Marcelan: a new grape to learn about and enjoy

This weekend we sampled a great wine: Viladellops 2004: it had well balanced fruit and acidity and round tanins. What really intrigued me though were the grape varieties listed on the label: Garnacha, Syrah and Marcelan. Marcelan?? ...I'd never heard of it.

Marcelan (also spelled Marselan) turns out to be a hybrid of Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha created in France in 1961. The name coming from Marseillan, a small town near Montpellier, where the vareity was created. According to the Guia Peñín, it was first used commercially in Spain in 2002. Peñín comments that gives has an interesting counterpoint between concentrated and spicey fruit and subtle tannins, making it an ideal Mediterranean grape. The only drawback being its tendency to fast ripening, increasing the risk of becoming overripe.

Marcelo Desvalls of Viladellops told me that in terms of vine and root growth, Marcelan is very similar to Cabernet, but tastes quite different; closer to Garnacha in flavor and aroma. The wine is very tannic with a high quantity of anthocyans, which give strong, deep color. The soils at Viladellops are rugged and high in calcium, which makes for very elegantly fruity Garnacha grapes, which are, at times, inconsistent. Adding Marcelan before barrel aging gives the wine the right stability for 12 months in oak.

Viladellops is now experimenting with a possible 100% Marcelan from this year's vintage. If it comes about, that would definitely be a wine for those looking for something new to try!

Repeat California Golds at 3rd annual Tempranillos al Mundo! competition

The third year international single varietal competition for Tempranillo wines was held last week in Shanghai with awards going mainly to Spanish wines. 40 of the 43 wines receiving gold medals were wines from Spain. Martin & Weyrich Winery of Paso Robles, California has won an impressive two gold medals for the second year in a row; this time for their 2005 Flamenco Rojo and Flamenco Rojo Paso Robles.

The other non-Spanish gold was awarded to Alfa Crux 2002 from the Argentine half of Ortega Founier (the other half is in Ribera del Duero).

Two top gold medal winners were Carmelo Rodero from Bodegas Rodero and Amarén from Bodegas Luis Cañas.

Rioja, grape changes, new marketing push, strong sales

D.O.C. Rioja, Spain's oldest and most renowned wine growing region has been making efforts to up-date itself adding new grape varieties and spending more on promotion.

Recently, and for the first time since 1925, the Regulatory Council of Rioja has approved the use of several white wine grape types, three of which are from outside Rioja: Chardonnay, Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc, and three that are native to Rioja: Maturana blanca, Tempranillo blanco and Torrontés. This last variety might be a surprise as Argentina has made the most of this grape, but Rioja looks to be restaking their claim to it. The non-native white grapes can only be introduced as subsitutes for uprooted vines and wine makers will not be allowed under DOC rules to produce wines made from a majority of these grapes nor to prominently list them on the front label, restrictions that not applied to the native varieties. Presently only 9% of Rioja's grape production is in white.

In addition to the new whites, the "minority" native red grapes of Maturana tinta, Maturano or Maturana parda and Monastel have been approved for use.

In marketing, Rioja is pushing on all fronts. In Spain, as a part of a 1.6 million euro plan, the DOC has launched a website called Rioja Pasion, and, in conjuntion with Paramount, they are opening up a casting process in which budding young comics are encouraged to sent short videos about their first experiences with wine. The 10 finalists will have a public run-off competition and the 20 runners up will get a free case of Rioja. Internationally, and capitalizing on the positive name recognition of Rioja, there are more websites: in the USA there is Vibrant Rioja , which is part of a 2 million euro promo plan for the US alone. In the UK, the Rethink Rioja campaign has created a website for the market and has held wine tastings and retailer competitions. In Germany, the campaign has coincided with the release of the mystery novel "A Rioja for the Matador" by Paul Grote. A media promotion to journalists have included sending out the book and a bottle of Rioja.

In terms of sales, Rioja hit a new high in 2006 with total shipments of 261 million liters of wine, an increase of 4.3% over 2005, with exports up by 11%. The UK, which represents the largest export market for Rioja (35% of all export volumes) saw the sale of 27.8 million liters (up by 13.8% and double that in 2000). Germany, the 2nd largest market, consumed 13.1 million liters (up 6.2%), and the US moved up to 3rd place with 6.8 million liters (up by 12.9%), edging out Switzerland and Sweden. In all, these five countries take in 70% of all Rioja exports.

Xtrasyrah '04: Edra makes a new splash!

Alejandro Ascaso from Bodega Edra today sent me some info on their soon to be released, 100% Syrah called Xtrasyrah 2004. Like their previous release, Merlot/Cabernet 2004, it features a completely unique, very eye-catching label. You have to see to believe it!

According to the release notes, the "Xtra" name was choosen to denote the extra-ordinary efforts that winemaker Maria Pilar Rivera and the entire Edra team have made in producing the wine: from the selection of grapes from the wineries vineyards, the hand-picking, further selection following fermentation and from the barrels.

I am very much looking forward to trying Xtrasyrah; if its anything like Edra's previous release, it should be amazing!

AN Viticultores: recovering Callet

At last week’s Barcelona Wine Festival, Francesc Giralt of AN Viticultores of Mallorca spoke about his winery’s project to recover for commercial production a grape indigenous to the island called Callet. The project was and continues to be challenging, but very rewarding.

As viticulture around the world increasing relies on fewer grape varietals for wine production, wines seem to have become more similar to each other. In every producing region, more and more acreage is devoted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay, plus a couple of others and perhaps, a local hero grape. Obviously, there are important reasons behind this trend. These "international" varieties are supremely suited for making the types of wines that consumer want to buy. But, as these varieties crowd out the others, there is a risk that the wines will end up all tasting alike.

So, in the mid-nineties, Francesc Giralt and his two business partners decided to try an make wine using Callet, a grape with low acidity and sugar. At first the project was just a kind of fun experiment, and then, as the results began to impress, it became more serious. The team needed to rely on the expertise of the old farmers from the island to understand the grape and where it was best grown. And, of course, there was sometimes little agreement among the farmers on this. Francesc related the story that one farmer told him to look for those vineyards near to where sheep liked to graze as they seek out sweeter grass that grows on clay soil types, which is good for Callet. However, his neighbour said that exactly the opposite was true. Now, after many years of working with the grape and the local growers that produce it, AN has a broad knowledge of the ideal vines from the right locations for creating the raw material for the AN range.

In 1994, the winery was founded and the first vintage was made using a 70/30 Cabernet Sauvignon - Callet blend. AN worked to develop wines that have higher percentages of Callet and in 1999 their first 100% Callet was produced. There was no 2002 vintage has the higher amounts of rain that year resulted in poor grape quality, but the hot and dry 2003 season was an ideal year.

AN in its 2001 vintage was made from 90% Callet with a balance of two other local grapes: Fogoneu and Mantonegro. The AN Son Negre is a 100% Callet and completing the product range is AN/2 which is a blend of Callet, Syrah, Cabernet, Mantonegro and other varieties.

At this presentation, Francesc presented the AN 2003 a 100% Callet which is a very delicate and subtle red wine, that completely goes against the trends of powerful, big tannic reds with lots of fruit and alcohol that are in fashion now. It is a unique and intriguing wine.

Congratulations to the AN team for contributing to the diversity of wines!

Worldwide competition of Tempranillos

As mentioned previously in this space, the second annual international competition of Tempranillo wines was held in Germany last week.

The results of the competition are in and the grand prize winner is Pago de los Capellanes (whose new web site my company participated in creating) for their Tinto Reserva 2003. The same winery also had a Gold Medal winner with their Picon 1999. Congratulations!

Also of note was the presence on non-Iberian Tempranillos in the Gold Medal category:
2 from Australia: Stella Bella has repeated their Gold Medal triumph of last year with their 2004 vintage Tempranillo; joined by compatriots Yaluma Wineries for their 2005 Handpicked Tempranillo.
From Greece: Pavlidis Ktima Tempranillo 2004
From the USA: Martin & Weyrich Winery for their Flamenco Rojo 2002
Notably absent from the Gold Medal list were any South American winners.

Also receiving a Gold Medel was Anta Natura Winery, whom I recently visited and wrote about, for their Anta 10 2003. Congratulations as well to the team at Anta!

Tempranillos of the world UNITE!

Once again the Spanish wine industry is sponsoring the international travelling competition of Tempranillo wines from around the world. The 2006 event will be held May 22 to 24 in Cologne, Germany and will likely be the largest and most varied demonstration of this great grape variety ever held.

This blog reported on the results of last year's event in a post on Feb. 23, 2005, including the top-rated Australian Tempranillo, the cutely named Stella Bella.

Santbru 2004

Last week at Alimentaria, I had the chance to try Santbru 2004, a new wine from one of Spain's leading architects, Alfredo Arribas. Together with partners Agustí Perís and Jean Luc Colomboi, Arribas has set up a wine company, Portal Companyia de Vins with two branches, Portal del Montsant and Portal de Priorat, to create exceptional wines from these two neighboring regions in southern Catalunya.

Lead enologist Ricard Rofes gave me an individual tasting of Santbru 2004, which in a few months will be the first wine released by the winery. The wine is from Montsant and is named for the founder of the Carthusian monestic order which came to the area 800 hundreds ago and spread and systematized grape cultivation there. The majority of the grapes used come from very mature Carinyera (Carignan) vines that range in age from 60 to 80 years old, plus a bit of Garnatxa and Syrah. In La Rioja, where Carinyera goes by the name of Mazuelo, its greater acidity and lower oxidation complements Garnacha in creating wines with strong aging potential.

Richard said that the 2004 growing season was excellent; the ideal conditions for the company's first wine. The warm, but not too hot, summer, allowed for long and steady maturation on the vine. The grapes were harvested it their peak, ensuring that the sugar / acid balance was correct and the tannins as well. The wine was aged in untoasted or lightly toasted French oak, which allows for the true flavors in the wine to be released without any masking of them.

I found the wine to be as dark as blackberries, with a very appetizing nose, with a real density in the mouth; a refined and serious wine, whose smoothness belies its 14.5% alcohol level. The old Carniyera vines don't produce a great deal of grapes, but do produce an abundance of flavor.

The production of Sant Bru 2004 is very limited at under 5,000 bottles.

2005 export: Spanish white wine takes off

The Federación Español de Vino have recently released export data on Spanish wine for 2005 January through August.

The story continues to be the impressive surge in white wine exports. White wines from D.O. regions have topped 110 million euros for these 8 months, an astounding 95% increase from the same period in 2004. Volume has risen by 80%, meaning that the world is buying much more Spanish white at higher prices.

Spanish white wines have improved greatly over the last few years and the world is noticing. Of course, Chardonnay plantings have increased a great deal, but wine makers have sought to accent their local white grapes, too, which makes a great deal of sense as they have the lead in working with the local varieties, while Chardonnay is grown and used around the world.
Most noted Spanish white varieties are Albariño and Verdejo, but there are many others gaining in stature, such as Godello, Garnacha Blanca and Hondarrabi Zuri, which is used to make the refreshingly acidic Basque wine Txakoli (cha-KO-li), to name but three.

In other categories, there has been a continuing drop in bulk wine exports in total volume (-9%) , total value (-14%) and average price per liter (-6%). This has being off-set by increases for bottled wines from D.O. and Vinos de la Tierra regions in total value (D.O. bottled wines are up 4% and VdlT are up 13%), volume (D.O. +7%, VdlT +9%), but average per liter prices have been mixed(D.O. - 2.5%, VdlT + 4%).

Cava (Spanish traditional method sparkling wines) are up 4% in total value shipped and +1.5% in volume.

Changes in Cava D.O.

Appearing in Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper on Sunday July 24 was an article on the Regulatory Council of Cava, which is the agency that oversees the Denominacion de Origen Cava, which produces Spain's traditional method sparkling wine.

Last year the region produced 221 million bottles of Cava and in the last 8 years exports have increased by 142%. Consumption in Spain continues to expand, last year growing by over 2%.

The Council has applied for conversion of the region from a D.O. to a Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.C.) which would further estabilish the high standards of quality among the various grape growers and Cava producers.

There are no plans to expand the areas in the Cava D.O. but there are moves afoot to permit the use of Pinot Noir in "white", that is so say, not rosé, cavas. The present rule against Pinot had caused the industry leading Codorniu Group to remove their Raimat sparkling wines from the Cava D.O. The Raimat sparkling wines are sold as V.E.C.P.R.D. (or Vinos Espumosos de Calidad Procedentes de un Region Determinado, which means Quality Sparkling Wine from a Designated Region).

Additionally, the conditions for designating a Cava as a "Reserva" will require 15 months of aging. For "Gran Reservas", 30 months of aging will be required.

D.O. Somontano

Hugging the southern slopes of the Pyrenees mountains is the Somontano D.O. The main growing region is concentrated to north of the principle town of Barbastro. The climate of this mountainous region is well suited to wine production with low humidity and a wide day/night temperature flux in summer.

This formerly neglected wine region has grown to 20 wineries and 1,800 acres of vineyards. Just 2 years ago there were 11 wineries and 1,300 hectares of vineyards.

The region is home to the red grape variety Moristel, which is very fruity and lends itself to the production of young, non-oaked wines. In the past few years, Somontano has become increasingly noted for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot wines.

The leading winery of the region is Enate, which was founded in 1991. Enate has won a strong following for their Merlots and Cabernets, as well as for their oaked Chardonnay (until recently use of oak for white wines had been something of rarity in Spain, and generally the oak treatment here is done with a light, judicious touch).

Another important winery in Somontano is Bodegas Pirineos, which is a cooperative of some 200 member growers. This winery produces a range of blended reds using Tempranillo, Cabernet, and Merlot, as well as single varietal wines of Moristel and another local grape Parraleta.

One my favorite finds in recent years has been the red wine from Bestué. The winery was founded a few years ago by family with a long history (since 1640) of grape cultivation.

What's in a name: Tempranillo

I choose Temoranillo for the name of this blog since this grape variety is most since it is the grape most associated with wine from Spain. Of course there are many other indiginous Spanish varieties, but Tempranillo is the acknowledged leader for its quality and prevelance.

The name arises from Temprano, the Spanish word for "early", because in the Rioja region this variety ripenes before the two common grapes there, Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano (Morastel).

Tempranillo has many aliases. By one count, up to 29. The most frequent of these are Ull de Llebre (rabbit's eye) in Catalan regions of Priorat, Penedès and others; Tinto Fino, Tinto del Pais in other regions of Spain, and Tinto del Toro in the Toro D.O.