One wine-obsessed writer, her Mathematician boyfriend, and a car with a broken GPS. Will they survive her five-day pilgrimage in search of Spanish wine?
Kirsten Amann is a writer and publicist by day, waitress at a Spanish tapas restaurant by night. In April, 2009, she traveled to Catalunya, Spain to visit the birthplace of some of her favorite wines, much like an Elvis fan visiting Graceland. This is her story.
Taking us with her on her awesome Spanish Wine Adventure we’ve been lucky to “see” Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, Vila Viniteca and Capcanes and here’s the last article about the yummy wines of Espelt.
Day 5 – Espelt
“Hello! I’m Anna Espelt,” a dark haired woman with intense brown eyes appears, hand stretched out in greeting.
“Oh!” I say, jumping a little. “I’m sorry, excuse me.” I’m startled. We’re at the Espelt Winery , waiting to meet with our host, whom I thought would be a dude named Xavier. I’ve spent the past ten minutes zoning out amidst the colorful wine displays in the shop. So many pretty colors…
“I’m Anna Espelt,” she repeats.
“Hi! Yes! So nice to meet you!” I say, and pump the poor woman’s hand up and down. Did she say Anna Espelt? Like the name on the wine labels I’ve been staring at for the past ten minutes?
“So, are we ready to go see the vines?” Anna asks. “Yes!” I say. I’ve completely lost the Mathematician, but surely he’ll catch up. I’ve got a date with the vines and even Anna Espelt herself.
Wine Up Close
The Mathematician and I bid Barcelona farewell this morning for France, where we’ll spend the rest of our trip playing joue de boules and eating foie gras. Celler Espelt is located in the Empordà denomincaion de origin in the far northeast corner of Catalonia, in close proximity to both mountains and the sea. This last stop on our great Spanish wine adventure happens to be right on the way, not far from the French border.
The torrential downpours that followed us from Montsant drenched us on our post-dinner walk home last night, but gave way to sparkling sunshine this morning. Sad as I am to leave Barcelona, I feel a sense of adventure and possibility as we head north. Raindrops spit intermittently from the clouds that peek in and out now as we wind though the Catalan countryside in Anna’s SUV. “Do you mind the rain?” she asks as we pull off to the side of the road for the first destination on our vineyard tour.
“Oh, this is nothing!” I say, opening the passenger door to a fierce blast of wind that slams it shut on my leg. That must be the Tramuntana, Empordà’s version of the Mistral. Its gusts can reach speeds of 120 kilometers per hour, and can blow for a week at a time. This “northern wind” is blamed for the peculiarities of the Empordà landscape, the impulsiveness of its people, and the health of the region’s vines. “It’s fine,” I yell into the wind, and act like nothing happened.
We’re at the vines, at last! As much of a wine geek as I am, I’ve never seen vines up close before. As passionate as I am about food with a sense of place, I’m a total city girl with just a vague notion of vegetables in their natural habitat. Did you know that peanuts are actually a legume? An urban gardener better acquainted with dirt might consider a bunch of grapevines rote, but for me, an up close look is thrilling. We’re many months away from seeing fruit, but tiny green leaves are beginning to show.
It Tastes Like Where it’s Grown
Espelt grows grapes in several properties in the area, and the vines we’re looking at are just 60 years old. Anna’s family has been farming in the region for generations, but just opened the winery ten years ago. Hills and mountains carve up the plains and coastal territory in the region, meaning that depending upon where you are, you could be a in a different microclimate. Right now we’re further inland among low-rolling hills, and mountains loom on the horizon.
The next stop on our tour is a jagged rock ledge about seven feet tall along the side of the road, which Anna shows us to illustrate the qualities of Empordà soil. The top layer is sandy, and below that, granite. Anna plucks a plant that resembles rosemary from the ground. “This tells us the land is acidic,” she explains and hands it to me. I break the leaves, rub them between my fingers, and wonder if this herbaceous smell will be present in the wines we’ll taste later.
We drive about a kilometer more before making a quick pit stop en route to the next property, this time to visit a cork tree. After ten years in the restaurant industry, I’ve uncorked literally thousands of bottles of wine, but never gave much thought to where those bottle toppers came from. The tree forms a thick, rugged bark that takes 9-12 years to grow and regenerates after harvest. Chips in the bark reveal a sub-dermal layer that resembles…well… a cork. I am awed to see what I professionally disgorge from wine bottles in its natural state: as an evergreen oak.
The next vines that we visit are older even than the first, the very old vine Carinena for which Espelt winery is known. To the left are 70 year-old vines, and to the right, 80. Other properties house vines that are a little over 100 years in age, pretty much as old as it gets in this region, which has been planted with vines since antiquity, but was decimated by phylloxera at the turn of the 20th century. Vines on both sides of this property look knobby and gnarled, but I suspect that Anna could tell me the characteristics that differentiate the two plants. The older they are, the knottier they seem, and in the right hands, the more marvelous the wine.
New Vines
The last vines we visit are part of a project recently undertaken by the Espelt, located about ten minutes away from these low rolling plains on a high, hill overlooking the sea. As we wind through the hills, Anna tells us about the great artistic heritage of the region, where Salvador Dali once lived and where famed Spanish gastronomic chef Ferran Adrià innovates molecular gastronomy-tinged haute cuisine. Espelt’s wines boast labels designed by well-known local artist Javier Mariscal, their homage to the region’s rich cultural heritage.
“People from the area are also known to be a little bit crazy,” she says, and we laugh. It sounds like that Empordà ns’ impulsiveness is what inspired her to take on this latest project, in which the government allows Espelt to cultivate grapes in a protected park forest in exchange for keeping up the land. At first Anna declined, already very busy making Espelt’s many other wines. Then she saw the land, a vineyard that boasts 180-degree views of the Mediterranean, she couldn’t resist.
The area is mountainous and difficult to work, and each row of vines must be terraced. They began planting three years ago, and are building row for new vines as we speak, pulling stones from the soil and shaping them with intricate masonry into little solid walls without an ounce of mortar between. They resemble the stone walls that bisect the rock-studded Burren in Ireland and each take a month to assemble. The wines won’t be ready for some time but there’s something magical about this area which will surely be expressed once they are drinkable. If this is Empordà n craziness, it’s a kind of crazy we can get behind.
Tasting Room
Espelt’s tasting room is a microcosm of the old-meets-new winery – a modern, sleek, countertop is lined with tall, space-age looking chairs, that look both futuristic and very retro with their Jetson-like quality. The bright pastels and saturated hues of Espelt’s wine labels and marketing materials enliven the room in an essential, almost primitive way.
The Rose
The reds are lined up for us to taste and as she reaches in to a small refrigerator to choose a white, Anna says, “Perhaps we should taste some rose?” My eyes light up and she disappears down the hall to ask someone to grab a bottle. A few minutes later he returns, handing her a rose-filled bottle with no cork and no label that appears drawn from the tanks on the spot.
“I think he misunderstood me.” She smiles, and we taste it anyway – they’ll begin bottling and shipping it next week. In a few weeks time, I’ll be drinking it in America.* It’s dark coral in hue (“The one we sell in America is a bit lighter,” Anna explains), with ripe red raspberries strawberries on the palate and great density of flavor. I could drink a gallon of this alone – and I’m sure once it’s available in the States, I will.
Sauló
The next wine we try, the Sauló, a combination of 60 % Garnacha and 40% old vine Carinena, made from grapes born of the vines we visited today. The wine takes its name from the sandy soil and its granite roots. It is beautifully structured with flavors of raspberry and strawberry and a little spice.
Comabruna
Next we taste Comabruna, which means literally “brown top of the hill”, a blend of Syrah, Carinena, and Marselan. It’s darker in the glass than the previous wine, with ripe fruit, a long finish, and silky tannins. The wine is elegant – something I’m certain I said about the powerful reds we drank in Montsant yesterday, but in a totally different way. Comabruna is more whimsical, perhaps like the artistic people of this region? Maybe even a little more crazy?
Airam
The sweet offering Anna pours next is made of black & red Lledoner grapes, an obscure varietal indigenous to the area. It’s sweet but not cloying, with flavors of baked apples, vanilla, and fruity raspberry and strawberry jam, and a full, long finish. The sweet-toothed Mathematician finishes his in a long gulp.
Kasumi
The Mathematician’s enthusiasm for the sweet stuff prompts Anna to taste us on Kasumi, a sweet Carinena designed with the Japanese market in mind. Only 1,200 bottle of this delicious dessert wine were produced, 50% which were exported to Japan, and none of which are available in the States. This wine is deep black in color, with aromas of cherry and licorice, full in the mouth with a long finish and subtle notes of black fruit and cocoa. We are not leaving Spain without a bottle of this in tow.
Espelt is apparently huge in Japan, especially in Tokyo where an Espelt Wine Bar perpetuates the brand. After visiting the region and its peculiar charm and meeting Anna Espelt, I can see why: everything about this place, from the winemaker herself to the rugged properties to the delightful aesthetic – is a disarming delight that is expressed in the wine.
Perhaps we should open an Espelt Wine Bar in Boston next?
