Managing complexity: Penedès

Just 30 km west-south of Barcelona, Penedès is a world in itself. Within its borders we can find four different landscapes: the Garraf limestone massif that borders the sea closer to Barcelona; the coast south of Garraf; the foothills of Montserrat and the plain that stretches between Garraf and Montserrat mountains. Altitudes range from 0 to 800 m. Soils are generally poor, with clay and limestone as main ingredients. Montserrat shelters the vineyards from cold North winds, and the Garbí wind blows from the see to cool the hot summer afternoons.

In many Catalan DOs there are wineries that produce still wines under their DO and also Cava as a side business. But in Penedès is where most of the Cava producers are found and many of them produce still wines as a side business. So most of the wineries in Penedès produce both still wines and Cava, in varying proportions.

Winemaking in Penedès can be dated back to 500 BC when the indigenous Iberians grew vines. From Roman times to the 18th century Penedès was a land of red wine mainly, until a trend started to grow white grapes in order to produce brandy. With these white grapes in 1870 the production of Cava started in the region, and Penedès most sought-after still wines were the whites till around 1970.

At that point in time, after the work of pioneers like Miguel Torres and Jean Leon (fascinating person; an entry about his life and winery to follow soon) foreign varietals (Merlot, Cabernets, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc...) were introduced, modern equipment and techniques became widespread and the quality of the red wines leapt forward. Quantity as well: Penedès is the DO with highest production.

As a result of the vast range of climatic conditions explained above, the high technological level, and an unusual willingness of the DO Council to admit foreign varietals (while in other DOs only 10 to 20 varietals are allowed, in Penedès the count soars to 121), Penedès wines are extraordinarily diverse. In the same winery you can taste white, rosé, red, sweet, and sparkling, with several variants of each type. On one hand, that is good as it increases the offerings to customers, but on the other hand Penedès wines do not have a defined personality. Some efforts are being done, for instance, to promote Xarel.lo as the “traditional” Penedès white grape, and also in research to save and clone the last remnants of varieties long forgotten, with Sumoll as a rising star among the reds. However, there is still a long way to go.

The dominant force in Penedès, and indeed in Catalan still wines, is Torres. They have a massive production, but their quality is adequate at least, and very high in some special wines. More on Torres in the future.

The other big company is Jaume Serra, part of a large Spanish group, competing only on price with a low quality range.

My personal choice of Penedès wineries:

• Albet i Noya
• Alemany i Corrio
• Can Ráfols del Caus
• Gramona
• Huguet – Can Feixes
• Jané Ventura
• Jean Leon
• Juvé i Camps
• Mas Comtal
• Torres

So close to Barcelona, Penedès is a constant temptation for the wine lover to go and discover some new, surprising wine.

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

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

http://www.albetinoya.com/eng/index.html

http://www.canfeixes.com/

http://www.canrafolsdelscaus.com/en/

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

http://www.janeventura.com/angles/principal.htm

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

http://www.juveycamps.com/ingles/index.htm

http://www.mascomtal.com/eng/index.php

http://www.torres.es/

The cave under the mountain: Can Ráfols dels Caus

In 1979 Carlos Esteva decided to buy from his brother and sister the part he did not own of his grandfather’s run-down estate, Can Ráfols dels Caus. Moreover, he intended to live there and start a winery.

The estate, located in the Garraf massif in the southern part of the Penedès DO, had come a long way, with evidence of winemaking since Iberian and Roman times, and being documented as early as the 11th century. In the hands of the Ráfols-Caus family since the 16th century, it had passed into the Estevas after the ruin of the former. It has some 500 hectares, 50 of which grow vines.

Already in the beginning Carlos was revolutionary in many ways. He was among the first in planting many different, often foreign, grape varieties, and tying them up in trellises instead of letting them grow as bushes. There were plenty of opportunities to match the particular features of the vineyard and the needs of the specific grape variety. The Garraf is a hilly stretch between the plain of Penedès and the sea; in fact, a huge limestone carved by millennia of water erosion offering a choice of vineyards with a shallow soil layer. Soils are poor, and Dolomitic fossils and limestone prevail, adding a touch of minerality to most wines; in zones closer to the plain, more clay can be found. Average elevation is ca. 300 meters, and the closeness of the sea, which can be seen from some vineyards, helps to cool down and dampen the hot summer afternoons, helping the ripening process.

Farming processes are ecological, with no use of herbicides or insecticides. From 2011 on they will be certified by the Catalan Council for Ecological Production (CCPAE). They respect the local herbaceous flora, which helps to fix the thin soil layer, and the local insect fauna, to better control potential pests. In some vineyards and wines they also apply biodynamic principles.



The top of the new winery



The wonderfully refurbished country house and premises, where for many years wine was made, are now replaced by a brand new winery, built into the mountain after carving a huge hole in the limestone, and covered again with soil where the normal vegetation grows again; from afar, only the glass windows scattered among olive trees, aromatic shrubs and pines hint at the structure below.



The Moria gate



Underground, after having passed through a 5-ton stone gate worthy of an entrance to the Moria mines, limestone, concrete, steel and glass dominate in a winery designed with open kitchens in mind: all activities can be seen by visitors with the natural light coming from the ceiling. The latest technology is available, combined with intelligent use of gravity to minimize pumping. In the end of the cave, barrels and bottles bide their time.

In this state-of-the-art equipment grapes from different plots are processed separately. Most of the grapes are hand picked and many selected in the vine. Fermentation comes from yeasts naturally occurring in the grapes.

Can Ráfols dels Caus grow up to 20 grape varieties, including some quite rare in Penedès: Pinot Noir, Caladoc, Incroccio Manzoni, Chenin Blanc, Marsanne.

Wines from this winery are typically balanced and elegant. Very few (perhaps only Caus Lubis) have the enormous structure and tannins frequent in other wines of nearby zones.

We can pick four groups of wines:

The Petit Caus range (white, rosé, red) includes wines for everyday consumption, easy to drink, and each normally coming from several grape varieties.

Under the Gran Caus label we find also white, rosé and red. The white is a blend of Xarel.lo, Chardonnay and Chenin, with no oak ageing. The rosé, the best in Catalunya imho, is a single Merlot with rich fruit, body and a refreshing acidity. The red Gran Caus is a “Bordeaux blend” of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. After 12 months in Allier oak and ca. 4 years in the bottle (most Caus wines leave the winery ready to drink) the wine is round, elegant, with fruity and balsamic notes, making it a very versatile wine to match most types of food.

There is a third group: the monovarietals. Some very special wines here.

Xarel.lo Pairal comes from 60 year old vines and is fermented in traditional chestnut barrels, that have less impact than oak.



The chestnut barrels



El Rocallís comes from the plot of this name, planted with Incroccio Manzoni, a crossing of Riesling and Pinot Blanc. The complexity of floral and fruity aromas is surprising.



El Rocallis



La Calma is a Chenin Blanc with the richness and opulence typical of this grape.

Caus Lubis, named after a Roman wine produced in this zone, is probably the best Merlot in Catalonia. Full bodied and fruity (blackberries) after 12 months in Allier oak and 4 years in the bottle.

Ad Fines is one of the rare Pinot Noirs grown in Catalonia. It is no secret that this is a difficult grape to work with, even in its native Burgundy. To grow it here, in the limit of its potential area (that is what Ad Fines means in Latin) is a juggling act in which Carlos Esteva succeeds most of the years.

Last but not least, Can Ráfols dels Caus, as many other wineries in Penedès, produces also Cava. Two Gran Caus, white (mainly Chardonnay) and rosé (mainly Pinot Noir), and white Parisad (again Chardonnay). These are all Gran Reserva, with at least 3 years of bottle aging (10 for Parisad, which is also fermented in Allier oak). They are complex, with small and persistent bubble, and can match perfectly a full meal.



Some fond memories



I have been an eager drinker of these wines for a long time. Each of them offers something different from other wines. Only recently have I visited their premises and understood what is underneath. I should have done so much earlier...

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

http://www.crcava.es/catala/flash.html
http://www.canrafolsdelscaus.com/en/



Is Cava a Catalan wine?

This question, coming from a Swiss friend of mine some years ago, is entirely appropriate. The official answer is “not always”. The Cava DO growing area is scattered all over Spain as well as in Catalonia, usually overlapping other DOs.

However, over 95 % of Cava is produced in Catalonia, and most prestigious brands are Catalan. And a last detail: only in Catalonia it is widely regarded as a wine fit not only for celebrations but also for drinking with a full meal or standalone.

Cava is a sparkling wine made with the traditional method (aka Champenoise) of double fermentation, the second one in the final bottle, using approved grape varieties grown in the Cava DO land. When the DO Cava was created, the de facto situation was officially recognized, granting Cava status to most quality sparkling wine produced in Spain at that moment, taking as the defining factor the use of traditional method.

How is Cava elaborated?

The traditional method starts with a dry base wine produced from approved grapes in a normal way, this being the first fermentation. This wine is filled into the Cava bottles (tiratge), together with a portion of tiratge liquor, containing must or sugar and yeast. The bottle is then closed with a crown cap or, in the more traditional houses, a Cava cork.

The yeast eats up the sugar in the second fermentation, generating the carbon dioxide that remains in the bottle. After second fermentation, bottles are left to age at least 9 months, with their necks down. They are then gradually moved (riddling) into an almost vertical position so as to deposit the lees in the neck next to the cap.

The last phase (degorjat) is freezing the neck and opening the bottle. The pressure of the carbonic (usually 6 bar) expels the frozen lees and the bottle is refilled with the expedition liquor, one of the best kept secrets of any Cava producer. It can contain sugar and other ingredients mixed with the wine itself. The final cork is then inserted and secured with a capsule and a wire cage.

Some selected wineries execute manually the degorjat, without freezing and with the aid of highly skilled personnel.

Lesser, easier methods used for the production of sparkling wine elsewhere include second fermentation in large tanks or simple carbonic injection into the still wine, the same process used for soft drinks.

  

What kinds of Cava can we find?

First of all, colour. Most Cava is white, but rosé is becoming increasingly fashionable, with some remarkable wines.

The amount of sugar present in the final wine is used to categorize Cava as Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Sec, Sec, Semi-Sec and Dolç. Most prestige Cavas are Brut Nature or Extra Brut, and there are cheap sweeter Cavas of disappointing quality, but in principle sugar content is not a direct factor in Cava quality.

Another classification is according to aging, calculated as time between tiratge and degorjat. Standard Cava needs a minimum of 9 months; Reserva implies 15 months, and Gran Reserva 30 months. Gran Reserva Cava must come from a single vintage; standard and Reserva can be produced from wines of different vintages.

With such a geographical definition it is easy to understand that Cava is anything but uniform. The method may be the same, the grape varieties, to a certain extent, are also common, but the diversity of climates and soils is considerable.

On top of that, there are other variables, not mutually exclusive, that come into play to differentiate Cava producers. Let us examine the two main ones: 

• Big vs. small: in the Cava world there are two giants, Codorniu and Freixenet, which dominate the market in terms of quantity. A handful of other companies aim to join them at the top, but usually through mass production of lower quality Cava. On the other hand, most high quality Cava comes from the smaller wineries.  
• Innovative vs. traditional grape varieties: some producers use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while others stick staunchly to Parellada, Xarel•lo and Macabeu, the trinity of Cava varieties, on the grounds that the use of the Champagne varieties detract from Cava personality. Some other local varieties, like Trepat, are now finding their way to Cava bottles.

Which are the best producers?

Codorniu and Freixenet, the two giants, have interesting wines hidden among their vast medium quality range. However, best quality can be found in smaller wineries. This would be my personal selection of Catalan Cava producers:

• Agustí Torelló 
• Albet i Noya 
• Alta Alella 
• Can Ráfols dels Caus
• Gramona
• Huguet Can Feixes
• Juvé y Camps 
• Llopart 
• Mestres
• Recaredo

When to drink Cava?

The first idea that comes to mind is a celebration with Cava. However, Cava is much more versatile than that. Not only can we drink Cava (perhaps a Brut or Extra Brut Reserva) with many fish-based foods; a Brut Nature or Extra Brut Gran Reserva will be excellent with red meat and fowls, respectively, and a quality sweet Cava is perfect for dessert as well. And in a hot summer day, a light, fruity, crisp Brut can be delicious and refreshing.

Tips 

• Drink Cava within the first year after degorjat. Some quality Cavas will show the date in the label
• Check the cork. It should lose its mushroom appearance and revert to its original cylindrical shape minutes after opening (otherwise degorjat was too long ago, see picture below), and show a four pointed star in the face in contact with the wine
• Use long, thin glasses, not short, wide ones
• Experiment with different foods and Cava types

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

http://www.codorniu.com/home.html?wlang=en

http://www.freixenet.es/default.asp?lang=3

http://www.agustitorellomata.com/torello3.html

http://www.albetinoya.com/eng/index.html

http://www.altaalella.com/eng/index.html

http://www.canrafolsdelscaus.com/intro.html

http://www.gramona.com/web/english/home.php

http://www.canfeixes.com/

http://www.juveycamps.com/ingles/index.htm

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

http://www.mestres.es/mestres.php

http://www.recaredo.es/#en/welcome