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Wines of Catalan

February 23, 2017 By Joe Leave a Comment

Catalan wine tasting
In San Francisco, California, the Wines of Catalan presented a tasting of select wines from seven DO’s, or Denominaciones de Origen. “Denominaciones de Origen” are what wine appellations are termed by the Spanish government. Most Spanish wine enthusiasts know about only a few wine regions of Catalan, namely Cava, Penedes, the Montsant, and the Priorat. This seminar and wine tasting introduced the guests to smaller and lesser-known wine regions of Catalunya.

Here is what you should know about the wines of Catalan

  • Catalan is one of 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain. Think of it as one state or province
  • There are 12 wine regions (Denominaciones de Origen) in Catalan
  • Catalan has a wide geological range. From the coast at sea level, to the Pyrenees at 10,000 feet
  • Catalan is a region with its own cultural background, traditions, language, cuisine, and lifestyle
  • The history of wine in Catalan dates back 2300 years ago.
  • There are 850 wineries in Catalan
  • 70 to 75% of the grapes are white varieties
  • The biggest demand for white grapes is Cava for the production of sparkling wine
  • There is a large variety of red grapes including Ull de Llebre, Garnacha, Carblah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Many of the smaller D.O.’s in Catalan are planning to export wines to the U.S.  Many are sold for under $20.
catalan wines

Lucas Payá, sommelier and wine buyer for Restaurateur José Andres, leads the seminar

How to shop for the wines of Catalan

A good place to start is the Spanish Table’s wine Website. The Spanish Table has three stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. Supermarket stores and big wine shops, like Total Wines and BevMo, are not likely to have a wide selection of wines from Catalan. Find a local wine shop and ask the proprietor to suggest wines from this region. Stock your cellar and begin to discover what this great wine and food region has to offer. The next step is to head to Barcelona and tour the area. The easiest regions to visit are the Penedes, and the Priorat and Montsant regions.

A lovely white wine from Catalan

A lovely wine from Catalan

Wineries and Denominaciones de Origen represented at the Catalan Wines seminar and tasting

  • Can Descregut – DO Penedès & DO Cava
  • Canals & Munne – DO CavaCastell d’Or – DO Cava and DO Penedès
  • Castell d’Or – DO Cava and DO PenedèsCava & Hotel Mas Tinell – DO Cava and DO Penedès
  • Cava & Hotel Mas Tinell – DO Cava and DO PenedèsCeller Ronadelles – DOQ Priorat and DO Montsant
  • Celler Ronadelles – DOQ Priorat and DO MontsantDe Muller – DOQ Priorat and DO Tarragona
  • De Muller – DOQ Priorat and DO TarragonaForward Gourmet – DO Penedès DO Cava
  • Forward Gourmet – DO Penedès DO Cava
  • Heretat Montrubí – DO Penedès
  • Julià & Navinés – DO Cava and DO Penedès
  • L’Olivera – DO Costers del Segre and DO Catalunya
  • Nadal – DO Penedès & DO Cava

For additional information go to this link at the Catalan Wines Website

Wines of Catalan

Wine blogger Joe Becerra enjoys the walk-around tasting

Filed Under: Cava, Montsant, Priorat Tagged With: Catalan Wines

Cellar Capçanes in the Montsant

May 24, 2015 By Joe 1 Comment

This is a guest blog post by Anna Rovira who produces the Cellar Capçanes newsletter. After reading the description of this wonderful winery, you may wish to visit on your next trip to Spain.

Capçanes cellarsCapçanes is a village hidden away in the Priorato hills inland from Tarragona, and is the source of many fine wines today with a long wine growing history. Capçanes is also the name of the cooperative that started making wine at 1933. During the early part of the 20th century grapes were picked in the vineyards and taken to the local farmhouses for vinification. The Masias offered fairly basic resources for fermentation and storage and limited both the quantity and quality of wine that could be produced. Prior to phylloxera, at the turn of the 19th century, Capçanes was densely planted. After the devastation caused by this insect, only about 1/5th part of the original vineyards was replanted mainly with garnacha, which represents sixty per cent of the total varieties, but lots of foreign ones were also planted, such as cabernet S., Merlot… it is changing. Carinyena represents nowadays the thirty per cent of the total, and only 10% are white and foreign varieties.

In 1933, to compete in the wine market, five families from the village established the cooperative that would handle large quantities of grapes economically and efficiently. Soon the foundation of the cooperative led to a change in the commercial prospects for Capçanes; they could offer large volumes of wine at competitive prices for bulk sales. However, the real changes began in 1995 when winegrowers realized the quality of the grapes they were growing. The impetus for the change came about when the Jewish community of Barcelona asked Capçanes if they could produce a kosher wine.  This demanded the installation of new equipment allowing the winemakers to identify, isolate and vinify under controlled “Lo Mebushal” conditions, small parcels of high quality fruit. The ground was laid for production not only of Kosher wine but also limited quantities of a range of fruit driven wines. The Kosher wine was a success and the Capçanes brand called Flor de Primavera, enjoys a reputation amongst the highest in the world. While Capçanes was one of very few producers of kosher wine in Spain, and its production accounts for around 5% of Capçanes total capacity, it is the other 95% that has created a reputation around the world and it was the following year, 1996, that first commercial releases were made.

Cellar where Kosher wine is made

Cellar where Kosher wine is made

Following this event Capçanes has not looked back. Vast investment has taken place and the whole winery has been completely restructured and modernized with the new aging cellar of 1500 barrels being completed in 2001. The investment in the winery has been underwritten by the 80 members, each of whom provided collateral for the banks in the form of their vineyards. At the end of the 90’s, also as a kind of contra- movement against the foundation of the all Catalunya covering head- appellation Catalunya D.O., Capçanes and all in the former D.O. Tarragona/ Falset subzone located producers decided to create its own D.O. to differentiate from the high-yielding more easy drinking wines from the wide intensively planted plain area at sea level around the city of Tarragona, this tiny mountainous subzone of less than 2000ha succeeded in 2001 getting its own D.O. called Montsant. Nowadays the political District of Priorat has two recognized wine regions: D.O. Montsant and D.O. Priorat, both well known for its powerful Red wines.

Capçanes produces roughly 1000 000 kg of grapes from 250ha of vineyards of which about 60% is Garnacha, 30% Cariñena and 10% divided between Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, and white grapes as Garnacha blanca and Macabeu. The vineyards range in altitude from 150 meters at the bottom of the valley to nearly 600metres for the highest terraces where the oldest Garnacha vines grow. Soil in the lower vineyards is deep rich and fertile while the higher vineyards and all terraces and slopes are on poor, mineral, stony soil based with some granite and slate. This difference in altitude, terroir and the wide range of varieties means that harvesting can last from the end of August till the end of September. Each vineyard parcel is harvested separately at its precise moment of optimum ripeness and given the development of the winery, each parcel can be vinified separately as well giving the opportunity to make single vineyard wines like “Costers del Gravet” or “Vall del Calàs”.

town

Winery Tour and Tasting

Come and enjoy a leisurely tour around the winery and hear its special story.

Learn about the art of kosher winemaking, and Flor de Primavera, one of the world’s top kosher wines.

We won´t let you go thirsty. The tour will culminate in a tasting of 3 wines from the Celler de Capçanes range, bringing you the flavors of the village.

Price per person: 8 €
Maximum: 25 people
Duration: 1 hour
Important: Booking is compulsary minimum 2 days before the visit
Tel: +34 977 178 319 (Winery)
E-mail: cellercapcanes@cellercapcanes.com/ v.diaz@cellerdecapcanes.com

Opening hours (winery shop): Monday- Friday 9.30- 13.30h/ Saturday 10- 14h/ Sunday 11- 14h

The tour normally starts at 12h, but must be booked in advance.

 

 

Filed Under: Montsant Tagged With: Cellar Capçanes in the Montsant, Kosher wine

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