Colin – Page 100 – Colin Harkness on Wine

O. Fournier Wines & Opportunities!

Please note photographs will hopefully be included soon!

FANCY OWNING YOUR OWN VINEYARD?

THE O. FOURNIER GROUP OFFERS VINEYARDS IN ARGENTINA!

It was by a rather circuitous route that I first learned of the wines, and furthermore, the opportunities, offered by the O. Fournier Group. As a regular guest broadcaster on the SCOFFQUAFF Programme on Channel Radio, UK, I was followed, one week, by Señor José Manuel Ortega Gil-Fournier, one of the founders of the Group.

E-mail addresses were exchanged and websites viewed. The more I learned about the Group, the more excited I became – had I the where-with-all to be part of this exciting project, I’d certainly be interested! I wonder if any readers may be similarly inspired?

To paraphrase the Group’s own words, theirs is an admirable objective – to produce wines of undoubted quality, both in the Southern Hemisphere and in the North, respectively in Argentina and Chile; and Spain, Ribera del Duero, to be precise; and to sell those wines, worldwide.

With a budget of 8 million, 4 million of which has already been spent, it’s an ambitious project! The Group owns vineyards in all three countries, but it’s in Argentina where the prospects look particularly interesting. There are 84 vineyard plots owned by the Group and although lots have already been sold, there are still vineyards for sale. Some of these plots also include permission for a villa to be built on the land, surrounded by the vines that will produce the grapes to make the owners’ own wines!

These wines, made by the Group’s expert winemakers and staff, can either be sold via the Group, using all their contacts and the already established international markets; or there is also the option of owners producing their own label wines and developing their own markets. Both options are designed to cover costs and make a profit!

Of course, there’s a lot to it and the best way to find out all you need to know is by visiting www.ofournier.com, clicking on the ofwinepartners.com icon.

Señor Ortega kindly sent me some wines, examples from all three areas of production, and I’m impressed with what I’ve tasted – I’d like to taste more!

The Urban range of wines, which embraces the three countries and both Hemispheres, is designed to represent modern winemaking techniques with a view to delivering a fruit driven product which is easily accessible for those whose lives are in the fast lane, but which include some depth of flavour too. All of the four wines have been aged in oak for just three months, including the white Chardonnay, therefore enfranchising those who like the upfront fruit flavours but also require a little complexity.

Strangely enough I tasted the first, an Argentinian Malbec from the Mendoza Region, whilst in France, in Cahors, to be precise, the original home of the Malbec Grape Variety! Taking coal to Newcastle!

The vineyards of the area now known as DO Cahors were decimated by the invasion of Philoxera, the devilish pest that ruined the European wine trade at the time, as the 20^th Century was about to arrive. Some growers who had the where-with-all and the courage escaped with some of their healthy vines, emigrating to Argentina, and starting, though they didn’t know it, what has become a fantastic success story – Argentinean Malbec.

Mendoza Valley is where much of the Malbec is grown, to wide acclaim –and it’s here where the O. Fourner vineyards are located. The simple label on the bottles, a design common to all the Urban range, describes on the outside, a part of that which the contents give to the taster. And it’s this easy drinking aspect that makes the wine so attractive.

Take your time, though, hold the wine on the palate for a while and you’ll also discover a bit more. There is a very faint earthy minerality which contributes to the overall fruity sensation. Blackberries, for me, rather than Blackcurrant, and yet there is a very slight flavour, and yes, feeling, of Cassis on the finish. It’s quite rich, lovely as glass of wine after work, but will taste, and feel, good wine meat dishes and pasta too.

I was interested in the Chardonnay from Chile. The Urban Uco Chardonnay vines are grown at well over 1,000 metres above sea level. There’s plenty of sunshine but at that height there is a dramatic drop in temperature at night, during the growing season. The result is a Chardonnay that has tropical fruit on the nose and palate, with noticeable masked banana aromas too, but also a faintly Burgundian elegance with fresh acidity.

This wine has also had the benefit of three months in oak, in this case, I suspect, French oak, which may have contributed to the Burgundy reference! I enjoyed this wine as an aperitif but also with cheese and, on the second night (which is also a compliment, for it lasted well, in fact for three days), it was well received with roast chicken!

Staying in the Southern Hemisphere and also in Chile, I next tasted the heady (14·5% abv) Urban Maule Red Blend – 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 20% Syrah. A fascinating wine, given that it has the fresh acidity of the above Argentinean Malbec, which was made from grapes grown at great altitude, when this wine comes from a vineyard of only 90 metres above sea level!

Again, the three months in barrel have added some depth of flavour as well as enhancing the aroma profile. You’ll find a light touch of coconut and coffee too with a very slight black pepper taste sensation on the palate, but, as with the whole of this range, it’s the accessibility of the fruit that makes this wine stand out! Look for plums, damsons perhaps and a touch of black cherry.

Finally, though there are several other ranges of wines made by the group (including yours, one day?!), a wine from much nearer home. Urban Ribera 2011is 100% Tinta del País (aka Tempranillo) and made in DO Ribera del Duero. It’s a tough call but I’d say that this was my equal favourite of those taste, with the Malbec.

There are classic strawberries on the nose and palate with some darker fruit notes too. You’ll find some depth in flavour and a certain presence – it also weighs in at 14·5% abv and is a real mouthful of pleasure!

So, do you fancy being a part of the O. Fournier experience, becoming a consumer like myself, of a wine-making partner?!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his wine services website www.colinharknessonwine.com , where you can also subscribe to his newsletter (free of charge, of course) and therefore have first-hand and early news of the various wine events he organises, most of which are sold out very quickly! Colin is also on Facebook; Plus you can follow him on Twitter @colinonwine for the latest on the Spanish Wine scene!

Thoughts on The 2015 Vintage

VINTAGE 2015

Who’d be a Winemaker?

It’s that exciting/frightening time again – the 2015 Vintage is upon us! Indeed, as I write in just the 2^nd week of August, in some areas of production in Spain and the most southerly areas of France, it has already begun. For the growers it’s an agonising mix of anticipation and worry – all of which is done with one eye on the vineyards and the other, on the sky!

All the toil of the previous eleven months, which started just after the 2014 ‘vendimia’ (harvest, in Spanish) and continues until the last grape is picked will have impacted on the finished article – the wine. Some of the 2015 Vintage wine will be available in only a matter of weeks, indeed there’s one bodega, the only one in the Cartagena Area of Production, that promises that at least one of its wines will be on the shelves in very early September!

However, according to Denominación de Origen regulations the wine made this year which is destined to be aged, be it a Roble, or Semi-Crianza (aged in oak for anything up to six months); a Crianza (aged for a specific minimum number of months in barrel and then in bottle, before its release); a Reserva (same again, but longer in oak and often bottle); a Gran Reserva (same again, but the total ageing, barrel and bottle added together, must be at least 5 years; or a wine that has come to be known as a Vino d’Autor (a wine that has been made according to the winemaker’s whim, which does not necessarily fit into one of the brackets above), will not be available for some time.

Then there are the other categories of wine – from Vino de Pago through Vino de la Tierra and eventually to Vino de la Mesa, which in fact does not always mean the lowest in the quality stakes! I agree, it can be confusing!

In simple terms the above means that probably the majority of the 2015 vintage will not be available until, at the earliest, the first few months of 2016. Many, of course, won’t be on the wine merchants/supermarket shelves for a number of years. So, for the poor winemakers there is the continued worry of the wait. Who’d be a winemaker?

And, of course, there is another reason why such an occupation can be precarious, to say the least. A phrase that we first heard, perhaps 20 years ago – Climate Change, or in the early days, Global Warming, comes worryingly to mind!

Although it was the scientists who officially documented the evidence and first raised the alarm, it was those in agriculture, including of course, wine grape growers, who started noticing subtle (and not so subtle) changes in their crops. Fortunately the politicians, well the honest ones, started listening to the scientists and then began pressing for change.

In the fields, the change had already started. In the case of wineries different growing methods were adopted, and continue to be so. In several cases, where possible, land at higher altitude was acquired and re-planting occurred. In the vineyards themselves canopy management became the buzz-technique, where leaves are left in place to provide some shade from the relentless sun.

All very well, but whilst we can shelter from the sun, we still need the rain. I’ve lived in Spain now for 18 years, having visited for several years before that, the first time as far back as 1973. There is no doubt in my mind that 2014/15 has been both the hottest and the driest here in South East Spain. Rain has been promised (note, I don’t say, threatened!) today as I write. Nothing significant has happened, nor has it for months. We are talking serious drought here, and it’s a major concern.

Wineries which have started their vendimia will hope that any major rainfall now holds off until all their grapes are in, to avoid a dilute vintage. Those, mostly in more northerly areas, will be hoping for some rain to give the grapes a final boost, but not torrential downpours, and horror of horrors, hailstorms, both of which can/will damage the grapes beyond use. Who’d be a winemaker?!

Bodegas Enrique Mendoza, DO Alicante, for example, has been proactive regarding the lack of rainfall. No, the family and staff haven’t been engaged in rain-dancing! Instead, at considerable cost, a few years ago, they installed a system, computer controlled, which automatically triggers a drip-feed of water to the vines when they begin to show signs of stress, to the point where their survival becomes questionable.

Foolproof? Well, apparently the system is – but it is, of course, dependant on their being water to feed the feed, as it were. Look, I’m sorry, holidaymakers, the bottom line here is that we need rain, significant, regular rainfall that will cool the vines and the earth; that will start to replenish the reservoirs; that will correct the underground water table; and that will begin to redress the terrible imbalance from which we are all suffering!

And it’s not just in Spain. I was recently in Provence, home to the lovely Provençal Rosé (or is it? See my Blog www.colinharknessonwine.com click Blog). We were hoping to escape the temperatures and humidity of Valencia at the end of July, beginning of August – not a chance.

Provençal producers are similarly worried about record high temperatures and lack of rain. In a couple of days following my writing this Cork Talk, I’ll be in Cahors, another area in France famous for its wines (robust and darkly coloured reds in this case), where I’m also expecting to see wilting vines and an early harvest in progress.

Who’d be a winemaker?!

In a few months time I should be writing about bodegas’ and DO’s opinions of the standard of this year’s harvest and of the wines we are likely to find, stamped, proudly, I hope, with Vintage 2015!

PS Please note there are a number of exciting wine events this Autumn, starting in September. Watch this space, and better still, join my e-mail list for regular ‘News from the Vine’!

Wine Tourism

NB Photos will be added soon!

ENOTURISMO – WINE TOURISM

When I first emigrated, August 1997, I spent a couple of weeks acclimatising, finishing off the house (well, ‘the nice man’ did that part!), sorting the bank account etc – you’ve been there, I’m sure!

Then I decided to start to learn a little more about my adoptive country. An ideal way, it seemed to me, was to take a day trip or two, visiting other nearby areas with an English speaking guide. One such advertised trip included a bodega visit – clearly it was a sign!

The places we visited were interesting; the bodega visit, catalogued here some time ago, was an unmitigated disaster!

Another sign!

As wines were my thing and I was learning rudimentary Spanish, extra to wine-label-Spanish at which I was becoming quite adept, it seemed to me that I could develop an embryonic sector of the day trip business. It’s not true to say that it was me who started Spanish Wine Tourism, Enoturismo, but I was in the vanguard of a nascent movement which was about to become a vital, integral part of most bodegas’ revenue.

Over the intervening years I’ve visited many bodegas all over Spain, initially alone, as part of my research (if you’re going to start a business you have to do it professionally), and subsequently with groups ranging in number, from an exclusive five or six clients to a full coach load of 55. I’ve loved every minute of it!

And so have the bodegas! In the early days the idea was novel. Most bodegas hadn’t considered it at all. Some changes needed to be made – toilets were essential! A bespoke tasting room; decent, clean glasses; some bread, maybe some tapas; temperature control of the wines and the tasting room; etc. All crucial to wine tourists and, fortunately, hardly needing much investment at all.

Circumstances have dictated that, though I still take such trips, including Short Breaks of 3-5 days (if you join my e-mail list you’ll receive details via my regular, unobtrusive newsletters – details at the end of this article), I now organise far fewer than in those first halcyon days.

Things have moved on. The bodegas, seeing the potential of revenue from charging a per-person fee, as well as further income from post-visit sales, have developed their Enoturismo beyond recognition. You can taste aboard a river boat; above the vineyards in a hot-air balloon; on-board a horse drawn carriage; on a small gauge train; even in a boat on the Med, wines previously left on the seabed in sealed containers where the cool temperatures and gently rolling swell have (supposedly!) helped the evolution of the wine; and more.

Plus there is also the travel market with which to engage. Whilst there were none, that I can remember, 18 years ago, there are now bodegas which also have small, boutique hotels, Casas Rurales, charmingly built (new build and redevelopment projects) in the middle of the vineyards that surround the winery. (Indeed, there are some major, large (and expensive!) hotels owned by bodegas, usually in the more famous areas of production, like Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Cataluña).

Well, I’ve recently discovered (as regular readers . . . . will know from last week’s article) a Casa Rural inland from Valencia in the DO Utiel-Requena region.

Pago de Tharsys, featured recently in this column, has a charming boutique hotel built alongside the old (early 19^th century) finca, a sympathetic new build and redevelopment mixture, where we had the great pleasure of staying recently, as part of that ‘research’ mentioned above.

There are four double bedrooms with en-suite facilities plus a studio apartment, the whole accommodating up to 10 people. Rooms are well appointed, with views of the lake and its ducks and swans. There’s also a lounge area for all which has basic cooking facilities as well as a cava and wine stocked fridge from which clients can help themselves for a small sum. Here you’ll also find books and even a pool table!

It’s a great spot for a weekend or short break, either individually or with a group of friends and of course it’s ideal as a ‘base camp’ for further exploring – the ancient bodega (perhaps the oldest in Spain, dating back over 2,300 years); as well as, of course, other wineries in the area – don’t forget DO Utiel-Requena makes some seriously good wines at reasonable prices too!

To add to the list of Enoturismo activities above, Pago de Tharsys also offers a unique Night Harvesting Event, la Vendimia Nocturna, in September where clients can experience the romance of assisting in the harvest during the cool of the night (which is also beneficial for the grapes and ultimately the wines). There follows a feast, eaten in the vineyard with plenty of wine, claro!

Those who book first (be warned, it’s very popular, with some places reserved a year in advance!) have the option of staying overnight too, which is a great advantage considering the hour, the wine and the Guadia! I believe this event is fully booked for the 2015 vendimia, but it may be something you might want to consider for next year?

There are also varied wine tasting events, seminars etc held at the finca and in the bodega’s oldest buildings, making for a very atmospheric link with the past. It’s a super place, and of course the cavas and wines are very good too.

Last week I dealt with most of the cava that we tasted on our recent visit – this week, I’ll start with the one remaining cava a very pretty rosado, then the still wines.

Millésime Rosé has the colour of poached salmon, a dish with which it would pair perfectly. Slightly darker hued than a Provencal rosé (see my controversial blog on Provencal Rosé at www.colinharknessonwine.com click Blog) it nevertheless capitalises on the current world wine demand for pale coloured rosado wines. In the glass it’s a delight.

It’s a Brut Reserva mage with Garnacha and has 24 months en rima, on its lees before disgorgement, giving the wine sufficient body and substance to accompany a range of foods, whilst retaining that joie de vivre, essential to all sparkling wines.

Unusually for this part of the Spanish wine map Pago de Tharsys also grows Albariño and Godello for its white wines. This wine is one of the results of the Vendimia Nocturna, it’s as fresh as you’d expect considering its cool harvest, with lovely white flower and stoned fruit aromas. In the mouth apricot and white peach come to the fore with a lovely finish. Fish and shellfish, of course, but also pair this wine with salads and chicken.

Pago de Tharsys Merlot 2010 has had 12 months in barrel. It costs about 13€ and will reward you with some delightful fig and damson flavours if you buy some to taste now, plus it also has a year or more to develop in bottle in your cellar.

Nuestro Bobal is actually a blend, albeit that 85% is Bobal (the other 15% is Cabernet Franc). There’s a vegetal note to the wine, with some lovely black and red cherry flavours as well as a certain peppery sensation. There’s a slight toffee element from the oak and you’ll en joy the long, full, finish of this quite sensual wine.

Finally – a real rarity. So far this year, the best dessert wine I’ve tasted is the distinctive Pago de Tharsys Dulce Bronx white wine! It is so unique, with some citric orange peel on the nose as well as toffee apple notes with a passing candy floss aroma and taste. Hold it in your mouth and you’ll discern too some canned mixed fruit cocktail with exotic mango, papaya and lychee and a tinned peach finish. Remarkable wine made from the little known Bronx variety, originally Greek/Phoenician, but brought back to life in the labs of New York!

Pago de Tharsys

PAGO DE THARSYS

WHERE THE BODEGA CAT CHOOSES THE BEST WINE!

Wine writers share something in common with archaeologists.

Egyptologists of old must have had a palpable sense of excitement as they prepared to open the tomb they had just discovered. What revealing artefacts were about to be unearthed to tell of a civilisation about which they were only just learning?

Modern-day enthusiasts patrolling stretches of land with their metal-detectors must experience as much of a surge of adrenalin as the rapidly quickening clicks registered on their machines when hovering above perhaps some treasure buried centuries, maybe millennia ago.

And the wine writer, invited to visit a bodega of which he/she knows next to nothing, certainly relishes the sense of anticipation, hoping for the undiscovered nectar of a Holy-Grail-of-a-wine. How much better for the writer if, unlike the archaeologists forced to rough it in tents in the dessert, the bodega in question also has a Casa Rural, a boutique hotel, right next to the cellars!

Such is the case at Pago de Tharsys in Requena, a bodega that makes DO Cava, DO Utiel-Requena still wines, a superb dessert wine without either designation, as well as a rather special other Sparkling Wine!

There is still evidence of Requena’s wealthy past as a border town responsible for collecting taxes as travellers and traders crossed from one kingdom to the other. Some fine houses and fincas can still be seen. However, after a period of decline, these properties are now in the hands of the captains of the new ‘industry’ – wine making!

Well, ‘new’ is rather inaccurate. There is currently a debate going on in Spain as to which area has been making wine for the longest time. A village near Requena which boasts archaeological remains dating back to 300 years BC claims that the wine press, tools and even receipts/bills written on lead in an ancient script believes that they claim the title.

Indeed, the farmhouse which is part of Pago de Tharsys, has some history too, built as it was in 1808. Integrated into the design of the whole bodega premises this oldest part links perfectly with the newest, modern and state-of-the-art wine-making facility and is indicative of the bodega’s philosophy. The foundation of Pago de Tharsys wines is built on tradition (they still age their still red wines as long as they did many years ago) but with the added advantage of international wine-making experience, considerable and on-going investment as well as modern technology and thinking.

Sitting atop the whole building – finca, winery, cellars et al, is a wind-vane in the shape of cat. It’s a charming story!

Many bodegas in Spain have cats around the premises – it’s a cost effective way of keeping mice and even rats at bay. I’ve visited countless bodegas in Spain and have often seen cats, only once mice – and they were encouraged to be there as part of the wine tour experience!

Now, in the winter bodegas can be very cold places, the more so when they are at altitude – Pago de Tharsys’s vinyards, which surround the bodega, are at 700 metres above sea level. Cats of course like nothing better (except chasing mice) than to laze around in the heat of the sunshine, but if there is no warmth from the sky they look for alternative sources.

Sometimes, in years gone by, for whatever reason, grape juice fermenting into wine in one particular barrel, may take far longer than normal, leading into winter, perhaps, when of course it’s cold outside and inside. You can imagine that the top of a barrel, warm because of the fermentation inside, a chemical reaction which produces heat as well as alcohol, would be an ideal place for a cat to snuggle down!

In those days it was often considered that the wine that took the longest to ferment was the best – ergo, it was the cat which chose the best wines!

Well Señor Vicente Garcia, founder and head winemaker of Pago de Tharsys, doesn’t rely on the cat, or the folklore – it’s his experience, along with that of his daughter, who made wine in the Medoc, and a third winemaker that results in the quality wines and Cavas made by this, one of the leading cava makers outside of Cataluña.

It’s the sparkling wines I’d like to begin with in this article – put simply, they are splendid, and more than just a match for many Cavas made in what many consider to be DO Cava’s natural home, Cataluña!

About 65% of their total production is Cava, the rest still wines, including the distinctive sweet wine mentioned earlier and their one non-cava sparkling wine, made in exactly the same way but using a grape variety indigenous to the area, but not permitted in the making of Cava, the Bobal variety.

We started though with the 2011 Blanc de Blanc Cava which is made with 100% Chardonnay. It’s priced at just over 13€, which for a Chardonnay cava is not expensive. It has a lightness on the first hit, with good aromas of peach as well as yeasty notes. On swallowing you’ll realise that, although fresh and clean, the wine has some body too – typical of Chardonnay, as well as a good length. A fizz that will be perfect as an aperitif but which also has the body to accompany food, including chicken, with which it would be perfectly paired.

Pago de Tharsys Reserva Brut 2011 has body – and some! The extra time spent ‘en rima’ gives it greater depth and richness. There’s Chardonnay here too, but also with Macabeo giving rise to some refreshing apple notes. It’s a Brut Cava, but towards the slightly sweeter end of the residual sugar scale, giving it a faintly off-dry finish. A super Cava to have with Chinese and SE Asian food!

Finally, for this week, the sparkler that is not Cava. The Pago de Tharsys Blanc de Noir – the one made with the black grape, Bobal. I love this wine and the extra 10€ needed to buy it are worth it, and not just for its rarity (it’s a limited production wine). It has depth on the palate with fascinating black grape derived complexity. It’s big, yes, but it’s also elegant too.

Seek it out and you’ll find some faint, quite disant damson and black cherry on the nose as well as apple notes with bready aroma and flavour too. It’s a fascinating sparkling wine, part of a highly recommended portfolio!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and on facebook, plus you can follow Colin on Twitter @colinonwine. Also, via www.colinharknessonwine.com, you can subscribe (gratis of course) to his newletter where you’ll see all his wine related events: tastings, bodega visits, Short Breaks etc.