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.