Articles – Page 63 – Colin Harkness on Wine

Canals & Munné Cavas & Wines!

CANALS & MUNNÉ – STILL/SPARKLING

Probably most readers will have heard of the excellent, at time sensational, Cavas crafted by Canals & Munné in the Alt Penedés area of Cataluña. I believe it was my visit to Barcelona’s huge biennial wine and food fair, Alimentaria, perhaps 16 years ago, when I fiRst tasted their excellent sparkling wines. I was, and I remain, very impressed.

However the title of this article alludes also to a fairly well-kept secret – Canals & Munné make top quality still wines as well.

Five generations ago the family (which remains in control to this day) planted their first vineyards in Can Canals – the vines took root, and so did the legend. Year on year the winery has been producing first class cavas, originally using a combination of traditional varieties – Macabeo, Parelleda and Xarel.lo; and then introducing the Champagne varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

There’s a very impressive portfolio of cavas, from an entry level price of just under 10€ right up to their top Gran Reserva Gran Duc, whose superb quality and delightful tear-drop shaped bottle suggests a price tag in excess of it’s actual cost – just over 25€. Over the years I’ve tasted most of the fizz and loved them, so I didn’t think twice about the offer of a sample of their Gran Reserva 2010 recently, and when it came, as it did, with several of their still wines, well – it would have been churlish to refuse!

The Gran Reserva 2010 is made with 40% Macabeo, 30% Chardonnay and 30% Parellada. It has clearly benefited from its four years in bottle resting on its lees as the depth of flavour is phenomenal. There are some cavas of this sort of age that have become a little tired, with an off-putting musty granny’s attic aroma. Canals & Munné’s Gran Reserva is the antithesis of this sort of cava. It’s as fresh as if it were years younger, so therefore superb for celebrations and of course aperitifs.

However the time in bottle with its lees, plus the addition of a sizeable proportion of Chardonnay, which was clearly harvested at optimum ripeness, have added an enviable depth and complexity. The wine has typical aromas of sparkling wine, patisserie notes, fresh bread and, from the Macabeo, some reference to an unsweetened apple pastry with a lick of dry cider too. The Chardonnay then comes to the fore, with a buttery, slightly smoky, faintly vanilla aroma and flavour.

A long, long finish just adds to the finished product and makes it a wine to enjoy with food too – a smoked salmon fillet, for example, would really be excellent with this sparkler.

Canals & Munne’s Vi Blanc Princeps is an organic white wine made from Xarel.lo, Chardonnay and Sauvignon – an eclectic mix which makes the wine hugely aromatic with gooseberry, citrus, white flowers, blanched almonds and a touch of under-ripe pineapple, whose job it is to remind us that this is a dry wine. Perfect with salads, fish and shell-fish of course, but also with light meats that have a citric element too.

Blanc Princeps Blanc de Blanc Seco Muscat is a wine style that, although fairly novel in the Cataluña area, is quite prevalent in the Valencia region. Moscatel, which we all know makes super rich, sultana/grape fragranced dessert wines has a clone, Moscat de Frontignan, which lends itself more to dry wine styles, yet with the same aroma.

This wine is a must to try with SE Asian Cuisine as well as Indian/Pakistani/Nepali dishes. It’s pleasant, pungent aromas will rise above those of the dish and it’s fruit content will mix perfectly with any sweetness found in the cuisine and it will slightly tame the chilli-hot nature of such wonderful food.

Rosé Princeps is new to the fold. Made with Merlot, the maceration was long enough for considerable colour to be extracted, along with flavour and some tannin. The result is a rosé wine with attitude! Yes it wants to be delicately perfumed, with raspberries and strawberries noted, but it also wants to have little of the Merlot’s cherry and plum depth of flavour too. Try it with pink fish and pork dishes!

My favourite of the still wines (though it was very close, with both this wine and the final one, achieving the same scores) was their Gran Blanc Princeps Xarel.lo Fermentado en Barrica 2013.

I like to think that Xarel.lo is the Chardonnay of Cataluña. Xarel.lo is everyone’s friend – it can be fresh and fruity, more citrus than Chardonnay-esque exotic, with white floral and nutty notes too, plus it can take on very different flavours and aromas when oak is used in its elaboration, as with this wine. Either way, you’ll have a wine that is aromatic, quite deeply, to deeply flavoured, rounded and rich, with elegance too.

It’s the depth of flavour and the elegance of this FB wine that I find most enchanting – a style that I can just go on drinking until the bottle is finished! I urge you to try it!

The final wine was Noir Princeps 2008, a red crianza wine which again scored well in my notes. It’s rich in fruit with a slight, endearing bronzed, medium toasted wood aroma. The Cabernet Sauvignon which has been grown at mid-altitude, along with Tempranillo and Merlot, has obviously ripened well under the Spanish sun. Here you get the blackcurrant fruit with sturdiness, but nothing harsh. Dark fruits like damson and blackberry play supporting roles and its six months in oak add a lovely liquorice note with faint whispers of vanilla and a little cinnamon.

So, when thinking Cava, think also still wines from Canals & Munné – you won’t be disappointed, and your wallet won’t feel much lighter either!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through www.colinharknessonwine.com and for up to the minute news about Spanish Wine please follow Colin on Twitter @colinonwine

Kosher Cava

KOSHER CAVA

FREIXENET – MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!

Regular readers may wonder if I’ve changed my religion! I haven’t, but I do admit to writing a few articles recently about Kosher wines, wines which are, of course, designed for the Jewish Community.

A wholly intolerant Spain of the middle ages firstly treated Spanish Jews dreadfully, ultimately expelling any who were left alive. Fortunately the Inquisition is consigned to history, and Spain, we hope, is tolerant of all religions, colours and creeds.

There are flourishing Jewish communities in various cities of Spain, Barcelona and Benidorm to name but two. There are certain dietary laws which must be followed by practising Jews and, though I’m no expert, I understand that this means that only Kosher food and drink may be consumed.

With so many wonderful wines available in Spain it perhaps has been frustrating for Spanish Jews that so few have been Kosher and therefore permitted for their various festivals. Fortunately, as Bob Dylan (who was born into a Jewish family) wrote: The Times They are A’ Changing!

Truly outstanding Kosher red wine is made in DO Montsant, by Celler Capçanes; good reds are also made in Yecla, at Bodegas Castaño, and in DO Navarra by Bodegas Fernandez de Arcaya. There are others too, though I haven’t yet heard of any whites.

However I’m sure it will delight Jewish people to know that there is now a Kosher Cava available in Spain, made, not so much by a bodega, but more of Spanish institution – Bodegas Freixenet!

I’m sure that there is celebration in some of the Jewish festivals – and what better way to celebrate than with some sparkling wine? This innovative move by Bodegas Freixenet will, itself, be celebrated, I’m sure. The cava in question – comes in two styles, Brut, dry and a super aperitif fizz; and Semi-Seco a sparkler designed for those with a sweeter tooth, and a wine that can be used at the end of dinner for a toast etc, perhaps with the dessert.

More on the two ‘Freixenet Excelencia’ cavas later!

It’s a fairly safe bet, I’m sure, to suggest that everyone reading this column has, at some time or other, drunk a Freixenet cava. There is a huge range of them and they consistently prove that big is beautiful. I forget how many millions of bottles of cava are stacked on specially designed pallets in the huge underground cellars (so huge there is a train that takes visitors around it) above which sit the iconic Bodegas Freiexenet buildings – complete with antiques, tasting rooms, shop (claro!) and even cinema. No matter, the number is almost incomprehensible anyway!

Look in the Peñin Guide and you’ll see practically a whole page of cavas listed, meriting points from the top 80s to the mid 90s. The distinctive Cordón Negro (come on, admit it, you have a free cava glass with this name emblazoned on the base!); the Carta Nevada, usually found right next to the former, on supermarket shelves; right up to the Meritum Gran Reserva along with other prestigious cuvées . They are all there!

This huge institution exports its cavas all over the world and has offices in, for example, Japan, Mexico, Shanghai, Scandinavia, USA, Canada and Argentina, to name just a selection. Each year at Christmas time the wine and television worlds wait in anticipation to see which famous actors have been selected to head the new Festive Advertising Campagne, which in itself has become an institution. Previous celebrities to have appeared have been Sharon Stone, Antonio Banderas and most recently Shakira, with amongst other Scorsese as Director! Such is the fame of Freixenet!

The Excelencia range of Kosher Cavas sell like hot cakes in the USA and, having tasted them, I have a feeling that after this article Freixenet will be pressurised into making sure they are readily available here too!

Personally I prefer, Brut and Brut Nature Cava – both are perfect matches for many aperitifs; and of course as a celebratory drink, and none too expensive, cava can hardly be beaten! So the Excelencia Brut suits my palate perfectly.

There’s the usual patisserie notes on the nose – a natural aromatic characteristic which comes from autolysis, part of the sparkling wine making process – of course. But when one lingers with intent there are also pear and green apple notes, from the 100% Macabeo variety, one of the three traditional cava varieties.

The wine spends fifteen months en rima (in contact with its lees). The minimum time specified by the Consejo Regulador is a mere nine months, but generally the longer this time is, the better the cava produced. It’s clear that Freixenet is committed to making quality cava for this market.

I recommend holding the sparkling wine on the palate for a few seconds before swallowing. You’ll find that you’ll be able to appreciate better its flavour and depth, as well as those invigorating bubbles!

I know that there are many lovers of fizz who prefer a sweeter style – perhaps as an aperitif, but for me, far better with a dessert as well as with some of the sweeter styles of Chinese cuisine. Here the freshness of the bubbles can cut through the richness of the dish whilst the sweetness of the drink adds to the overall depth of flavour of the food. A very good match.

So, whether you are or are not Jewish, you may well like to visit www.freixenet.es and search for Excelencia Kosher Cava!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his unique website www.colinharknessonwine.com and for all the latest news about Spanish wines you can follow colin on Twitter – @colinonwine

DO BULLAS WINES

DO BULLAS TASTING

EL MUSEO DEL VINO, BULLAS

I’m quite sure that, if you look around the area where you live, perhaps going to your local Tourist Information Office, you’ll find that there’s a Wine Museum somewhere nearby. Spain has been making wine at least since the Phoenicians were here, and probably before that too. When it comes to wine Spain has plenty of previous!

Such a rich and long history should rightly be celebrated and this is the function of the wine museums. El Museo del Vino, Bullas, a modern purpose built, easy access building on the edge of Bullas is just such a museum. It’s fascinating to see how wine making in the area has developed over the centuries.

It’s also fascinating to see how it continues to develop, and how, maybe it needs to put a move on! The diverse and dynamic world of Spanish wine is now a major player on the international scene with exports from some DOs exceeding 90% of total production. Indeed there are plenty of DO Bullas’ wines exported annually. But there’s room for more, and there’s certainly room to expand the national sales – which are, in truth, disappointing.

Regular readers may remember a series of articles I wrote on the bodegas and wines of DO Bullas. There are some excellent 90+ pointers in the various Wine Guides, Peñin for example – but that’s not all. These are, if you like, the brightest stars which come from a firmament already at a high level. I was very pleasantly surprised by the general quality of the many wines I was sent to taste.

So I was delighted that one of the leading lights of the DO, Bodegas Rosario (of the Las Reñas range of wines), put my name forward to the Museo del Vino as the person who should present in English a wine tasting of DO Bullas wines in the museum, as part of their celebrations for National Museums Day here in Spain.

The tasting was designed as a celebration of both the Wine Museum and its cultural contribution to the area, and of the wines of the region. The tasting was to be delivered in English as part of the town’s cultural exchange programme where different nationalities can mix and enjoy each other’s company and learn about their differing cultures, whilst simultaneously delighting in the area’s favourite product – wine!

We started with a Macabeo 2013, Cepas del Zorro – an entry level wine that was fresh and dry with a lick of acidity, a slight white flower fragrance and a passing nod to green apple aromas and flavours which are characteristics of this variety – which as many will know has the alias of Viura in some other regions.

This wine was made by Bodega Cooperativa San Isidro, one of the bodegas whose wines I enjoyed some months ago, all of which are in the 80s in terms of Peñin points.

Rosmarinus Organic Rosado from Bodegas Carrascalejo was the next wine – but oh dear, what an opportunity missed by this bodega whose rich red wines I’d tasted months ago. Inexplicably they had sent their 2012 vintage which, having been made from the indigenous and darling variety of the area, Monastrell, as well as Spain’s most planted variety, Garnacha, would probably have been a super fruit dominated, clean and fresh rosado – had it been the latest 2013 vintage, as it should have been.

It wasn’t just me who noticed, on pouring, that the brightness of youthful colour was fading to a slightly brick red colour – not a good sign for rosado at all! Fearing the worst I tasted the wine, before the clients arrived of course, and whilst the wine hadn’t ‘gone’ completely, it was clearly a shadow of its former self. A mix-up in the bodega; or a lack of knowledge; or, perhaps worst of all, a lamentable apathy? I don’t know but we were all disappointed and slightly mystified as to why it had been sent!

I’m afraid that, at first, I wasn’t particularly enamoured by the next wine, either – Mercader Quesada 2012 from Bodegas Mundo Enológico Q-M, another organic wine, and our first red. However, after having had time to breathe in bottle and in glass the wine changed for the better and whilst I wouldn’t say that it was an exemplary red Monastrell from DO Bullas it was fruit driven with a little depth and typical dark plum flavours mixing well with an earthy minerality. I recommend decanting this wine perhaps 30 minutes before serving.

Lorca Shiraz 2011 from Bodegas Rosario is another range of wines from this forward thinking bodega, whose export manager, Mara Martínez, had told me that unfortunately she wasn’t able to attend the tasting as she’d be in the USA spreading the good name of DO Bullas wines, having returned not long ago from Japan, where she’d been doing the same!

I love Spanish Shiraz (aka Syrah) – it often has the spicy, black pepper characteristics of French Syrah, but with an extra, sunshine induced richness. Lorca is such a wine – juicy blackberry and stewed plum fruit, with spice, some vanilla, cinnamon and a faint hint of coffee-bean aroma, from the young barricas in which it spent four months.

Lavia 2008, from Bodega Molino y Lagares, has the above Shiraz notes but the addition of Monastrell and extra time in oak makes a wholly different wine. The wine was made using a mixture of grapes fermented in stainless steel and others in French oak. The wine therefore has the benefit of fresh vibrancy and depth, of power and elegance. A layered wine, complex, with excellent fruit and a long finish.

Our final wine was from the 2007 vintage – Valché, from Bodega Monastrell. I’ve tasted several of their portfolio and it’s clear that this is one of the stars of the DO. Valché, whose bottle shape and label design already make it stand out on the shelf, is a multi-layered, complex wine, and yet so easy to drink! Its 12 months in French oak have added subtlety, elegance and depth of flavour, but never masking the point – and the point is, just how good can Monastrell be! Answer – very, very good!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and www.colinharknessonwine.com and via Twitter @colinonwine

DO NAVARRA WINES

BODEGAS FERNÁNDEZ DE ARCAYA

DO NAVARRA GOING FULL CIRCLE?

In his book, ‘The New Spain’ revised edition 2004, the late John Radford says that DO Navarra’s wines “ . . represent some of the most exciting and innovative work being conducted in the country . .”.

I agree with him – but when I checked in my wine ‘cellar’ how many Navarra wines did I find – none! Tell me, when was the last time you bought a wine from DO Navarra? I have to admit, I rarely do and judging by what’s offered in friends’ homes and indeed in restaurants on the costas of Spain it seems I’m not alone. It’s a crying shame for Navarra producers who once were as powerful as those of their counterparts in the now far more famous, La Rioja. Well with perhaps a little help from this article and ones to follow, plus the rich wines of Bodegas Fernández de Arcaya I can foresee a change for the better!

Navarra is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Spain. When the Americas were discovered, ships leaving Spain charged with keeping the colonists provisioned, were packed to the gunnels with food and drink. As Navarra already had a fine track record in the export trade (to France, in fact) and in producing fine wine for the pilgrims en route to and from Santiago de Compostela their producers were an obvious choice for the merchants.

Of course the ships returned from the Americas laden with g old, silver, tobacco and other exotic and precious items. The wine producers were paid handsomely, this enabled them to invest in their business and to put in place that which was needed for the future generations to continue in the same vein. This foresight paid dividends as the Royal Courts, Cathedrals and Colleges of Spain located in the area during the following centuries also needed copious amounts of fine (and session!) wine.

Also, in business, clouds can have silver linings and when centuries later the famed French vineyards were hit by the dreadful Phyloxera plague, Navarra was ideally placed to take advantage of the fact that a thirsty France needed supplying with wine!

The good times rolled in Navarra. That is until that nasty pest, Phyloxera, decimated the productive vineyards of Navarra as well, just as it had in most of Europe! The area under vineyard was reduced by over 98% – a staggering blow which left a legacy. Navarra didn’t recover its former glory and as other areas, particularly nearby Rioja, gained in importance it was left slightly by the wayside.

Then the regional government decided to get to grips with the problem. EVENA, the Viticultural and Oenological Research Station was established in Olite – their brief, to investigate just about everything to do with wine in their area – from the soils, the varieties, the climate etc – right up to, and including bottling! Although still wounded, Navarra bounced back.

Clearly one of the reasons is that bodegas continued producing fine wines as they always had done, but they also upped the ante re quality. Bodegas Fernández de Arcaya is just such a bodega. Rustic, with a history in general agriculture as well in vineyards the winery is making traditional and modern/traditional Navarra wines – with one foot in the past, one in the present and an eye to the future.

There’s a small portfolio of wines, just seven in total: a white, a rosado and five reds, most of which, following traditional methods have an element of oak ageing, from roble to reserva in style. But it is the final wine listed on their website (www.fernandezdearcaya.com) that first attracted my attention.

From time to time over the years I’ve written about Kosher wines that are produced in Spain. There are, of course, Jewish communities all over Spain, whose religious dietary requirements must be met. However there are also many Jewish communities throughout the world which, like others, would like to have a wider choice of wines available to them. Kosher wines, wines that are permitted in the Jewish religion – and especially for their various religious festivals, but which are also jolly good wines!

‘Alate Kosher 2011 no mevushal’ from Bodegas Fernández de Arcaya is a 100%, authentic Kosher, Rabbi approved red wine – and a wine of quality, whatever your religion! Made from 100% Tempranillo it has a super deep red colour and an alluring aroma when first uncorked and poured into the decanter or glass.

Like all the Fernandez de Arcaya wines is it rich and fills the mouth with pleasure. Intense aromas of dark cherry, some red and black plum but also a passing note of ripe strawberry and redcurrant. There’s no mention of oak – but the wine feels like it’s had a short time in barrica whilst maintaining its freshness. Lovely wine, recommended!

Perguita Crianza is a died-in-the-maceration-tank traditional Navarra wine. 80% Tempranillo with supporting acts from Cabernet (explaining the darker colour of this wine) and a little Merlot. It’s had 12 monthss in American and French oak, a combination which gives the wine some added aromas and flavours of vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, coconut and a touch of tobacco. It’s a quite intense wine with some complexity and depth. Again rich, and certainly a wine for the dinner table, as well as for simply enjoying!

Selección Privada Reserva 2007 is made with 100% Cabernet it’s brooding power and perhaps harshness of youth have mellowed perfectly now making it an ideal wine for drinking now and for a couple of years yet. Two years in French and American have added the same as in the above, but in a slightly more melloed, understated manner. Blackcurrant, black cherry and damson are on the nose and the palate.

It’s a complex, structured wine with layers of pleasure throughout its depth and a certain feeling of opulence. It’s a personal favourite of the family, and I can see why!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his unique website www.colinharknessonwine.com and you can now follow Colin on Twitter @colinonwine for all the up-to-the-minute information about the dynamic Spanish wine world!