Every month I send out a simple newsletter to the members of Maestrazgo Wine Club; a small group of wine-lovers who meet once a week to explore the world of wine together in a small tasting room in Barcelona. For more information on Maestrazgo Wine Club and how to book a wine tasting in Barcelona,check out this page for more information.
March: This is typically a month of two halves. The first half includes the final preparation for spring, including planting new vines in areas that are free from frost-danger. Spring does not officially start until the 21st March but the unpredictable variation on temperature has meant this can often come sooner. As the weather warms up in the second half of the month, so does the soil temperature and several things start to happen. The new canes will start to produce sap and the vines will come out of dormancy as the temperature of the soil reaches around 10°C . The winter buds will slowly expand and become woolly, leading to eventual budburst as seen in the picture above. Spring is finally here!
Hello Wine Lovers! Welcome to the 15th Edition of Maestrazgo Wine Club, and the start of the beautiful ascent into Spring here in Barcelona. Last month was very quiet due to exam studies which I am set to take on the 8th March, but I’m pleased to say we’ve got 3 wonderful tastings lined up for the month, including an international tasting on the iconic region of Tuscany in central Italy. Due to the huge popularity of blind tastings, my own personal favourite activity in the world of wine, we’ll be doing another international wine tasting this time trying to understand the process of defining quality in wine. Finally, we’ll be looking at another top Spanish producer, this time at one of the most interesting projects in DO Penedes; Can Rafols dels Caus. I’m also expecting to start my Youtube tasting channel at some point this month, which I’ll keep you posted about, but perhaps most importantly just taking the opportunity to take a breath, sit back and catching up with everyone. It sure does feel a lot like Spring!
Events: Maestrazgo Wine Club:
16th March – International Blind Tasting: Judging Quality in Wine – 10 spots left – 30 euros p/p
23rd March – Spanish Wine Producers: Can Rafols dels Caus – 10 spots left -25 euros p/p
30th March – International Wine Tasting: Tuscany – 10 spots left – 30 euros p/p
Articles: I probably spend too much of my time reading online articles about wine. However, as a result I can find and select a choice few to share – here are my three favourites from last month!
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‘Spanish pre-phylloxera grapes’ by Amaya Cervera. One of Spain’s biggest points of difference on the international markets is that the vast majority of our wines are made from indigenous grape varieties; Tempranillo, Garnacha, Albarino, Verdejo and so on. However, the Torres family have been looking even further back to try and find grapes that were almost wiped out by the introduction of phylloxera to Europe, and have been doing so for the past 30 years. For all the commercialism of Torres, they’re always been at the forefront of wine innovation, going back to the introduction of stainless steel, temperature controlled fermentation tanks in the 50’s and 60’s and most recently championing the planting of cool-climate regions around the world. Could they be ahead of the game once again? http://www.spanishwinelover.com/learn-234-a-better-future-for-spanish-wines-with-pre-phylloxera-grapes
- Scoring for Value’ by Andrew Jefford. Talking about scoring wine is a complicated issue, not least because we’re scoring quality, when wine for most people is far more of a subjective experience. How then should wine professionals build their frame-work when judging and scoring wines? In the context of wine as a whole? It hardly seems fair to compare a 6-8 euro Garnacha from Montsant to the prize wines of Priorat, often 10 times or more the cost. A very interesting read and picks up on some points we will talk about in our upcoming blind tasting! http://www.decanter.com/wine-news/opinion/jefford-on-monday/jefford-wine-scoring-value-354423/
Wine of the month: I’m constantly on the look-out for wines of real quality and value; most commonly you’ll find me drinking in the 6-25 euro range and this month is no different. As presented in our tasting of the Palacios Family…
Palacios Remondo Placet 2012: A stunning white wine from one of the countries most exciting talents, Rafel Palacios, and a member of the hugely impressive Palacios family. Rafael Palacios created this wine in 1997, shortly before he disappeared to create his own project with Godello as the star in DO Valdeorras. There’s a wonderful balance between the intensity of the fruit and 12 months of oak contact, blending almost seamlessly together and maintaining freshness and vibrancy, even after 5 years. This was the favourite white wine of the evening and deservedly so. Retails for around 17 euros a bottle and the 2012 is currently selling in Bodega Maestrazgo!
Wine Facts
Some fun and interesting facts about the world of wine. Terminology, myths and FAQs; as science becomes more ingrained in our industry, we discover new and exciting realities every day!
“Are screw-caps a sign of cheap wine?” – Definitely not. A screw-cap is a style of closure that has been extensively championed by both Australia and New Zealand, although it is starting to make an impression in Europe as well. The concept of aging wine is to find a closure that allows a small, predictable amount of oxygen to enter the wine over a period of time, faciliating chemical change. Whilst screw-caps still don’t have extensive studies of how wines will age past the 20 year mark, early studies suggest that this could potentially work for aged wines in the future; plus, how many of us age wines for 20 years or more before drinking them anyway? Screw-caps are cheaper, easier to open and mean there is no chance of cork-taint in your wine.
“What do people mean when they say, ‘This was a good vintage’?” – Wine is one of the few products in the world where the quality is affected drastically by the weather conditions of that particular year. This is not only the weather during the harvest, but also the weather during important periods of the plants annual cycle such as bud-burst, flower set and veraison (the time during the year when the grapes change colour according to variety) Too much rain, or too little rain, too much sun or too little sun.. all these factors add up to the quality of the vintage. An excellent vintage will be one where the weather conditions were good or excellent at all stages throughout the process; where enough rain fell in Spring to promote growth, but not too much to encourage fungal diseases. Where the harvest was warm enough to ripen the grapes fully, but not so much that the grapes had to be picked unusually early, and so on. Low cost commercial wines are typically not affected by this as they aim for a consistency of style over the years by blending grapes from various areas together, but high quality wines that aim to reflect a sense of place, or terroir, will be different every year.
‘Body’ – This is a term used to describe the weight of the wine, or more specifically how it feels in your mouth. Alcohol is the primary consideration as it adds weight to the wine and also tends to come with elevated levels of glycerol; a colourless, aroma-less alcohol that adds body and sometimes a sense of sweetness to the wine. Sugar and tannins can also make a wine feel thicker and denser in your mouth, which will add to the body. As such, it’s no surprise when ripe, powerful and alcohol wines are considered to be full bodied, and delicate, aromatic wines are considered to be light bodied.
Social Media
These newsletters only come out once a month and there is a limit on space for content. If you use Social Media and want to keep up with regular wine updates and occasional rambles, feel free to connect with me on any of the following platforms.
Blog: winecuentista.com
Facebook: Wine Cuentista
Twitter: @Wine_Cuentista
Instagram: wine_cuentista
That’s it for this months newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and please, if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see get in touch! Either respond to me here or email to fintankerr@winecuentista.com I can’t wait to see you all soon for more wine, food and good company. 🙂
Fintan Kerr