WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Hey! It’s time for the Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! This time it’s New and Improved Without the Long Sprawling Nonsensical Superfluously Worded Title! . . . Or Is it? So here we are in mid-September, our supposed long, drawn-out, going-to-be-sunny-for-quite-a-few-more-weeks predictions aren’t really coming true, and all of our tomatoes at home are somewhere between a greenish-orange and an orangish-green. And, yes, those are the ones that are supposed to be red. At least this dark cloud overhead makes my mind turn from the summery whites back to the nice reds of fall. And I know the best place to start. Spain! This week it’s Spain’s Catalunya!

Catalunya is the Northeastern part of Spain that features Spain’s second-largest city of Barcelona, birthed one of Spain’s best surrealist artists with Salvador Dali, and provides us with many different kinds of the world’s favorite wines. One important thing to remember about Catalunya is that it’s not necessarily Spain, per se. It is one of the autonomous regions of Spain, gaining independence in 1977. The Catalan people probably wouldn’t call themselves Spanish. Nor would they call themselves French, even considering there are Catalan people in the French Roussillon, just over the border (and the Pyrenees). I won’t turn this into a History lesson, I make these newsletters too long, as it is. Long History short — hundreds of years, battle for power, yada yada, here we are today. They’re Catalan.

But the wine! There is really quite a lot going on in the region wine-wise. The easiest way to get at these tasty gems is to focus on certain regions that are readily available. First and foremost, we’ve gotta mention the Cava. Many consider this the world’s favorite sparkling wine, at least for the masses. The wines are pleasant and the cost is unbeatable. They’re made in the traditional Champagne method, sometimes with the traditional Chardonnay, yet often with regional Xarel.lo, Perellada and Macabeo.

Another of the primary and noteworthy regions is Priorato, a hilly area within the Tarragona region of Catalunya. It takes its name from the old monastery “Priorato de Scala Dei”, directly translated to the “Priory of the Stairway of God” and loosely translated to “The Houses of the Holy to the Stairway to Heaven”. And yes, the wines there truly do rock. In fact, the soil is rocky, too. The Garnacha and/or Carinena-based wines have been favorites of critics in recent years, giving the region local rockstar status.

Montsant is the region that would be groveling at the feet of these rockstars, literally if not figuratively. Priorato is the hilly region, and Montsant is the lowland region around the base of this hilly area. The wines are similar to those of its neighbor, also using the Garnacha and Carinena. I wouldn’t put the wines in a category below those of Priorat. Both make some spectacular juice, but I feel Montsant is making it more consistently good, and at a lower cost.

Then there are islands. Okay, technically the Balearic Islands are not part of Catalunya. They are just to the South in the Mediterranean, and also consider themselves Catalan and speak a dialect of Catalan called Mallorquin, so this is the tasting where it’s most appropriate to put them. I mean, there isn’t very much wine we see coming out of there, so what little we find we have to fit into one of these tastings. I don’t know much about the wines from this region, but the one we’ve got here is made with Callet, Mantonegre-Fogoneu and Syrah. I’ve heard of Syrah. My wine-geek senses are tingling.

So what’s left? There are quite a few regions that we’re not touching on since there weren’t enough examples available here in town. The only region we’ve got that we haven’t mentioned here is Terra Alta, and there isn’t a whole lot of information about them available. Most books state it as “potential rival to Priorat . . . someday”. So we’ve got a Cava, a general Catalunya wine, a wine from Terra Alta, one from Priorat, one from the Islands, and two from Montsant. It’s going to be good. Oh, yes. It’s going to be good.

So Friday, September 14th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Spain’s Catalunya!!!
1 + 1 = 3 NV Brut, Cava
Mas Marcal 2005 Tinto, Catalunya
Falset Marca 2005 Tinto, Montsant
Cellar Vinos Pinol 2005 Ludovicus, Terra Alta
Vinicola del Priorat 2004 Mas del Frares, Priorat

And Two More!!!
Acustic 2004 Brao, Montsant
Anima Negra 2004 AN-2, Illes Balears (Maillorca)

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.

Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Argentina!

M