May: Much the same as April, with a great deal of green growth and management of the soil and canopy to be done. With warmer temperatures, buds are starting to develop earlier than usual and the late Spring frosts are particularly harmful, wiping out not only the potential crop but in severe cases, even limiting the vines ability to recover and produce extra buds. There’s still lots of work to be done to prevent these outbreaks of frost and to shelter as much of the vineyards as possible. Whilst wealthy producers may go as far as hiring helicopters to disperse the cool pockets of air, most vignerons will be up all night, lighting fires and trying to keep cool air from settling. A hard month lies ahead.
Hello Wine Lovers! Welcome to the 29th Edition of Maestrazgo Wine Club and another month of wine tasting in Barcelona. This month we unfortunately only have time for a single tasting once again, this time with more of a local feel. For those of you who read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I’ve been drinking my way through 24 Spanish wines, all at the value-end of the scale at less than 10 euros a bottle. As this experiment draws to a close, I’d like to take the 6 best bottles and share the experience with you, so that’s exactly what the tasting will be about! We’re going to try a new venue as well, a private tasting room in Eixample above a small, artisan food store. I’m looking forward to seeing you there (details/addresses will go out with the confirmation of spots) and for those of you I don’t see, have a lovely sun-filled month!
Events: Maestrazgo Wine Club:
24th May – The Spanish Value Experiment – 10 places available – 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!
1. ‘Corpinnat’ by Amaya Cervera – Corpinnat; the name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? The new privately designated classification for Cava is another blow to the category as a whole, and further evidence that the current DO structure isn’t doing enough to distinguish quality levels within it, despite the newly crowned Cava de Paraje. The classification is stringest and, to my mind, what Cava de Paraje should have been. It just goes to show that not all is well in Cava! https://www.spanishwinelover.com/learn-310-corpinnat-opens-the-way-to-private-designations-in-spain
2. ‘The man who changed the face of Soave’ by Robert Joseph. April unfortunately saw one of Italy’s greatest wine-makers pass away. Leonildo Pieropan changed the face of Soave forever with his characterful, single vineyard wines and Robert Joseph takes a brief look at the history of the man and his impact on the region. If you ever want to know what Soave is capable of, look for Pieropan’s La Rocca or Calvarino bottlings. https://www.meininger.de/en/wine-business-international/man-who-changed-face-of-soave
3. ‘The Glory of Dry Riesling’ by Jancis Robinson MW. If you read Jancis’s writing over the years, you’ll know that she’s been a champion of Riesling for..well.. as long as I can remember! Recently she organised a tasting of dry German Riesling for lucky Londoners, as well as attending a superb event focusing on the dry Rieslings of Alsace. Not content with that, there was a third tasting on the same subject, comparing wines from Germany, Alsace, Australia and America! That’s an awful lot of Riesling in a short period of time. As the summer months come into focus in Barcelona, should we do one of our own in June? https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/the-glory-of-dry-riesling
Wine of the month: I’m constantly on the look-out for wines of real quality and value; here is my favourite wine of the month
Marc Sorrel Hermitage 1999: So, something slightly different this month and not the sort of wine I find myself in front of on a regular basis. I was very fortunate on my recent trip to London to be invited to a blind tasting of older wines, and this was my pick of bunch (although I was nowhere near identifying it!). Marc Sorrel is an old hand on the hill of Hermitage and whilst his best wine is made from the single plot of Le Greal, his standard Hermitage was quite stunning at 19 years of age. Lifted, meaty, floral and incredibly elegant; this is what Syrah can be with a little patience. Oh to have a cellar!
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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