Follow-up: 2009 grape purchases by Catalan wineries

Further news on expected grape purchases by the three leading winery groups in Catalunya:

Of the big three, only Codorníu has committed to supporting local grape growers this year by holding prices at 2008 and annoucing intentions to buy 10% this year over last.

Freixenet will be maintain volume, but at a lower price, citing increased worldwide competition and a drop in wine consumption due to the economic crisis.

Torres will hold prices at 2008 levels, but will stick with their previously announced plans to lower purchase volumes: -30 to -50% less for red wine grapes and -15% to -30% for white.

The Catalan Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Support (DAR) has stated that the crisis appears to be having a greater negative effect on still wines than on sparkling Cava

50% drop in 2009 grape purchases forecasted for Catalan wineries

The economic crisis and excess stock is setting the scene for a drastic drop in grape purchases this year among Catalan wineries. In La Vanguardia (July 15, '09) Ramon Francàs reported that many in the market expect purchases could be down by 50% this year.

According to the article, the Torres winery, leading still wine producer in Catalunya, has sent a letter to its 620 grape suppliers informing them that the winery will be taking in 50% less red grapes and 30% less white grapes. The two other major players in the market, cava giants Freixenet and Codorníu as saying they will hold volumes, but there is no mention yet of price.

Third largest cava producer Juvé & Camps confirms that purchases will be lower, in part due to recent increases in their own vineyard holdings. Gramona, another cava maker, has announced that they too will be buying less.

Growers union representative Mr. Joan Santó (Unió de Pagesos) estimates that small and medium size winery grape purchasing will be down by 50% and that his members are "terrified" at the prospect.

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.

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.

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.

Cava for the crisis?

Report in El Pais on Monday 1/12 notes that Cava production remains high despite negative forcast for holiday party spending. The article quotes a source from Cava giant Freixenet as saying production levels for cava are as high as ever and hinting that export sales results are superior to domestic Spanish performance. Despite any as yet undetected changes in consumer spending, the company is looking to nudge up prices to reflect higher operating costs and also drive certain brands in supermarkets.
Cava's other major producer, Codorniu, said any price changes would be insignificant, and that they would be focusing on Raimat sparkling wines (traditional method non-cavas).

Given their higher on average prices, the large growth in recent years of Champagne sales in Spain may be threatened and Cava could possibly win back domestic market share.

No repeat for Freixenet's Scorsese ad

Last year Cava giant Freixenet made a big splash by hiring Martin Scorsese to direct an ad that garnered a lot of attention via Internet views (over one million hits according to one Spanish economic newpaper, and a random search via YouTube shows some users-published versions having tens of thousands of views). Freixenet had announced that they would be continuing in 2008 with a new director, bandying about such names as Coppola, de Palma, Lynch and Tarantino, but instead the project has been cancelled. They will return to their standard for-the-Spanish-market TV ad, this time featuring Spain's Olympic silver medalist sychronized swimteam.

So, does this mean that the Scorsese ad was not successful, or was too expensive to make? Or maybe it was so successful that it can continue to be a reference point on its own? Or perhaps the TV ad's importance for the Spanish market (newspaper TV guides in Spain have in the past of listed the ad's showing times, just like a sit-com or police drama) was seen by the company as a better investment.

D.O. Emporda - the windy wine region

Last night the D.O. Empordà held a promotional event in Barcelona. The small and hilly Empordà region is tucked into the northeast corner of Spain and is home to about 40 wineries. One of the signature features there are the Tramuntana winds that can get so strong that vine rows must be planted running north to south so as not to be knocked over.

There is one regional heavyweight: Castell Peralada, which owns 150 hectares of vineyards and produces nearly 2 million bottles a year of still wines and cavas, plus a wine spa & hotel, casino and golf course. The majority of wineries in the Empordà are small to micro-wineries run by families and friends.

At last night's event were roughly 24 wineries present. For me personally, the most distinctive wines were:

Celler Roig Parals: The Roig Parals Samsó is made from vines the are between 75 to 125 years old and the result is sublime. The winery was started about 4 years ago and produces only 20,000 bottles per year.

Celler Arché Pagès: Their Bonfill 2004, made from Garnatxa negra and Cabernet is a refined explosion of fruit.

Lavinyeta: a small winery that combines dedication with a sense of fun in their wines Heus, Puntiapart and Llavors.

Vinyes dels Aspres: which has become our own "house wine": Oriol an unfiltered unaged wine and the regal S'Alou (2400 bottles produced in 2004).

Celler Martin Faixó: their Cadac '04 is sheer elegance and the Perafita '05 a diamond in the rough that will shine after further bottle aging.

Oliver Conti: A regional classic that is expanding thier product range. High quality all the way.

These wineries are really doing good work and deserve greater recognition. Seek out their wines (but be sure to share!!).

The Widow Clicquot, story of an amazing entrepreneur

Being released next week is an interesting book about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, more famously known as Vueve Clicquot, the widow who created by hardwork, dedication and a good deal of risk-taking one of the most famous brands of Champagne at a time before branding really even existed. To do so, she had to overcome the early death of her husband, several wars and establishment favouritism of Moët.

One key aspect of building of the brand was her dedication to selling in export markets in a time before smooth roads or temperature-controlled warehouses and trucks existed. The gambles taken were immense. The export salesmen took trips that lasted months or years with little guarantee that product could reach the market. Ports were often blockaded, which meant leaving product in hot storage rooms where it could go bad or even explode. Payments took sometimes years to come in.

What does a book on a key player in building of a French wine brand have to do with this blog on the Spanish wine industry? Not much directly. But just as for Vueve Clicquot, the importance of export markets for building brands is crucial for Spanish wineries. Perhaps even more so for the creating of brands for the domestic Spanish market. Not until wines from Priorat started receiving awards and high auction prices in the UK and US were these wines taken seriously in Spain. The voice of the outsider can indeed raise up the underapreciated local player.

The Widow Clicquot was written by Tilar Mazzeo, who had to search for years to find the few surviving personal anecdotes about Vueve Clicquot. The book launch campaign is promoted via this blog: http://widowclicquot.blogspot.com/

Women winemakers: Bodega J. Miquel Jané

In May I had written about the National Womens Wine Competition and the overall white winner from Spain. Recently I heard from another awardee from this competition, Bernadetta Miquel, of Catalan winery J. Miquel Jané. This winery won a double gold best of class medal for their Blanc de Blancs 2006.

Bernadette handles multiple roles: managing director of the family winery, succeeding her father José Miquel, the current president; head enologist, wife and mother of two young children. Bernadetta and J. Miquel Janés Export Director Ana Efford were excited about the NWW Competition as an opportunity to gain recognition in the US and as a reflection of the increasing visibility women are gaining in a such a traditional industry as wine making.

Congratulations on the award to Bernadette and her team. Here's hoping it leads to more inroads in the US and other markets.

Indigenous grapes of Catalunya and the quest for individuality

In the continuing quest of winemakers to make wines that are distinctive from all the rest, bodegas here in Catalunya have been making greater efforts to restore indigenous grape varieties to commercial use. The thinking is that if the raw material is unique, the greater chance that the wine produced will have a distinctive originality, too.

Two of the leading local grapes are white grapes and are mainstays of Cava: Parellada and Xarel·lo, with over 8,000 hectares of vines in the region.

The next most plentiful grape is the red grape Trepat, which has been the tradition source for rosado cavas, but is used for red wine production, most notably in the Conca de Barbera D.O.

Also gaining attention is Picapoll, a white grape grown in the Pla de Bages D.O.

Other local varieties include Garnacha peluda (hairy Garnacha, so named for the texture on the underside of its leaves), Garnacha Roja, Samsó, Mandó.

For more than a decade, Bodega Torres has been gathering some 62 varities of local grapes. They have so far been unable to identify eighteen of these varieties, not even using DNA testing. According to Mireia Torres, Technical Director of the winery, four of these unidentified grapes show promise for commercial use, however more testing will be needed before they can be used. However, Torres has been able to recover the Garró variety, which now makes up 5% of the blend for one of their leading wines, the Gran Muralles from Conca de Barbera.

The Catalan Institute for Wine and Vine (INCAVI) is currently working with wineries to further develop clonal stocks of Picapoll, Trapat, Garnacha Roja and Xarel·lo.

Web 2.0 for wineries: enhancing interaction and boosting sales

The interactive web, or the web 2.0, in which the consumers publish their views, questions and opinions for the entire world to see, offer wine marketers more capabilities for communicating on-line with wine drinkers. On-line communication, in itself, is not the end goal, but can improve visibility and build reputation. This can lead potential consumers to first try the wines and, if they like them, buy more, share them with friends, and talk about them on-line, creating a virtuous cycle.

Here are three example of Spanish wineries using the web to expand their brands:

1) Crowdsourcing: Jaumandreu
http://jaumandreu.blogspot.com/

Via their blog this month (June ’08) Jaumandreu has issued a call for proposals for a soon-to-be-released wine. The winery will get a number of design proposals to consider at virtually no cost.

2) Bodega Cauzon: life at a small winery
http://bodegacauzon.blogspot.com/
Blog started in April 2008 and shares the day-to-day work in the vineyards, the winery and on the road in the production and promotion of the wines of this boutique winery.

3) Tintoralba: contacting importers through blogging
http://tintoralba.com/blog/
Export Manager Emilio Saez uses the Tintoralba blog to publicize their exporting activities and efforts. He also used the blog comment section of Irish wine importers Bubble Brothers to start a conversation with them, leading Bubble Brothers to become Tintoralba’s importer.

The common thread of these three examples: talking openly about activities so that people can listen in or comment, enhancing visibility, which is a necessary step to boosting sales.

White tempranillo: mutation or technique?

I had recently seen a press release for the Pago del Vicario winery on the release of their second vintage of a White Tempranillo wine. This press release brought to mind the news last year from La Rioja D.O.C. that one of the varieties now approved for white wines is the White Tempranillo.

So what's happening? Is White Tempranillo a grape variety or a technique? The answer is ...both. Pago del Vicario and La Rioja are using the same words to describe two different things!

The White Tempranillo wine from Pago del Vicario is created in the winery using red Tempranillo grapes in a "blanc de noir" style. This style, also used in making white cava and champagne from Pinot Noir, involves preventing contact of the crushed grape 'must' with the grape skins, where the red color comes from.

The White Tempranillo grape is a mutation discovered in 1988 in La Rioja by viticulturalist Jesus Galilea. The mutation is now being grown by two wineries there, but, in so far has I can tell, and has yet to be released commercially (under Rioja regulations a 100% White Tempranillo is not allowed). One of the wineries experimenting with the new grape is Dinastía Vivanco. In a story published in Decanter, their project involves a planting of 100 rows of vines, which are now four years old. Winery Director Rafael Vivanco said that White Tempranillo is "very promising... quite aromatic."

Mystery solved: Bianca 2006 the best white wine made by a female enologist comes from Bodegas Nilo

In answer to my post of last Thursday (Women's Wine Competition names Bianca 2006 of Spain top white wine, but who made it?), I received an e-mail from Bodegas Nilo co-owner Maria Jose Lopez.

She and husband Juan Carlos Nieto (a second generation viticultor) started the winery in 2006 focusing on Verdejo, the star white wine grape of the Rueda D.O. The grapes used in their Bianca wine comes for 25 year-old vines. The enologists at Bodegas Nilo are Silvia Garcia and Maria Sevilla.

Their US importer, DeGarcia & Associates, proposed that they enter the NWWC and they came away with the award for best white wine made by a female winemaker. In the US, Bianca is only available so far in Pennsylvania, so Verdejo enthusiasts in the States will need to be persistent if they want to get ahold of this wine!

Congratulations to Maria Jose, Juan Carlos, Silvia, Maria, Esther and all the team at Bodegas Nilo!

Women's Wine Competition names Bianca 2006 of Spain top white wine, but who made it?

The (U.S.) National Women's Wine Competition recently announced the winning wines for 2008. The women-only judging panel gave awards for all wines (even those made by men!) and a special section of awards for wines made by female winemakers.

Taking the top honors for white wine in Women Winemakers Challenge was Bianca 2006 from the Rueda D.O. of Spain. It is made with Verdejo grape. I tried to more information about this wine, but couldn't find too much more. An article from last year in Noticias de Vino which said the the winemaker is named Maria Jose Lopez. I recalled that this is the name of the winemaker for the Riojan winery Bodegas Lopez de Heredia so I contacted them to see if Bianca was a special project of Maria Jose, but, no, this is not the case. Lopez de Heredia works only in Rioja.

So the mystery remains about Bianca 2006, quite possibly the best white wine made by a female winemaker.

Winery blogging on the business side: Tintoralba

It may seem self-evident that companies can use their blog and those of their business partners (or those they'd like to work with) to get in touch, to deepen a relationship, share info, improve their Google ranking, build a reputation, etc., etc., etc. But in the wine industry, this is not always the case. And since no one wants to get a negative comment, its easier to just stay on the sidelines. But... negative comments are (in a way) good: they prove that 1) the company has sufficient confidence in the quality of their products that they can handle a bit of criticism and 2) that the comments are real comments, not paid-for advertizements, hence they are believable.

In a post last week, Emilio of Bodega Tintoralba shares how he made use of blogs (his own and that of Bubble Brothers) to get in touch with a potential importer/distributor for the UK/Ireland.

Castellroig: the best cava in the world?

In the recent rankings of Spanish wines by The Wine Advocate (a.k.a. Robert Parker), the small family owned and operated winery and cava producer Castellroig (pronounced: cas-TEL-roch) earned the highest point score of all cavas reviewed: 91, for their Castellroig Reserva Familiar Sabaté i Coca.

The points given by Parker were awarded to two separate vintages (the 2001 and the 2003), making this cava (arguably) the best in the world.

Can Calopa, the city of Barcelona also makes wines

Since 2001, the City of Barcelona has been running a winery, Can Calopa, in the Collserola hills on the outskirts of the city.

The first release was in 2005, but unless you are a special guest of the mayor of Barcelona, you will probably never see a bottle: the entire production is reserved for official use by city hall.

The original estimates for production was to be about 20,000 bottles per year. But, according to right-wing politician and strong critic of the project, Alberto Fernandez, total production has not been much more than 12,000 bottles. According to his calculations, this means that the average bottle price is close to 80 euros (US$125) : (965,000 € invested divided by 12,000 bottles).

Azul y Garanza at Alimentaria 2008

At the recent Alimentaria food and beverage show I had the chance to meet Fernando Barrena of Azul y Garanza winery. Their "Seis" 10 month aged Cabernet / Merlot has been a favorite wine of mine for several years.

Azul y Garanza is located in Carcastillo, in the D.O. Navarra, near the Bardenas Reales Natural Park, a desert-like region in the north of Spain and their wines are organically made. Wine making duties are shared Maria Berrena, Fernando's sister and Dani Sanchez. The brand was launched in 2000, but the winery was built between the 1940's to 60's and uses cement fermentation tanks. This means no computerized controls for wine-making, just constant, round-the-clock care!

Exopto: a revolution in Rioja wines

Last night I was invited to a presentation of Exopto wines from Rioja. Their approach is a re-invention of Rioja, in which the three traditional red grapes of the region: Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo, are all put use, put in blends that are radically untraditional.

Usually, the majority percentage is of Tempranillo, with Graciano used for aroma and Mazuelo for acidity and tannins. In Exopto, Graciano takes the starring role. Their top wine, also named Exopto, uses 60% Graciano and is an impressive wine. Their entry level red, Big Bang is a well made, fun young wine.

Thanks to Gemma of Maremagnum for the invitation and to Oriol and Tom for the event!

Torres: from wines to clothing

The Catalan powerhouse wine company Torres has launched their own line of clothing, Torres Nature Collection.

According to an article in today’s La Vanguadia newspaper, the winery group, which saw total sales rise by 9% in 2007 to 200 million euros, will sell the clothing line exclusively at the shops at their wineries and winebars. The items on sale will include shirts, jackets, windbreakers, hats and other items made from natural materials. 25% of the profits will be donated to help save the Bonelli’s Eagle, the largest bird of prey in the Penedes region, which also the home of the Torres winery. So, on the face of it, Torres Nature Collection appears to be something more than the typical winery polo shirt.

Other Torres news includes the recent opening of their new winery Bodega Waltraud, a 12 million euro investment for which work was begun four years. The winery, named for the wife of company President Miquel Torres is located on the Pacs de Penedes estate and has been designed to be as ecologically friendly as possible with a strong emphasis on wine tourism. But, according to Miquel Torres Maczassek, Director of Marketing for the group and son of the current present, the new winery will be a working winery for the best Torres wines from the Penedes and Conca de Barberà regions and not just a “grand wine cathedral.”

Next year will see the release of the first Torres wine from the Rioja D.O.C. with some 600,000 bottles now in the aging cellars. This will be followed by the launch of Perpetual 2005, a new, high end wine from the Priorat D.O.C.

Jaumandreu - welcome to the blogosphere!

The winery of Jaumandreu, located in the heart of Catalunya, in the Pla de Bages D.O., is a customer of my communications company, Manfatta. One of the strategies we advised them to implement was the creation of their own blog, which is now up and running: http://jaumandreu.blogspot.com/.

The blog will provide information on the harvests, the winemaking, special offers and other news. As their blog is aimed at their main customer base, the posts are in Catalan (the winery's website has sections in Spanish, German and English).

The estate has been in existence since at least 1516, but the vines are all young, predominantly Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay. Their three wines, Idaeus and Cedrus (reds) and Nisus (white) all offer excellent drinkability and as the vines come into their prime, the quality will continue to expand. One of Spain's most important critics, José Peñín, has given Cedrus 2004 a 4 star price/quality ratio (out of 5 stars possible). My personal favourite, Idaeus, has great character and a pleasant spiciness.

Congratulations to Pere and the team at Jaumandreu!

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!

Codorniu - back in the black

Europa Press reported this week that major Cava and still wine producer Codorníu has announced a return to profitabilty in the most recent fiscal year (June 2006 to July 2007). Invoicing rose by 11% from the previous year to 221 million euros. The net profit was 38 million euros, aided by the sale of their downtown Barcelona headquarters to a hotel group. The previous fiscal year included the costs of a restructuring program resulting in a net loss of just under 1 million euros.

35% of sales this past fiscal year came from export markets, led by the UK (35% of the group's exports) and the US (22%). Export sales rose by 10% for the period and domestic sales by 12% for the year. Leading the rise were the brands of Legaris (D.O. Ribera del Duero), La Vicalanda from the Bodegas Bilbainas winery (D.O.C. Rioja), Anna de Codorniu cava and Codorniu Pinot Noir cava.

Also of recent note was Codorniu's purchase of A.V. Imports of Maryland to further boost their presence in the US market.

Freixenet among top 100 beverage groups

Beverage World has released their ranking of the top 100 beverage groups worldwide (that's all beverages, not just alcohol). Only one Spanish company made the list: Freixenet, in the 87th spot, on 2006 sales of $718.3 million.

Presentation of Peñín's top wines of Spain 2008

Spanish wine critic José Peñín , who's annual guide to Spanish wine is required reading, will be presenting the top Spanish wines of the 2008 Guia Peñín on October 28th in Madrid. Experts such as Jay Miller of Robert Parker Wines and Julia Harding, Master of Wine, who works with Jancis Robinson, will participate in this tasting of 70 wines receiving at least 94 points in the upcoming 2008 edition.

Azul y Garanza launches winery blog

The Azul y Garanza winery, which has been a favourite producer of mine for several years has launched their own blog (in Spanish). They talk about this year's harvest, which got underway 2 days ago in ideal conditions, some recent awards, and other news.

The winery was founded in 2000 and is located near Carcastillo in the DO Navarra of northern Spain. The winery has some 40 hectares of vineyards on which Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha are grown. They produce a medium aged and young red wines, and a rosado. Azul y Garanza is expanding sales outside of Spain, so drinkers looking for enjoyable, excellent value wines should seek out this brand!

Mention from Export Seminar

I wanted to mention that in addition to those already listed, other wineries speaking at the seminar with me on July 10 were:

Celler de Capçanes: the cooperative that helped make D.O. Montsant what it is and broke the stereotype that cooperative equals inferior quality. Producer of a unique kosher wine: Flor de Primavera.

Celler Sort del Castell: The house behind local institution Vermouth Yzaguirre. Discovering their Reserva Especial served with an art deco seltzer dispenser at a neighborhood restaurant ten years ago was a before-and-after moment for me.

Jané Ventura: Winery since 1914, producing in D.O. Penedes and D.O. Cava. Their "Mas Vilella" Cabernet consistently receives critical marks (92 pts. in Peñín 2007 for the 2002). Working with regional variety Sumoll.

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.

Tasting led by Telmo Rodriguez

Last Thursday, I attended a tasting led by noted Spanish winemaker Telmo Rodriguez. The tasting offered a brief (2 hour) overview of nine wines from five of the wineries, or less than half of the full selection, of his eponymous company, while sharing his insights and opinions on wine and winemaking.


Of the ten regions in which he and his team are making wines, the strategy is to make two wines: a "top of class" wine that personally appeals to the tastes of he and his team, and a second, simpler wine. Each wineries looks to produce a maximum of 5000 cases per wine (with some exceptions).


He noted that the current trend for wines in Spain is moving from the massive, generic wines of the past to a stronger interest in more personalized wines that reflect the character of the region from which the come, the grapes used and the personality of the people growing the grapes and making the wines. But, ultimately, in his opinion, it is the consumer who makes the wine. As they enjoy a wine, they are defining what the wine is about. As the wine industry is progressing, so is the consumer, which makes for more chances to do more interesting things.


If that sounds like flattery, Telmo quickly followed up that comment by saying he thought that tastings, like the one he was leading, of wine only was "perverse": wine should be enjoyed with food to be really appreciated.


The tasting included: Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra 2003 (Vino de la Tierra of Castilla y Leon), Pago la Jara 2003 and 2004 (D.O. Toro), Altos de Lanzaga 2003 and 2004 (D.O.C. Rioja), Matallana 2003 and 2004 (D.O. Ribera del Duero) and Molina Real Mountain Wine 2003 and 2004 (D.O. Malaga).


All very interesting and enjoyable wines in my opinion, however the real stars for me were Pegaso and Molina Real 2003. The first because, despite its high alcohol content (16%), it came off as very balanced with good acidity and dry tannins. The second, a sweet wine, packed with fruit, but restrained on sweetness. Telmo said that it was a pity to drink this now, as opposed to 2013 (at the earliest), but he wanted to include it anyway.


One of his most interesting comments was that Rioja was the next area of Spain awaiting "discovery". Interesting, because Rioja is and has been the most famous of all Spanish producing areas. His point being that the origins of its growth as a wine region in the 1890's was in response to the devastation of the phylloxera plague in France, which led to mass production that continued on to today. Currently there is a debate between the "classic" Rioja style and a "modern" Rioja, but this misses the point, which is that wines need to be true to their origins. For him, these origins in Rioja include the tradition of using underground fermentation facilities in large oak vats, which leads to relaxed, low temperature malolactic fermentations which can create more nuances in a wine.

Telmo has been noted as a proponent of the bio-dynamic wine movement, something he played down at this tasting, saying that he is not an expert in this, but that it is interesting as a way of making us all more sensative toward grapes and wine and to realize that a grapevine is a much more complex organism than had been thought.

Link: here are some videos of Telmo leading a tasting last month in Toronto.

Martin Codax and Gallo team up

News in last Sunday's La Vanguardia (and also in Avenue Vine) of the recent exclusive US distribution deal between Martin Codax and E&J Gallo. This deal is likely to triple the winery's total sales and make it the largest single supplier of Spanish wines to the US market. Martin Codax is well known in Spain for its quality albariño white wines produced in the Rias Baixas region of northwest Spain, but also has a winery in La Rioja.

Sales forecasts from the winery anticipate 8 million bottles of their albariño going to the US. To give some perspective, this year total production from all of Rias Baixas was roughly 20 million bottles, so the US, already the region's largest overseas market (expanding at a rate of of 35% per year) could soon become the destination for more than 40% of production!

Tempranillo in Flylosophy

The influencial Spanish trend-watching web site Flylosophy has this month published an article by me on current trends in wine marketing. Click the title of this post to access it. Its written in Spanish with an automatic translation feature. If you would like to have a more polished version in English, please contact me at steventolliverATmanfattaDOTcom.

Torres to create a line of luxury winebars

One of the persistent challenges for any winery is to gain more shelfspace or more listings in restaurants, which depends on a number of factors: performance by the distributor, acceptance by the point of sale outlet, brand promotion, prices, strength of the competition, to name a few.

Recently, in a move to go more directly to the luxury consumer, Bodega Miguel Torres annouced plans to open in Barcelona their own winebar and shop that will feature the more than 50 various presentations of wines and brandies that they make in Spain, Chile and the US. The Barcelona winebar will open in July on the upscale retailing street of Passeig de Gracia and is to be created by noted designer Antoni Arola (check the great layout on the project in his site!) and will be their fourth such venue. The first was opened in shopping village of La Roca del Vallès north of Barcelona, followed by a vinoteca in Santiago de Chile and a third location in the Catalan village of Poblet. Following Barcelona, London and Berlin are being considered for expansion.

Codorniu bites the bullet

Codorniu, the family-owned Cava/Wine group that produces roughly one-third of all Cava, has announced losses for the first time in their +125 year history. Their last fiscal year (July 2005 - June 2006) ended in red by 905,000 euros, on sales of 201 million (a drop of 3%, attributed in large part to the Cava boycott). A large factor in these losses has most likely been the cost of internal reorganization.

This fiscal year, the group is forecasting increase in sales of roughly 9% to 218 million euros. Codorniu is planning to invest some 12 million euros this year to: buy 150 hectares of vineyards in Argentina's Uco Valley, further improvements to their Rioja winery, Bodegas Bilbainas, as well as to Artesa, their winery in Napa, and to Raimat, their winery in the Costers de Segre D.O.

Raimat's sparkling wines will return to D.O. Cava clasification, with the recent change in the Cava D.O.'s stance on the use of Pinot Noir to produce white sparklers, which Raimat will continue using.

Codorniu's Managing Director , Xavier Pagés, has played down rumors of additional winery buy-outs which had been triggered by the news that one of the Raventos family members (which owns Codorniu) had stepped down from the board of directors and had bought fellow cava producer Parxet.

Spanish Organic Wines

At present in Spain some 260 wineries are producing organic wines. At the end of 2006 the town of Estella-Lizarra Hiria in Navarra held the 2nd National Competition of Wines Made from Organically Grown Grapes. 24 wines participated by submitting 64 wines for judging.

The big winner at the event was Bodegas Quaderna Via from D.O. Navarra which captured 2 of 3 Gold Medals awarded, for their 2004 and 2005 Tempranillos, plus a Silver for their Quaderna Via Maceración Carbonica 2005. The other Gold Medal winner was Azpea, also from Navarra.

Other multiple award winners were:
Bodegas Lezuan, of DO Navarra, Silver Medal for Lezaun 2002 Reserva, and Bronze Medals for Crianza 2002 and Crianza 2004,
Bodegas Aroa, DO Navarra, Silver for their Aroa Gorena Reserva and Bronze for Aroa 2005.
Albet i Noya, DO Penedès, were awarded Silver for their Classic Rosado and Bronze for Classic Xarel-lo Blanco.
Finca Campos Góticos, D.O. Ribera del Duero, Bronze Medals for thier Reserva 2002 and Roble Tempranillo.

Vila Viniteca Wine Release Event

Last Tuesday saw the annual wine release / street party hosted by Barcelona's leading wine store (and distributor), Vila Viniteca. The event, which takes place on the old, flagstone streets outside their store in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter, featured over 40 wineries offering tastings, plus stalls by local restaurants. This year began a couple of hours earlier at 5PM, in response to the growing popularity of the event. By 8PM, the mass of people in the tiny, pedestrian only street maked it nearly impossible to move.

I got there early and had a chance to chat with several of the wineries exhibiting their 2006 wines, which won't be released on the market for several months yet. Many of the wineries commented that the wines on offer had been bottled just in the last few days, so, in general, they were a bit raw. Mainly the wines were 2006 vintage whites or rosés, but a few wineries had some red wines from this year.

The following are the wines that most impressed me:

Bodegas Borsao, from the Campo de Borja, D.O. offered a version of their Primizia, a 100% Garnacha. Strong raspberry flavors and surprisingly smooth.

Pere Guardiola, from D.O. Empordà-Costa were tasting their Vi Novell, a blend of Garnacha and Merlot, done in the style of a beaujolais nouveaux. Very well rounded and drinkable.

Bodegas Monje, from the island of Tenerife was offering one of their reds, a 100% Listan Negro, an indigenous grape variety. As Tenerife never was hit by Phyloxera, there are many native grape types grown there, including Tintilla, Tinta Monje, Baboso, Vijariego Negra. The Listan Negro was a strong wine, but with good fruit and not too heavy tannins. An interesting offering in these days of Merlot and Cabernet everywhere.

There were many other wines being offered, many were interesting, but above all, the street-party/village fair atmosphere is the real attraction. See you there next November!

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!

Canals & Munné cava

I had previously seen bottles of this cava producer in shops around Barcelona, but had never tried it, perhaps due to their rather staid and traditional labels. But yesterday, the family and I went to a late-Thanksgiving lunch at a friend's. Also attending was Eduard Montserrat, who works at the winery, and who had brought along a few bottles of their reserva rosé cava. It was great.

Typically, rosé cavas are made from trepat grapes, which tend to be somewhat light and un-inspiring. The Canals & Munné rosé is made from 75% Monastrell and 25% Garnacha, making for a more dynamic base, and is aged for nearly three years in the bottle, making for a nicely refined sparkler; not at all acidic with steady bubbles. In all, a very nice find.

Spanish wineries and cutting-edge architecture

With a few notable exceptions, wine tourism has not been a part of the marketing mix for Spanish bodegas until quite recently, but this is defintely changing. Wineries in Spain's premier winemaking region, La Rioja, have been hiring internationally renowned architects to bring some new dazzle to the region.

The most attention-grabbing project in terms of international press coverage, has been the Marques de Riscal winery designed by Frank Gehry. The facility opened last month and features a hotel (prices range from 350 to 1,350 euros and some rooms are already booked up to 2010), a restaurant and spa using grape-based treatments. The project took 8 years to complete and required a 70 million euro investment. The result is pure Gehry: sheets of metal that over the building that seem to waving in the breeze.

For the Lopez de Heredia winery in Haro, the Pritzker-prize winner architect Zaha Hadid has created a stunning bottle-shaped entry to the winery, which houses a part of the winery built in 1910.

Santiago Calatrava, one of Spain's premier architects, has designed the facility for Ysios, which features a very broad, undulating roof, that from a distance seems pixelated.

Bodegas Baigorri commissioned architect Iñaki Aspiazu to build their winery, the main part of which is underground. The only part above ground is the entry, which is a 400 square meter glass cube that offers 360 degree views of the estate.

Amazingly all of the above wineries are located in relative close proximity to each other, within 25 kilometers, in two of the three Rioja regions: Alavesa and Rioja Alta. For more tourism info: www.lariojaturismo.com and www.rutadelvinoderiojaalavesa.com.

Spanish organic wines

Since the first attempts at making organic wines in Spain in the 1980's (not counting the centuries before the introduction of synthetic chemical treatments), the number of wines being produced and their overall quality has risen dramatically.

In February, at BioFach, an important international organic food and beverage trade fair, over 50 Spanish wineries presented their products, to which 35 medals were awarded (9 gold, 26 silver and 18 bronze).

Writing this past Sunday in his column en the El Pais newspaper, wine critic Carlos Delgado reviewed six new releases of Spanish organic wines:

Luzon Organic 2005, D.O. Jumilla, a red crianza made from Monastrell, retailing at 4.25€. Score: 9 (out of 10 points).

Dionisio Ruiz Ijalba 2003, D.O.C. Rioja, a red crianza made from Maturana Tinta, a native variety that this winery has recovered, retailing at 17 €. Score 8.8 points.

Albet i Noya Xarello 2005, D.O. Penedes, a white made from Xarello, retailing at 4.30€. Score 8.7 points.

Qubel Nature Crianza 2003, D.O. Vinos de Madrid, a red crianza made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, retailing at 19.72€. Score: 8.7 points.

Ruiz Villanueva 2005, from the Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla area, a white made from Chardonnay, Airén and Moscatel, retailing at 5€. Score 8.6 points.

Quaderna Via 2004, D.O. Navarra, a red crianza made from Tempranillo, retailing at 15€. Score 8.6 points.

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!

Miquel Torres gets into tequila

In Sunday's La Vanguardia newspaper was the news that Miquel A. Torres, president of Torres, one of Spain's leading wineries, announced in Guadalajara that Torres is entering the world of tequila via a joint venture project with Destiladora González González, the fifth largest producer of tequila. The brand will be Estirpe, which roughly means lineage and will be destined for export markets. The product was jointly created by specialists from Torres and González González.

Because the international acceptance of tequila is far greater than that of wines from Mexico, the profits from the venture will be used to promote Mexican wines abroad. In checking the Torres website, the was no mention of either the tequila project or for Mexican wines. Outside of Spain, Torres is presently producing wines in California and Chile. Perhaps Torres is about to unveil a new winery in Mexico?

Raimat sales data

Appearing in Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper on May 26th was a news item on the 2005 sales data for the Raimat winery. This Costers del Segre D.O. winery's sales grew by 2% from the year prior to 22.7 million euros.

65% of their sales went to the Spanish market and the rest was exported, with the leading markets being the Scandinavian region and Canada.

Raimat produces still wines (85% of their production) and sparkling wines. These sparkling wines are not cava, but are designated VECPRD or Vino espumoso de calidad procedente de un region denominado, that is to say: quality sparkling wine from a designated appelation. The reason for this is that Raimat makes their white sparkling wines using Pinot Noir, a variety that the Cava D.O. only allows to be used in rosé cavas.

Recently Raimat did a major make-over of their label presentation and are now introducing a new Syrah.

Anta Bodega

Last Monday May 8th, I was a guest of Teodoro Ortega, Managing Director of Anta Natura, an important new winery in Spain's Ribera del Duero D.O. This D.O., named for the Duero River which runs though it on its way west to Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean, is home to some of Spain's biggest wines. Its high elevation (1,000 meters above sealevel), with long hours of sunshine and sharp temperature drops at night, make for excellent growing conditions.

Anta began as a concept for grape production, led by Teodoro Ortega and his brother Federico, in the late 1990's. They acquired lands outside of the town of Aranda del Duero, which now are in two plots of 75 and 150 hectares. The grapes used are mainly Tempranillo, plus Cabernet, some Merlot vines of impressive quality and other varieties for experimentation.

But as the brothers further developed the project, they came to the idea of creating a winery to fully realize the potential of the project. Taking the name of Anta, which comes from the Greek word for column, the winery was born. Federico, an architect by profession, designed the winery building which is now in construction and on-schedule for inauguration with this year's harvest.
This is a unique, all-wood building, that fits nicely in the open valley and the vineyards that surround it. It has wide glass panels on the upper floor to allow for controlled use of natural light. The winery system works gravitationally, which avoids stressing the musts and wines by not pumping them around the facility.

Anta currently produces a range of three wines: the Anta 4: an introductory red wine, with brief aging in French oak; the Anta 10, a more complex red, with a correct use (and restraint) of fruitiness and oak; and the Anta 16 (originally termed Anta Seleccion) is a further-aged red, very elegant and well balanced.

Anta wines should be gaining a lot of attention by wine drinkers everywhere!

Pago de los Capellanes web site on Laus Award short list

Ribero del Duero D.O. winery Pago de los Capellanes has recently launched their new web site.

The site has reputedly been short-listed for recognition at the Laus Awards. This will be the 36th year of the Barcelona graphic design and visual communication awards; the theme this year is "Death to Ugliness". I'll drink to that!

The Pago de los Capelllanes site was designed and created by Grapa with English translations by my company, Manfatta.

And by the way, the wines are superb!

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.

Edra, very original label, excellent wine

Last week, our good friends Johanna and Christian brought over a bottle of wine that had one of the most unusual labels I have ever seen.

It was from a winery called Bodega Edra and the label had a photo of someone wearing what looks to be a giant, golden sea anemone costume! Kind of wacky and somewhat of a mystery as the backlabel and the winery's web site do not shed any light on why such a strange image was choosen for their wine (click here to see the label). Needless to say, it is a real attention-graber. And as for the wine itself: it is a superb blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, very silky and elegant.

Bodega Edra is located near the village of Ayerbe, in the northwest corner of the province of Aragon (whose principal cities are Zaragoza and Huesca). The wine region is called Ribero del Gallego, which is not a D.O., but produces Vinos de la Tierra. A map of the area (in Spanish) can be found here: http://www.lagarnacha.com/vinos-aragon.htm, unfortunately without a listing for Edra.

Hopefully, there will be more news coming from this innovative winery.

My star of CavaTast: Cavas Mestres

This past weekend was the annual Cavatast event, a three day exhibition, tasting and block party in the town of Sant Saduni d'Anoia, the capital of Cava. There were 45 local cava producers, restaurants and delis on hand to supply the goods. Last year, over 50,000 people attended and this past Sunday, it felt like a good many of them had returned! There was a great, convivial atmosphere and plenty of good cava.

For me, the big discovery of the event was the new presentation of the Celler Mestres brand.

This is a high quality, upscale producer whose "simplest" cava is bottle aged for 36 months, or 4 times the aging required by the Cava D.O. This extra aging gives their cavas a creamy richness that is well set-off by the tiny persistent bubbles.

Mestres has totally redone their packaging, using texts and typefonts from historical documents to make the capsules, and a few of the bottle labels. Other bottles use solid color labels, and their top of the line Gran Reserva cava, "Mas Via", which is first aged in oak for 1 year and in the bottle for a further 7 years, simply has 3 plus symbols where you would normally see the main label (this is a play on the name "Mestres", which in the local catalan language could mean "plus three").

Mestres currently sells most of their cavas in Spain, with some activity in the UK. In 2006 they plan to make further expansion in overseas markets. With these cavas and packaging, they should really get noticed!

Sot Lefriec wines

Last month I attended a vertical tasting of Sot Lefriec wines from the Alemany & Corrió winery.

The winery was founded in 1999 by husband and wife enologists Irene Alemany and Laurent Corrió in the Penedés region. The 8 hectare (20 acres) vineyards are made up of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cariñera (carignan) vines which range in average age from 25 years for the Merlot and Cabernet to 60 years for the Cariñera.

At the tasting Irene and Laurant passed around a very detailed study on each parcel of land showing orientation, elevation, soil composition and soil mapping (with photos from excavations), pH levels and more. In a departure from the established guidelines of the Penedes region, the vines have been overplanted at around 5,000 vines per hectare (12,300 per acre). The idea being that a higher density of vines will force the roots to dig deeper in search of water, creating heartier vines that can create grapes of greater character. They also strive to keep production down to 2,500 kilograms of grape per hectare (2,225lbs. per acre) which is nearly one-fourth of the average yields for the region. The goal here is to produce grapes with higher flavor concentrations.

The winery is truly a garage winery, which allows the winemakers to express themselves in the way they wish. The facility is tucked into 200 square meters (2,150 sq. feet) and has an annual production of some 5,000 bottles. Irene and Laurant's goal is not to be big, but to be thought of as making wines of character that have a distinct personality. Their philosophy is to pay great attention to the vineyard, observe and measure and do minimal intervention and shun fertilizers. They are not enthusiasts of the current trend of super fruity wines. In the wines they say reduction creates aromas and oxygen releases them.

The tasting was comprised of Sot Lefriec wines from the vintages of 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The range and progression of the wines was remarkable. The 1999 had a good level of acidity, but was understated on fruit, creating an intense first taste with a gentle, long finish. 2000 was a hot year and this wine had sweeter tanins and a higher degree of concentration than the '99. 2001 was difficult year with a freeze in which nearly 40% of the harvest was lost, but the wine is strong and intense. 2002 was a wet year and this wine has very gentle tannins and was my favorite of the tasting. The 2003 season was famously hot and this wine is fruity with robust tannins. It is quite intense and needs some more time in the bottle to reach its peak. The 2004 we tried was a barrel sample, but even so had a real maturity to it.

Irene and Laurant say that they have yet to make the wine that they dream of creating, but it seems to me that they have already made something unique and personal with their wines.

Vizcarra - Ramos tasting

Last night I joined some 15 other guests at a wine tasting led by Juan Carlos Vizcarra Ramos, owner, vineyard master, wine maker and chief marketer of Bodegas Vizcarra-Ramos.

Juan Carlos led us through some of their best recent releases, as well as offering us two very special wines that are not yet on the market.

We began with the Vizcarra Senda de Oro 2004, a 100% Tinto Fino (aka Tempranillo), made via carbonic maceration that was dark cherry in color and loaded with fruit.

Next we sampled two Vizcarra Crianza wines from 2002 and 2003. The differences in style between the two were striking. The 2002 was rather spicy and the 2003, due in part to the heat of that year, had a slightly caramelized taste.

After tasting the 2001 and 2002 from the expressive Torralvo range, Juan Carlos moved us on the stars of his winery, the Celia and Ines wines, each named for his daughters.

Celia 2001, which received a 91 from Robert Parker, is made from Garnacha and Tempranillo and comes from 50 year-old vines. It was inky dark red and very elegant.

Celia 2003 is soon to be released. I found it to be a bit more subdued than the 2001, but still quite expressive.

The new wine, Ines 2004, had just been recently bottled, but even so, it was surprisingly composed. The fruit was very strong, but the tannins were quite well developed. it was velvety and nuanced. Made of a Merlot - Tempranillo blend, this wine will be released in 2006. The wine at the time of release should be truly exceptional.

During his presentation, Juan Carlos talked about how the 2005 vintage is progressing (risks of drought and possibly the need to harvest early), his approach in the vineyard (paying close attention to what is happening on the vine) and in the winery (use of cold stabilization and large, 400L oak barrels for aging). He expressed concern that with all the improvements in Spain, the there is a risk that everything will end up tasting alike, but with wines like Celia and Ines, he shouldn't need to worry!

Dos Victorias

The Dos Victorias winery- two Victorias - so named because the winery is run by two women named Victoria - is on a winning streak.

This month the winery (and the Victorias) are featured in the official Spanish export website Wines of Spain ; in 2004 they were named "Revelation Winery" of the year by Wien Gourmet magazine of Germany; and in this year's Peñín guide Dos Victorias received 91 points for their José Pariente 2003 Verdejo (white) and an 89 for their Gran Elías Mora 2001 Barrica (red). Interestingly, the winery separates their operations in 2 D.O.s according to wine type: Rueda for their white wines and Toro for the reds.

Tomas Cusine winery

Tomàs Cusiné, building on his 20 years of experience in wine, founded his own winery, which goes by his name, in 2003. Already the wines are winning critical acclaim. Spain's leading wine critic, José Peñín, gave 91 points to Tomàs Cusiné's Geol 2003, calling it the revelation of the year from the area, emphasizing the wine's "silky tannins and grand expression of ripe fruit" (Guía Peñín 2005)

Tomàs in one of two brothers who own the Castell de Remei winery, which in turn owns the Cérvoles winery, all of which are located in the same Costers del Segre D.O. This D.O. was created in 1986 and is noted for it for its elevation (700 m / 2300 ft) , its dry climate (450mm / 17.8 in. per year average rainfall), wide extremes of summer (35ºC+ / 95ºF+) and winter tempratures (0ºC- / 32ºF-). In summer, there is a average drop of 15ºC / 27ºF at night, a contrast that is highly beneficial to creating premium wines.

The Tomàs Cusiné Winery is located in the Les Garrigues sub-zone and owns some 36 hectares (14.6 acres) of land which is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Garnacha and Chardonnay. They use French oak barrels and have a total average production of 40,000 bottles per year.

Pago del Vicario

This week's discovery has been Pago del Vicario, a winery from central Spain, near Ciudad Real. The winery was founded in 2000 and is not a part of the traditional D.O. system, producing "vinos de la tierra de Castilla". This gives the winery a free hand to do as they wish in every aspect of production, from the vineyard to final production.

I bought a bottle of their 50-50 red wine (so named as it is made from 50% Tempranillo and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon) at local wine retailer Vinus & Brindis. The wine was aged for 10 months in a combination of oak barrels from France, America and the Caucasus. It was outstanding with good structure and balance. I can't wait to try their other wines.

Protos breaks out

The Protos winery of the Ribera del Duero D.O. is in the midst of a major expansion.

The winery, founded in 1927, sold more than 236,000 cases (9 liter) of wine in 2004, a 15% increase from the year prior. Work has recently begun work on a new 14 million euro extension of the winery, which was designed by renowned architect Richard Rodgers. The new facility will be linked underground to the current one, providing much greater capacity for aging wines, making available wines of greater complexity and refinement.

Presently 80% of the sales of Protos are within Spain, with most exports destined for northern Europe and Latin America. In a recent interview in "El País" newspaper, winery President Miguel Ángel Carrascal made plain his intention to look for new business, particularly in Russia and Asia. Making the bet that consumers there will be looking for higher quality wines, Mr. Carrascal has set a goal of raising export sales to one third of total company sales.

Els vins nous han arribat!

In the space of a few years, the new wine presentation by the VilaViniteca wineshop has become THE major wine event of the year in Barcelona. It's a chance to take a first look at the 2004 vintage. Some of Spain's most innovative wineries set up tables out in front of the shop (now extending well down the street and around the corner) and offer up samples of their latest wines. Near-by restaurants join in with local foods to go with the wines and the event becomes an old-quarter street party. The 2004 edition was held tonight with 37 wineries participating. Here are what I thought were the most impressive wines of the evening.

Bodegas Castaño: the 2004 Monastrell (Mourvedre) is supercharged at 14.5% alcohol content, but for a new wine, it is amazingly subtle.

Ostatu: the 2004 showed a substantial tannin, a bit raw, but a great foundation for bottle aging.

Luberri: their new harvest wine showed real polish and should mature nicely.

Bodegas Sierra de Guara: Their Idrias Merlot rosé was very fresh - perfect for a hot summer's day.

Barbara Fores: Their rosé was so rich, it seemed like a red - very good.

Edetaria: This young winery featured two new red wines: one a syrah and the other featuring a local variety know as "garnatxa peluda" or "hairy grenache" (which has to be the best name for a grape ever created). Although the winery was started just a couple of years ago, the estate vines are 30 years plus, meaning outstanding raw quality.

Parató: The featured offering from this house was a rosé Pinot Noir - very well done, fresh with nicely balanced acidity.

Vega Sicilia goes white

Vega Sicilia, the most legendary of all Spanish wineries, is preparing their return to white wines - an article published on Nov. 28 in El País by Miguel Angel Garcia Vega.

Not since 1948 has there been a white wine from Vega Sicilia, and given the importance of the brandname, the winery is not about to just rush a new wine onto the market. Director General Pablo Álvarez, whose family has owned the winery since 1982, first proposed making a white in 1991. Three years later Viognier, Rousanne, Marsanne and Chardonnay vines were planted in the coldest part of the estate, in plots of 3 hectares (1.2 acres) per variety. For the past 10 years, the enologists have merely analysed the harvests. That is until this year, when individual pressings of each grape were fermented; one in stainless steel tanks, the other using oak barrels (six different types of oak per each variety).

For the next five years the winery plans to repeat this experiment to truly understand how these vines combine with the soil and climate. Then, if all goes well, there will be a white wine worthy of the Vega Sicilia name. If not, then the vines will be ripped up and the 500,000 euro investment will be scrubbed.

The production amount from these vines should yield an estimated 5,000 bottles of a single varietal wine. So, assuming that there will be a Vega Sicilia white wine, there won't be many bottles to go round. I'm going to start saving up for a case now!

Freixenet enters Rioja

The giant cava group has purchased Santamaría Lopez winery in the Rioja Alavesa region for 10 million euros. This winery, which has a production capacity of 250,000 9L cases produces Solar Viejo and private label wines. According to Freixenet president Josep Lluis Bonet Ferrer, the aim for the latest wineries is to invest in it, launching new labels, and moving away from volume-based business.

Codorníu: cava and more wine

The major traditional method sparkling wine producer, Codorniu, has seen a 50% increase in their still wine sales. For their last fiscal year, ending June 2004, sales were slightly off, by 2.7%, but profits were up 6.4% from the previous year to just over 12 million euros.

The Group has wineries in several regions in Spain (including Priorat, Rioja and Ribera del Duero) one in Argentina, and another in California. They may also be considering purchase of a winery in Andalucia. Could it be a Sherry producer?