada, Chardonnay and Xarel.lo 40/40/20 and 18 months of aging render a lively, flowery Cava most suited to be drunk by itself or with light tapas.

Last but not least, three Gran Reservas complete the choice. Their long ageing shows in the tertiary aromas of bread and toast, and creamy feel. They are fit for pairing with a full meal, however strong it may be.

Llopart Imperial Brut Gran Reserva comes from Macabeu, Xarel.lo and Parellada, 40/50/10, and 15 % of the base wine has been aged in oak. 42 months aging in bottle.

Leopardi Brut Nature Gran Reserva has Macabeu, Xarel.lo. Parellada and Chardonnay 40/40/10/10, with 48 months in bottle.

Ex vite (from “Ex vite vita”, Latin for “Life comes from the vine”) Brut Gran Reserva is the top wine of the house, coming from old Macabeu and Xarel.lo vines (40/60) carefully selected fruit. Base wine partly aged in oak and wild yeast selection. Expedition liquor based on 19th century recipe. All this to produce 5’300 bottles that age for over 60 months to yield a golden wine with small, slow bubble, complex nose and long finish.

What will the Lloparts be doing in 600 years’ time? Guess my bet?

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html

http://www.dopenedes.es/index.php?lang=en

http://www.llopart.es/index_eng.html