Only Red Wines

Visiting D.O.Q. Priorat and not to visit a winery or Celler as they are called here is to miss part of the visit to this region. While visiting in the winter season, and most weekdays, it is not very common, we recommend visiting Sangenis i Vaqué, a family winery that produces wines from the area since 1979 in term of Porrera and vines grown on farms owned by family tradition of processors since the nineteenth century.

The Cellar is in the Plaza de Catalunya Porrera and is one of the houses just to the square. Mary served us very nicely, a couple of family Sangenis i Vaqué, an expert in the field, we argued that all processes used in manufacturing its wines, this winery produces about 40,000 bottles of (very small compared to the 2 one million bottles of wine cellars La Rioja).

This process begins with the alcoholic fermentation in underground reservoirs lined with stone, which contain grapes despalillada (without cluster) for approximately 30 days. These deposits were used by their ancestors to ferment the grapes give the wine that best features of stainless steel (which also had in there. After this stage was removed and excess skin is pressed again to get that mixed the wort wort flower left in the tanks will produce a second fermentation called malolactic. This wort is removed daily for 30 days.

Then it became a French oak barrels, where at least 12 months will be to mix the tannins of the grape itself with the tannins of the wood used for this 225-liter barrels, which are renewed every 5 years. They also use American oak, but in France tried to tune the strength of this type of natural wood. Aging in the bottle is important to finish this round and ripe wine, which uses fundamentalente varieties of Grenache and Carignan (other varieties such as Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot are also used), especially in some wines are produced from vineyards 50 and 80 years old.

The tasting we did at the same winery, tasting two of the five varieties the winery offers. First I tried Valley for 2003, one of the wines my wine magazine, named value estimate for 2008 to our palates, varieties Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Grenache and Carignan, with a dark cherry color violet edgings, with hints of spice and red fruit and a long background. An interesting choice for about € 15 a bottle.

Then I try to reserve a 2002 Clos Monlleó, came from old vines Grenache and Carignan (25 to 80 years), a round wine-colored cherry picota mature with aromas of ripe fruit and mineral tones, fat and greedy , a wine with 15 º of alcohol and low acidity, which is perfect to accompany a good plate of red meat, and taste only pleasure. The wine is worth 42 € for me seemed like a good price for the feeling that I had left my senses. In addition the winery has 3 varieties, Coranya (Grenache and Carignan vines average 10-15 years), very similar to Dara Vall Por (by variety) and i Sangenis Vaqué, without raising a young red and highly valued would be very attractive to look good for special occasions at an affordable price.

Finally a visit very informative and I would like to thank Mary Sangenis i Vaqué who very kindly gave us a lesson of deeper knowledge on the art of winemaking, and with his youth and professionalism and I hope we can continue to surprise us more in winemaking.

Perhaps a little-known appellation of origin, but their situation (surrounding the DOQ Priorat) is one of the wine areas of excellence in the interior of Catalonia. Its capital is Falset which is where the Regulatory Board, together with Capçanes, Marc, Cornudella, Siurana, ... are the populations that make up the DO of Montsant.

This area is characteristic by having clayey soils and plains, but also part of the landscape slate land, bordering on the same area, the area of Priorat DOQ. During my trip last January I also had the opportunity to visit the area and its wineries, of which I am also took their prized wines, in particular I took two wine cellars as were the DO Montsant Finca and La cova dels Fontanals Vins.

The first one I found little tune, as a wine cooperative in bulk, but with a feature to be very tannic wines first barrel, mostly American oak, which gives an over-aggressiveness to the wines, especially when we speak of Carignan and Grenache grapes. The wine from La Cova dels Vins, Terrós 04, if that surprised me, a lively and intense wine with a nose full of touches of mineral, fruit and roasted, intense on the palate, fresh, succulent and sweet tannins, which also gains after to open the bottle. Noticed the typical varieties Grenache and Carignan and Syrah and a touch that has been in raising more than a year in French oak, typical of a soft tannic and sweet.

This came at it yesterday at a dinner Saturday friends (without difficulty) along with some of Iberian pork tenderloins stuffed with plums, with a red wine sauce (DO Alicante Monastrell variety) and a garnish of fried apples, we are delighted that the evening with large doses of humor and good roll. So, folks, you know a good wine with a nice dinner with good friends and revitalizes to and makes people forget the embarrassing last week and face the next over ansi it arrives again at the weekend.

This week I had the opportunity to try some wines from the DO Valencia and the truth is that the wealth of sites that shows up the quality and variety of wines to be found.

Since the high Túria through areas of Cheste and Godelleta, Turís, Liria, Villar del Arzobispo, Pedralba, as well as Clariano Font de la Figuera, the alcusses area, now called Tuscany Valencia Fontanares, Enguera ... The truth is that we have many varieties of grapes such as Tempranillo, Garnacha Tintorera the Monastrell, Cabernet, Merseguera, Macabeo and Moscatel Romano, of which each production area produces wines of great quality and are getting more press, thanks the work of the regulatory boards and people like Eduardo Mestres Bodeguers Association , who helped to publicize the products of Valencia.

The wines I tried that this week has been mixed, as for wineries Fusta Nova Gandía, a sweet wine Moscatel variety Alexandria, with a temperature of about 14 º C making their 15th of alcohol, along with sweet and fruity and fine to end a perfect meal in the most impeccable.

Villar del Arzobispo also was present at the table with a powerful wine of Bodegas Comeche, Vega rearing Serrana 2005, a wine based on Tempranillo, fleshy, long persistence, with velvety tannins and aging in American oak gives denoting power.

Clariano area to be presented at my table at two of the weekend, my choice was a curiously Megala 2005 from Bodegas Enguera, wine and Shiraz and Monastrell grape, intense, bright and clean, with aromas of roasted fruit and red ripe, structured and balanced, there is aging in French oak, which sharpens the harmony between wood and red fruit.

It was also the choice of restaurant Rascanya of Pobla de Vallbona, who included it in the hold of the feast of the link to go last Saturday, this time a Megala 2006, perhaps more balanced and refined than that of 2005, due to the wood, not being new, it was a shade more tan, more roots, and where there was more smoothly the ripe red berry fruits.

I also tasted a wine from Alto Turia, in this case a young white holds Polo Monleón, Hoya del Castillo, and a variety Merseguera and Macabeo, fruity, pale, yellow-green, with a carbon and elegant acidity.

For a complete cava (for toast) from Paarl, in this case a brut nature Pago de Tharsys the Carlota Suria of Macabeo and Perella, which while not of the DO Valencia, but it deserves highlighting the fineness of their needles, although this far from other cavas Valencianos and not Catalan.

Conclusion that although I am still missing for trying new delicacies, we have a variety of wines Valencians worth dealing with honey, local produce and consume as recommending them to the rest of the country and Europe, as the effort of families and business people who believe in their work and offer quality at extremely affordable prices and that should be on the cards of the best restaurants, to feel represented in our lives Mediterranean.