Spanish kosher wines

Recently the Chicago Tribune had a feature on Spanish kosher wines, looking at three wineries producing them.

The Capçanes cooperative of the Monsant D.O. began producing Flor de Primavera / Paraj Ha'abib in 1995, at the request of the Jewish community in Barcelona. The grapes are grown and the wines are fermented according to the Meshuval requirements under rabinical supervision. According the Spanish wine export promotion board, it is one of the few wines Israel allows to be imported into the country, with the US presently taking in about 40 percent of Capçanes' total exports.

While Flor de Primavera is the single kosher wine among several produced by Capçanes, Elvi Wines with wineries in the Ribera del Júcar, Priorat, La Rioja and other regions, is exclusively devoted to producing kosher wines. Elvi produces kosher white, red, sweet wines and Cava.

Other Spanich kosher wine producers include Ramón Bilbao of La Rioja and La Xarmada in the Penedes D.O.

Stockholm to host 5th annual International Tempranillo Competition

The international competition for Tempranillo wines will be held May 26 to 29 in Stockholm. This competition is limited to wines made from the Tempranillo variety and organizers expect to have about 500 wines participating.

Most of the participants are Spanish, making this competition an excellent vehicle for international promotion of Spanish winery. However, participation from other countries. Last year's competition medal winning wines included Nepenthe Tempranillo 2005 and Mr. Riggs Yacca Paddock Tempranillo 2006 both from the Adelaide Hills region of Australia and Sanguinhal Aragonêz 2005 from Portugal.

Wineries as investments: the 2009 shake-out

There was an interesting article in Sunday’s La Vanguardia by Ramon Francàs that looked at difficulties faced by wineries headed by celebrities. The trend of stars getting into the wine business was all the rage prior to the latest financial downturn, but now things are looking rougher.

Francàs’ article took as its prime focus the Mas Perinet winery in Priorat-Montsant regions, headed by Catalan singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat. The winery was founded in 1989. The winery has some 300 hectares of vines and has sold some 180,000 bottles since their market launch in 2004. 2008 sales reached 900,000 euros. Not bad, but not enough to compensate for the roughly 20 million euros invested in the project.

According the newspaper where the article appeared, anonymous sources close to Mr. Sarrat said that Mas Perinet has been in touch with wineries such as Vega Sicilia and Valbuena, as well as the González Byass winery group. Talks with the sherry giant Gonzalez Byass had progressed to the point of pricing, at roughly 18 million euros, and looking at ways to keep Mr. Serrat involved in the project. However, the potential buyers changed their minds and a few weeks ago purchased Viñas el Vero of the Somontano D.O.

The La Vanguardia article mentioned that the Torres winery group told them that in the past two months they have been approached by six different wineries with offers to be bought-out.

Given the prestige of the wines, the Priorat D.O.C. has attracted stars such as Gerard Depardieu, Serrat and fellow Catalan Lluis Llach and winery groups such as Codorníu, Freixenet, Albet i Noya, Torres, Pinord, Castell de Peralada, Osborne and Parés Baltà, as well as investors from other sectors. However, according to sources close to the Priorat D.O.C. regulatory council more than a few wineries there are either up for sale, searching for capital or are considering laying off employees and trimming operations.

The article stated that the Buil & Giné winery is experiencing financial difficulties and that the El Molar winery, belonging to the Osborne sherry group may soon be sold. Also looking for financing is the Viñedos de Ithaca winery. The winery produces annually some 50,000 bottles an invoices nearly half a million euros has seen bank credit dry up. However, according to owner Josep Puig, they have yet to find a new backer. “People hear about the current problems and only want near give-away terms.” But he remains confident his winery will make it. “I’m a fourth generation viticulturalist and have never been a professional singer.”

According to the president of the Priorat D.O.C. Salustià Álvarez, many people attracted by the glamour of the wine business have gotten into without really knowing what they were doing. Wineries have never been sector know for quickly generating rapid profits. The norm is that a father will start a winery, his son will finish paying for it and his son will enjoy the benefits.

Valentí Roqueta, owner of Abadal winery in D.O. Pla de Bages puts it plainly: “To make a good wine today, if one has money, is not difficult. What is truly difficult is commercializing it, finding a market for it. That is very slow and complex. It is not something that everyone is cut out for.

What is the value of a D.O. in wine marketing?

On 30 April I gave a presentation at a conference organized by the Catalan Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Support on the value of Denominations de Origin in wine marketing.

The key points:

The overt importance of a D.O. as such will vary according the consumer target (those with more wine knowledge or familiarity with a specific region will attach more value to the D.O.). For example, a consumer with slight general wine awareness may have heard of Rioja and might possibly value it higher than wines from another region, while a more knowledgeable consumer might attach greater value to a wine from the Rioja Alavesa.

However the covert importance of a D.O. is to:

• Create a link to a specific region, which is of growing importance in a increasingly uniform and generic world,
• Preserve and give value to local traditional knowledge and practices, which often from the basis of viticultural and winemaking regulations enacted by D.O.s.
• Act as a vehicle for collaboration and cooperation among the participants of a specific region.

While some might criticise D.O.s for imposing certain practices that a winery might wish to use, any winery that decides to can opt out of a D.O. However, it is important to note that in countries where the practice of forming D.O.s was not a part of the scene, wineries in certain regions are banding together to form D.O.-like structures, such as the Coonawarra Vignerons Association, or the Napa Valley Vintners.

Above all, D.O.s should be at the service of their member wineries to help them achieve the highest possible quality, singularity and visibility.

Biofach 2009 Organic Wine Awards: 17 Spanish gold medals

Last month, BioFach 2009, one of the world's leading organic food shows was held in Germany with it customary organic wine venue. Spanish wines made a strong showing:
4 of the 11 "Grand Gold" wines (those scoring 95 to 100) came from Spain:
Piedra Luenga Bio Pedro Ximenez from Bodegas Robles, Garmendia Crianza 2004 –envejecido en barrica- from Bodegas Garmendia, Reserva Martí 2004’ from Albet i Noya and Son Roig 2005 from Can Mayoral.

In all 17 golds were awarded to Spanish organic wines.

Codorníu 2008 results: US sales up 135%

The purchase by leading cava and wine group Codorníu of US distributor A.V. Brands has shown immediate benefits; group sales, which includes imports to the US and those of Artesa, Codorníu's Napa Valley winery, rose in 2008 to 35.2 million euros, up from 12.8 million in 2007.

Overall, total group sales rose by 10.5% to reach 244.47 million euros. Codorníu's sales in Spain were also up: cava by 6% and still wines by 4.7%.

Sourced from: Expansión Feb 17, by Sergi Saborit.

Raventós i Blanc aims to double export sales

Article in yesterday's La Vanguardia by Ramon Francàs highlighting the plan by Raventós i Blanc winery to dedicate 40% of their production of wines and cavas to export markets by 2014. Six years ago the percentage was just 5%. Last year it reached 20% of the approximately 800,000 bottles produced yearly. The US sales grew in 2008 by 38&. Total invoicing was at 5 million euros for 2008, up by 2% from '07.

Director General Josep Raventós said that the winery's goal is to create a brand of international prestige based on pioneering wines and cavas of the highest quality and individual personality.