Albet i Noya, the organic pioneers

Albet i Noya is a winery in Sant Pau d’Ordal with the typical mixed production of DO Penedès and DO Cava, as so many others in the area. This is a medium-sized enterprise, with a production of some 2 million bottles per year, out of their 76 hectares.

The estate of Can Vendrell, where the winery is located, lies in the first slopes of the Ordal mountains. The Albet i Noya family have been managing this estate for four generations, but it was the present one that bought the estate in 1986 and established today’s structure.

Vines grow in sloped plots or in man-made terraces. Soils are poor, with a calcareous bed and a thin layer of clay. All grapes are hand picked, and in some cases selected grain by grain. White varieties grown include Chardonnay, Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada, Muscat, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc and Garnatxa Blanca. As red varieties they have Cabernet Sauvignon, Ull de Llebre (aka Tempranillo), Merlot, Syrah, Garnatxa Negra, Caladoc, Arinarnoa, Marselan and Pinot Noir. This large variety is quite normal in Penedès.

It produces a wide range of wines: white, rosé, red, sweet, sparkling (Cava) of uniform good quality, and at reasonable prices; however, there are no really outstanding wines, no Parker ratings higher than 90, so to speak. The main brands are Lignum (white and red), la Milana red, Reserva Martí red, and the Col.lecció line, monovarietals of Chardonnay and Syrah.

What is special, then? Is this just another honest, unremarkable, upper-middle class winery?

There are mainly three features that make Albet i Noya remarkable.

The first one is that, in 1978, they were the first winery in Catalonia to embrace organic farming and winemaking, and have remained a benchmark ever since. Since 2004 they are also starting to grow grapes byodinamically in a part of the estate.

The Cava line also has some special things to offer, starting with manual degorjat and the date of this operation in all labels, to permit timely consumption.

Barrica 21 is a Cava with Champagne-like composition, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and base wine fermentation in French oak barrels. This lends a special body, enough to match the richest meats.

Also the Cava Dolç de Postres is one of the handful of sweet, quality products that are on the market. As happens with other quality sweet wines, low quality sweet Cava has created a bad reputation that is difficult to overcome, yet good sweet Cava is a perfect match for most desserts.

The third point is their program of recovery of ancient, perhaps pre-phylloxera grape varieties. They have dedicated one hectare to growing vines of obscure descent, often found by chance in the neighbouring mountains, and with DNA that does not match known varieties. A part of the cellar is dedicated to vinification in small quantities, including a metal press similar to ancient wooden, manual ones, and then samples of the resulting wines are distributed to experts around the world to assess quality. In this way they have already identified three grape varieties, two white and one red, which they deem worthy of producing commercial scale wines.

The red grape has been christened as Belat, which is at the same time an anagram of Albet and sounds like the Catalan velat, which means hidden or shrouded as becomes to this elusive grape. White varieties remain unnamed for the time being.

Hopefully in a few years these new grapes, and others to come, will have hit the market (I have a bottle of Belat to be poured sometime soon) and enlarged the choice for the discerning wine enthusiast.

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

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

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

Cava or Champagne?

In the November edition of Decanter there is an article signed by Andrew Jefford that has stirred a degree of debate in the Cava world. Jefford, a reputed wine journalist (in fact the 2010 Louis Roederer International Wine Columnist of the year), writes under the somewhat jaded title of “Homage to Catalonia” a well reasoned praise of Cava, or, rather, the potential of Cava when quality and not price is the driving factor both in the winemaker and consumer mind.

His main point is that the critical difference between Champagne and Cava is not grape varieties, or the production method (which is the same for both, unlike Prosecco and most of Sekt, that use the Charmat large tank method), but lies in the opposed climates.

The cool climate in Champagne produces barely ripe grapes that will give a highly acid base wine that sugar, long ageing in contact with lees and skilful expedition liquor design complement to render one of the world’s outstanding wines.

In contrast, warmer climate allows grapes to ripen to a less aggressive acidity and higher sugar content that enable producers to avoid any sugar addition, other than for secondary fermentation, in most of the top quality Cavas and still offer a nose, different from Champagne, but equally attractive.

He humbly pleads guilty of not knowing a handful of smaller producers that he visited last summer, which showed him the real potential of Cava. He proposes Cava as an equal competitor to Champagne and reasons that sparkling wines of other warmer regions may wisely model themselves on Cava rather than Champagne.

He blames British supermarkets for obscuring these wineries from the general view; I would also finger bigger Cava companies that dominate exports based on a low price strategy.

I have browsed through the webs of two of Britain’s more conspicuous supermarket chains to assess differences between Champagne and Cava, with telling results.

At Tesco, Cava offerings (excluding the Tesco brand) ranged from £3.05 to £6.50; 12 bottles from 4 big companies. Champagne: from £9.97 to £125.00; 37 bottles from 19 companies. Additionally, in the Fine Wines section 7 more champagne bottles, from £36.00 to £145.00, were available. Clearly, two different niches with no overlap.

At Sainsbury’s, Cava from £8.99 to £11.99: only 3 bottles and all from 2 big wineries. Champagne? From £14.99 to £43.99. Again no overlap.

This is, for me, the great success of Champagne (and to a similar degree, of other French wines): there is Champagne, the only and one,... and there is a riff-raff of substandard imitators that can only compete for the low price range substitution. For great occasions, Champagne; for everyday use, the rest. This is the reading, even in Catalonia: I have heard from people, posh or otherwise, that “Cava is nice, but Champagne is the real thing!” or “Cava is too acid and gives me heartburn; Champagne does not”. Further questions often show that their experience is restricted to cheap Cava and have never heard of the high quality products.

Does all this mean that Cava is better than Champagne and should sit on the throne? Certainly not. I only ask to wine lovers to try and know Cava better, striving to unearth bottles from the smaller wineries (see a previous post or the Internet addresses below) and approach them from an unprejudiced standpoint, not comparing them to Champagne.

Imagine tasting fine Burgundy for the first time after a lifetime of avid Bordeaux consumption. Is one better than the other? No, they are different, both excellent and only personal preference should matter. It is nice to know that somebody like Jefford, prestigious and obviously not prejudiced against Champagne (see his 2010 prize) shares this view.

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.raventos.com/

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

Wine in restaurants 1.2: Lasarte, Can Boix and Cal Gabriel

In the last two weeks I have enjoyed two top-level restaurants (due to special celebrations; unfortunately this is not the average for the rest of the year) and a basic, popular one, and all three deserve some comments about their wine management.

Lasarte is a Barcelona-based restaurant with 2 Michelin stars, located in the Condes de Barcelona Hotel, and managed by the Basque chef Martín Berasategui, owner of the 3-star restaurant of the same name in Donostia.

Martín Berasategui

Its wine list includes most of the world’s remarkable wine regions. Local focus is adequate, as is the balance between famous workhorses and original, less well-known proposals. Prices are reasonable for this level, at perhaps 50% over retail price. They offer matching wines for their special menu, suggesting also selected beers in some cases. In the only mistake I could detect, this is not shown in the menu, but mentioned by the service. In our case we were not told, and took instead a bottle of Sot Lefriec 2004, a red Penedès by Alemany i Corrio winery. Dense, closed at first but opening later to show red and black fruit, toast and vanilla, and a long finish.

The sommelier is very knowledgeable and sensitive, and when I pointed out that we would have liked to get the wines that were being served to nearby tables, he offered us two samples: one glass of excellent Belgian beer and one glass of an Alella Marfil Generós Sec, which matched perfectly their two dishes.

Our wine was decanted and served at appropriate temperature in excellent glasses. To round things off, we were presented at the end with a printed menu including the wines and beer we had drunk.

Summarizing, wine management quite close to what should be expected in a restaurant at this level.

In a very different environment, at the feet of the Pyrenees and close to the road from Lleida to La Seu d’Urgell, the Hotel Can Boix boasts, among other attractions, a restaurant of creative cuisine that attracts gourmets from all over Catalonia. However, wine management is in some aspects a step below.

Can Boix Hotel

The wine list, indeed a book, includes a wide range of wine regions, with interesting information about each of them. But in many cases only a small number of wines of that zone are available. Wine vintages are not shown, except for a small list of bottles that appear at the end of the book and which I nearly overlooked. No wine matching was possible.

The sommelier was on long sick leave and his deputy was extremely pleasant and active, but had some ideas about wine service that could improve by training. He showed us the cellar, kept at a surprising 20ºC, and we discussed at length about wine.

Our bottle (at wine shop price) was decanted and served in glasses perhaps too wide and short. Anyway, the Penedès red Caus Lubis 1998, that I had tasted some years ago, was impressive in its maturity, with tannins present but perfectly rounded and complex aromas of mineral, red fruit and old leather.

Probably the absence of the sommelier was being felt a trifle too much; but the deputy, with some development, may well have the potential to upgrade wine management to match the cuisine performance.

Playing in another league altogether, Cal Gabriel is the restaurant of a bed-and-breakfast holiday cottage in the village of Tuixent, in the middle of the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park. No starred chef here, but honest, nourishing, local product based cooking.

Cal Gabriel

What about wine? They propose some 20 references, from different zones, and with a surprising and welcome absence of run-of-the-mill best sellers, at moderate prices.

When we selected a bottle of Costers del Segre Bregolat red, (well structured, somewhat short in the nose) they changed the stemware ready for the house wine by glasses that were not Riedel, but nice and suitable. They apologized that the wine might be too warm (only marginally so, imo) and suggested to cool it down a little. And at the end of lunch offered us a bag to take home the remaining wine.

For a restaurant with a 14 € menu and in a remote village in the Pyrenees I felt that few more things could be asked...that’s the way to go!

http://www.condesdebarcelona.com/es/lasarte/

http://www.canboix.cat/01_principal.php?lang=EN

http://www.calgabriel.net/index_angl.htm

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

http://www.bregolat.com/



Celler de Capçanes, to modernity through tradition

As I have explained in a previous post, a vast majority of the cooperative wineries in Catalonia are dominated by conservative thinking that hinders the much awaited modernization they need, both in commercial and technical terms.

The most important model for these outdated wineries to copy is the Celler de Capçanes, located in the village of Capçanes, DO Montsant. This cooperative followed the trodden path at the beginning: founded comparatively late in 1933, they produced and sold bulk wine till 1980, when they stopped wine production altogether to just sell their grape to other producers.

But in 1991 the oenologist Angel Teixidó started production of wine again and even barrel aging. A few years later, contacts with Barcelona’s Jewish community culminated in a bold move: the decision to produce kosher wine, that is, wine elaborated following the strict rules laid out in ancient Jewish law.

The beauty of the idea was its power as motor of change. Though ancient, the kosher rules drove the winery to purchase state-of-the-art equipment to be able to fulfil the cleanliness and materials requirements. And then the production of other fine wines came along naturally. The grape varieties in production are Garnatxa blanca and negra, Macabeu, Carinyena, Merlot, Syrah, Ull de Llebre, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Some of the Garnatxa vines are ca. 100 years old.

After the years, the kosher wine, Peraj Ha’abib of Flor de Primavera, enjoys a high reputation in its market sector. But there are many other wines from Capçanes to consider:

• the Mas Donís range (blanc, rosat, negre), easy to drink, fresh 
• Mas Collet blanc and negre, with some oak aging 
• Vall del Calás, Costers del Gravet and Mas Tortó, coupages of several varieties with 12 months of oak 
• the Carretell sweet/fortified wines from Garnatxa negra: a ranci, oxidized by a long stretch in old oak; a mistela, in fact must with alcohol added, and a vi de licor, with alcohol  
• Pansal del Calás, the wine from overripe Garnatxa negra and Carinyena grapes  
• the Garnatxa negra wines: Lasendal, with slight oak aging, Cabrida, from old vines and 12 month oak aging, and Cabrida Calissa, from special limestone soil vineyards. To visit the Cabrida vineyard in a sunny morning and later have a bottle with a nice lunch in El Cairat restaurant in nearby Falset is a rewarding experience.

It is really a luxury to visit Celler de Capçanes, especially going to see the vineyards. They are scattered around the countryside, not grouped together, doubtless due to the diverse owners. In this way, some are just surrounded by forest that lends flavour to the resulting wines.

http://www.cellercapcanes.com/english.htm

http://www.domontsant.com/
http://www.restaurantelcairat.com/cairat/

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/



Wine cathedrals




Rocafort de Queralt

 

Probably many of you will be acquainted with the works of Antoni Gaudì. In the first quarter of the 20th century he was the top Modernist (Art Noveau) architect in Catalonia, and designed beautiful, improbable buildings like La Pedrera or La Sagrada Familia, the unofficial icon of Barcelona.

Rocafort de Queralt



Pinell de Brai



In that same period the Catalan government (la Mancomunitat) promoted setting up farmers’ cooperatives. In many cases, the cooperatives erected their own buildings (cellers) to make wine and olive oil, and it became the fashion to employ the best architects of the time. The resulting cellers were unmistakably Modernist. Many of them have survived to date, and are regarded as “wine cathedrals” on account of their configuration and size. A typical layout is having one central, higher aisle flanked in some cases by two lower ones. Vats stand in these aisles, and presses and destemming equipment are placed where the altar might be. In the would-be crypts not bishops but oak barrels rest.

Pinell de Brai



Pinell de Brai



These magnificent buildings can be found mainly in the DOs of Terra Alta (Gandesa, Pinell de Brai), Montsant (Falset), Conca de Barberà (Espluga de Francolí, Sarral, Rocafort de Queralt, Barberà de la Conca, Pira, Montblanc), Penedès and Tarragona (Nulles). A few more are scattered over the rest of Catalonia, some of them in towns very close to Barcelona (Rubí, Sant Cugat del Vallès) where the agricultural past is far, far away. Some non-cooperative wineries have as well modernist buildings; the most interesting are Codorniu (DO Cava) and Raimat (DO Costers del Segre). My personal favourites? Pinell de Brai, Nulles and Espluga de Francolí. All three have undergone extensive restoration and can be seen at their best.

Pinell de Brai

A first glace at their often fancy structures and embellishments may give the wrong impression that the artistic side had taken preeminence over the functional. Usually that is not the case, and the state-of-the-art winemaking technology of the time was used in the design and execution. (By the way, that also holds true about Gaudì’s work. However fantastic La Pedrera may seem, layout of the flats and internal structure are surprisingly modern and comfortable).



Espluga de Francolí




Pinell de Brai



Gaudì designed only one winery, in Garraf. The main figure in this field was one of his disciples, Cesar Martinell, who built more than forty of these edifices, and many other outstanding architects had celler design as one of their sidelines.

Pinell de Brai





Espluga de Francolí



Unfortunately the pioneering spirit is long gone from most cooperatives. Excepting a handful of cases, cooperatives are dominated by conservative majorities that do not want to take risks and fall back on traditional winemaking, with average to poor equipment and techniques and a lower quality range output. Sadly, the words “Celler Cooperatiu” or “Cooperativa” are not usually a signal of quality in a wine label. It is to be desired that cases like Capçanes (DO Montsant), that jumped into state-of-the-art winemaking with excellent results, encourage the rest to modernize and improve.





Espluga de Francolí



In the meantime, a visit to any of these cellers as an architectural site is perfect to complement wine tasting in a good winery in the surroundings.

 

Pinell de Brai

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

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

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

http://www.domontsant.com/

http://www.dotarragona.cat/en/

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

http://www.cellercapcanes.com/english.htm

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

http://www.raimatvinas.com/



Pinell de Brai