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

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…

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

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

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

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

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

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