Empordà: wind, wine and genius

The DO Empordà is included in the wider Empordà district, tucked away in the northeast corner. Apart from its wines it is a fascinating area, with the incredible rocky coastal scenery of the Costa Brava (the real stuff, not Lloret) and the lower Pyrenees as they get close to the sea. As the legend goes, Empordà is the place where a mountain shepherd and a mermaid met and lived forever. Not less interesting are its monuments and museums, from menhirs to surrealist art.

This diversity is shown on its cuisine, with a defined personality and a vast choice of quality products from sea and land, further enhanced by the creativity generated by the Tramuntana, the North wind that is reputedly the cause of a degree of healthy madness (or genius) present in illustrious empordanencs like Salvador Dalí. Even El Bulli’s chef, Ferrán Adrià, born close to Barcelona, may owe part of his sparkling inspiration to living and working in Empordà.

Phoenician and Greek settlers in Rhode (now Roses) and Emporion (Empùries, hence Empordà) introduced winemaking 2600 years ago; and monk Ramon Pere de Noves from Sant Pere de Rodes abbey wrote a treatise on winemaking in the 11th century. Wine is certainly not a newcomer to these lands.

The DO is divided in two separate zones. The Alt (high) Empordà is at the extreme corner (in the precipitous and rocky Creus Cape part of the movie The Light at the Edge of the World was shot) of Catalonia; the Baix (low) Empordà is a smaller plain around Palafrugell limited by coastal hills.

Soils are poor, acidic and sandy, with some slatey mountain slopes. The frequent Tramuntana, that can be quite strong with gusts over 100 km/h, is very good for the vines health as it keeps them dry. Sea breezes help to soothe the heat in the summer months.

Empordà produces white wines with Garnatxa blanca, Macabeu and Moscatell as main varieties. The also local Xarel•lo, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay and some other foreign grapes are used but less frequent. Whites tend to be fresh, light and aromatic, to be drunk young as a general rule.

Rosé wines are usually made from Garnatxa and Carinyena. These two grapes, very often from vines 30+ years old, are the basis of the reds as well. More recent Cabernet Sauvignon, Ull de Llebre (aka Tempranillo), Merlot, Monastrell and Syrah also find their way into the bottles. Reds can be dark, complex, with big structure and good aging potential.

Very remarkable are the natural sweet wines, mainly coming from Garnatxa grapes.

Castillo de Perelada (not the lower, mass produced range), Empordàlia, Espelt, la Vinyeta, Martí Fabra, Masia Serra, Oliver Conti, Pere Guardiola, Vinyes d’Olivardots, and Vinyes dels Aspres are for me the most interesting wineries of a zone that is steadily reaching a high level in most of the very diverse wine types it offers.

A visit to any of the wineries followed by a taste of its wines is a great addition to a stay in these crazy, wonderful lands and an opportunity to meet the progeny of the mermaid and the shepherd.

http://www.doemporda.com/index.php?action=home

http://www.castilloperelada.com/
http://www.lavinyeta.es/en/
http://www.empordalia.com/eng/index2.htm
http://www.espeltviticultors.com/
http://wines.masiaserra.com/Celler.aspx
http://en.pereguardiola.com/home.html
http://www.olivardots.com/
http://www.oliverconti.com/English/Home.html
http://www.vinyesdelsaspres.cat/

Wine in the cloister

In the Middle Ages, life in the monasteries revolved around the cloister. Apart of serving as communication, it was a place in which monks walked, relaxed and meditated.

Nowadays these monuments are put to many other uses. In Sant Cugat del Vallès, the town where I live, there is an Abbey with a  magnificent cloister from the 13th century with 140 beautifully carved capitals. As most cloisters, it is warm in winter and cool in summer. All this makes an ideal setting for a popular wine tasting event, perhaps not very scientific, but enabling a lot of interaction with the winemakers.

And that is what took place last Saturday as part of the local fiesta. Organized with the usual (this being the 11th edition) efficiency by the Vins Noè wine club, there were eight wineries, five of them Catalan. Of the other three, a special mention to Bodegas del Jardín, the new enterprise of the Guelbenzu family after selling the Guelbenzu brand (Lautus, Evo), with similarly excellent wines.

First winery in the row was Castell d’Encus, from the DO Costers del Segre. This is a project, led by Raül Bobet of former Torres fame, with vineyards at a height of 800 – 1000 m, expecting climatic change to raise the temperature in the coming years, and using gravity for grape movement and geothermal energy as much as possible. However, they also do use some ancient vats carved in stone for some fermentations.

I liked Taleia, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, flowery and citric, and Ekam, a 100 % Riesling, somewhat disappointing if you expect a full bodied varietal, but very fresh, and showing the aromatic profile of the grape. Also very interesting was ThALARN, a 100 % Syrah fermented partly in oak, partly in steel, and partly in the above mentioned stone vats. This may be the reason of the complexity of aromas, especially of red fruits.

From the DO Catalunya, Ca N’Estruc offered a new wine, the white L’Equilibrista from Xarel•lo grapes and fermented in oak. A pleasant surprise: big, rich and a worthy match to the red version, out of Syrah, Garnatxa and Carinyena and fourteen months in French oak.

Next winery was La Vinyeta, from the DO Empordá. This company has a curious preference for complex blends; I tasted three wines and the simplest included four kinds of grape! The Llavors red is a blend of Carinyena, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Kept for five months in French, Hungarian and Romanian new oak, it is complex to the nose and very well rounded, with an already good integration of alcohol and oak.

The Celler Dosterras (DO Montsant) offered a very light and fresh white, Eterna Flor, and two reds: Vespres, from Garnatxa and Merlot, and the big, complex and mineral Dosterras, 100 % old Garnatxa with sixteen months in French oak and 12 months in bottle.

I could not taste the Cava from Bertha. Time was up; with fine wines and surrounded by walls eight hundred years old, what are two hours?

 
 
 
http://www.vinsnoe.com/
http://www.encus.org/en/index.php
http://www.costersdelsegre.es/eng/index.php
http://www.torres.es/eng/asp/index.asp
http://www.do-catalunya.com/english/engmenu.html
http://www.lavinyeta.es/en/wines/prologue/
http://www.doemporda.com/index.php?action=presentation
http://www.dosterras.com/english/index.html
http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html
http://www.cavabertha.com/eng/index.htm