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Dispatches

The Douro, Past as Present

Portugal, as a wine-making region, has an incredible diversity of native grapes that is virtually without equal. Estimates of the number

Douro Region, with Porto regions. Source: Wine Educators, 2016.

of grapes grown in the region range from at least 240 different kinds of vitis vinifera, and upward. Representative of that diversity is the Douro region, split into three major parts that grow up to 130 different grape varieties. Three things to help understand the Douro region of Portugal.

How the Douro varies, by region. The three regions, all of which are shielded by the mountain range, Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. Although all three are considered the Douro, the regions have extremely different characteristics, one of which is very different average rainfall. Baixo Corgo, the closest to the Portuguese Coast, gets

North-facing vineyards in Cima Corgo of the Douro

around 800 mm of rain, or nearly 31.5 inches, on average. Cima Corgo gets about 500 mm, or just under 20 inches, while Douro Superior is an arid region that gets 300 mm per year, or a mere 11 inches of rain. This is an incredible variation, which calls for very different viticultural practices. Vineyards in Baixo Corgo battle fungi and powdery mildew in ways similar to other, fairly wet regions, whereas a few miles inland, these are the least of their problems.
The north vs. the south. Vineyard managers in the Cima and Baixo Corgo regions point out the oddity of “upper“ and “lower” regions of the Corgo river having nothing to do with the use of the Corgo River as a boundary for those parts. Instead, they point out that the north and south facing slopes along the Douro are what create the differences in the vineyards. South-facing vineyards get a lot of sun all year round, and the schist rock reflects more heat during the summer waves of heat. Right around solstice, in June, is when the Queima do Sao Joao (Saint John’s Burn) often hits, either burning grapes, or burning leaf stems so severely, that nutrition can no longer get to the leaf itself. As you look at the north-facing side of the Douro, the tendency is to have an almost lunar-scape of browns, when the vines are in dormancy. The steep north-facing slopes may be cooler in the summer, but they get very little sun in the winter – sometimes only 3 to 5 hours a day, depending on the aspect and orientation of the slope.
Terraces and the interspersing of varieties, historically, for Port wine. The Douro is an interesting region, also, because in essence, there is a wine region within a wine region – i.e. the area from which port wines come, within the greater wine region of the Douro. Historically, this meant planting many varietals within the

Block varietals in Baixo Corgo, of the Douro

same vineyards, because that was what was required for port wines. As matter of quality and quantity control, however, a limited amount of grapes could be used for port, which is a problem for growers. What do you do with the rest of the grapes and their juice?

In some cases, the response has been to make

Quinta do Carvalhas – A vino tinto with grapes from 42 grape varietals.

high quality wines, while embracing all of the varietals that go into a bottle. Some modern vineyards, which are planted in blocks, will have several of the more prominent Portuguese varietals, such as Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão. Other varietals, such as Tinta Francisca and Tinta Amarela (or Trincadeira) are grapes that are coming back into favor, after having waned in popularity, some even now being bottled as a single varietal.

The Douro, continues to explore its past, through a variety of planting formats on it’s steep inclines, even as it confronts its climatological future. More on the latter in my next post!

Moratinos, Phylloxera, and Hobbit Dwellings

As you walk into the small village if Moratinos in the Spanish province of León, you see a small hill to one side, with a series of small doors at the bottom, that ring it, and small chimneys closer to the top. Although they do look like

Hobbit dwellings, they are old caves that were dug out as wine cellars, with some estimates dating them back over 500 years. Currently only four families make wine in their caves, several others use them for storing meats and cheeses, and about half of them have caved in and are in disrepair.

The Hobbit hill of Moratinos

Segundino is one of seven brothers, and they were making the family wine as I walked around the bottom of the hill. They had harvested their grapes from a few kilometers away, and I was invited in to see how they were pressing off the grapes, and getting ready to start the fermentation process. The press is done using an old horizontal wine press, and the juice is then transferred into the cave for fermentation. I tried a bit of the freshly pressed Mencia.

Horizontal wood press

Two major changes have affected wine making on this hill in Moratinos. Segundino said that the whole area, including the entirety of the hill itself, were once planted in grapes, and families made their wine together, until deadly phylloxera wiped all of the grapes out. Many could not afford to replant, and coupled with significant out-migration, the vineyards of Moratinos never recovered. There are few people who want to take the trouble to bring grapes from a distance, to make wine at this point.

Currently, they bring in grapes from about 20 kilometers away, in vineyards planted closer to one of the brothers. The vineyard that Segundino planted and cares for has black grape

Segundino in the family cave

varieties of Tempranillo and Mencia, and they make a bit of Godello, a white varietal they brought in from Galicia. “This is all just for family, and even though there are seven of us, we’re all getting old, so we really don’t drink all that much. Well, most of the time,” he said with a bit of a smile.

The Caves of the Rioja

As you walk the Camino Francés, you strategically take a day off here and there – mine are usually in larger cities, where there is amazing food and wine to enjoy. In the case of Logroño, that is an easy stop to make. First of all, there is Calle Laurel, which is a whole street dedicated to tapas bars, where the tradition is to go in, order ONE tapa and a glass of wine, sore moving on to the next one, and doing the same, and the next, and the next.

A second reason to stop is because Logroño is in the heart of Rioja wine country, and there are plenty of bodegas to visit, and wine to drink. One of the bodegas I went to with a guide named Roberto, was to Bodegas Lecea in San Asensio ok. San Asensio is an interesting town of hundreds of homes, almost all of which have a cave dug underneath them for winemaking purposes. This was done for hundreds of years, up until recently, and now Lecea is the lone remaining bodega that does that. As you walk around you you

can see homes, and then next to them, mounds of dirt and rock, from the digging of the caves, and then chimneys and vents that allow the bad air and gasses to escape.

A cave vent from underground.

Underground, you see greatly varying caves – some massive, and some small. Where you see a barrel, it is one that has been hauled underground and assembled and sealed once in place. But the favored fermentation tank for later caves were concrete

Oak barrel assembled in cave.

tanks. Think about the work that that would take… digging out the cave, providing venting, and then getting the materials underground to build set of fermentation tanks several meters underneath the house.

Concrete tank built underground in cave

We often talk about things like Protected Denomination of Origin as a way to make sure that quality is assured, and Rioja and Priorat have done that well, in Spain. But a hidden side of that improved quality through requiring standards and having regulation, is that some of the old ways of doing things become impossible, and such is the case in San Asensio. As Rioja DOCa regulations came in, quantity requirements were made, and oak barrel regulations came in. Wine had to be moved in and out of tanks and barrels, and this just proved to be too much, if you wanted to make and sell wine in this new Rioja reality.

Now, commercially, only one remains, and that is Bodegas Lecea. All of the other growers of wine now belong to a cooperative that allows for the scale, movement, and time in oak, but above ground. The family of Bodegas Lecea continue to use not only their own cave, but have now bought others as well. They buy a property and the house, and with that home ownership, comes the rights to the cave underneath. Under the

ground, they punch a hole into the next cave, complete repairs that are usually needed after decades of lack of use, and then expand their wine-making into the next cave. They now have four joined caves in which they make wine, which is incredible to think about.

This almost feels like an afterthought to write… but the wine is pretty damned good, too!

The Camino Aragonés and Garnacha

Camino 2022 Beginnings

I started walking the Camino Aragonés, and then will join up with the Camino Francés, my second time walking the Camino de Santiago. As I walk, I will also be doing an occasional wine blog, as I stop and talk with people in wine regions. I hope to finish the Camino in mid-October, and then explore more wine regions in Portugal and other parts of Spain. There are many paths to the Camino, but the

most traditional is the Francés, which starts in southern France, and then stretches across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. There is a rich history of the Camino, dating back to the 9th century, and possibly even before that, which you may find here https://makespain.com/camino-de-santiago/

Camino Aragonés and Garnacha

In 2019, after spending time in South America visiting bodegas, I walked the Camino Francés, from St. Jean Pier de Port to Santiago de Compostela. In 2022, I started in the northern part of Aragón, in part, to learn a bit about wines from that region. I actually started in the Pyrenees, at Canfranc Station, which is known most historically for being an escape route used by resistance leaders who were helping Jews escape Hitler´s labor camps during World War Two. As I headed south of Canfranc, dropping out of the Pyrenees, I came to the City of Jaca, and as I explored, I found some incredible wines.

Garnacha is common in this region of Spain, and some would argue that this is where it actually comes from – The Kingdom of Aragón. There are different was to try and determine where grapes come from, and one of them is by looking at where they were established in the relatively modern era. If we follow this method, then it may not be Aragón that is the provenance of Garnacha or Grenache, it might be from regions in France. However, with DNA testing, another method is to look at the earliest and most numerous sub-variants of a grape are present, historically speaking. And if that is the case, then Aragón certainly has a very good case for being the originator of present day Garnacha.

I started the Camino Aragonés in Estación Canfranc, and dropped down into Jaca, Spain in a couple of days. In Jaca I tried a flight of wines from Aragon at Langa Vinoteca, two of which were Garnachas and two of which were blends. The 2018 Campo de Borja from Fagus de Coto de Hayas had dark cherry notes, medium tanninsand a very nice finish. The Secastilla 2017

Garnacha was a high altitude, limited production wine that had rip your face off tannins and a smoking 15% ABV. Nice peppery and savory notes that I like a lot, once I got over all that had happened in my mouth just prior to that.

I then did two blends, and the Grillo y Luna 2014 was another 15% abv, but a Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon/Garnacha/Merlot blend. The palate started with plum and herbaceous qualities, and finished off spicy and peppery, with some pretty

strong tannins, even after 8 years. The final wine
was a 2011 Blecua from the Somontano region of Huesca, Aragon, and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Tempranillo/Syrah/Merlot blend, and a reasonable 14% abv that didn’t quite smoke the back of my throat like the previous two wines had done. Dark plum and burnt rubber on the nose, plum and savory notes on the palate. The tannins were significant, but softer and rounder, given the vintage.

Next, I will be on my way across Aragon to Navarra, starting in Pamplona, as I join the Camino Francés. I will post occasional blog posts, as time and energy permit, while on the Camino. If you’d like to see day to day pics of the Camino, follow me on Instagram at Jeff D. Peterson (injeffinitely) and for occasional short wine posts, follow me on Instagram at Vinum Docet (vinumdocet).

Langa Vinoteca

La Rioja and Ribera del Duero

There’s something about coming into the Rioja region of Spain on the Camino Francés and seeing all of the vineyards. Differing systems of trellising, but everything from vast acreages planted in Tempranillo, to small pockets of vines in areas protected from winds that fly across the region in the spring. The adjoining regions of Navarra and Rioja, to the west of Logroño, makes for an incredible view of vineyards, that slowly turn into wheat fields as you keep walking.

A protected vineyard in Rioja

As I worked my way through Rioja I sampled amazing Crianzas, or wines that have been in oak for at least a year, as opposed to Reservas which have been aged for two years, at least one of which reds to have been in oak, Gran Reservas have been aged for two years in oak, and three in a bottle.to be honest, at the places you are eating and drinking as a “peregrino,” or pilgrim of the Camino, I haven’t seen a lot of Gran Reserva action.

Finally, in Burgos, which lies west of the Rioja region, I started sampling wines from the Ribera del Duero. Ribera del Duero is one of my favorite wine regions of Spain, and lies directly south of Burgos. The wines have some amazing dark cherry aromas, good acidity and medium tannins, with dark fruits and leather on the palate.

Not a bad way to walk across Spain!

Navarra and the First Copas

The first leg of the Camino takes you over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, after which you descend into Pamplona and the Navarro region of Spain. One of my favorite sites coming out of Pamplona was seeing some of the first “copa” style vineyards of Tempranillo. They are shaped in a copa, or “glass/cup” style with four branches low to the ground. After that, every year the vines are trimmed back, so that new growth produces low-lying crops they must be handpicked. You see many new vineyards being trellised and machine picked, but I appreciate the beauty and care put into the old vines.

Copa style viticulture

I left Pamplona on the Camino Francés, which takes you over the Alto de Perdón, and into the beginnings of Navarra wine region. Mostly Tempranillo and Garnache are to be found, and most of the region is planted in red wine varietals. The wines I tried were not overly tannic, but with some earthy flavors to them, and mostly Crianzas. And one of my favorite parts of the Camino is being able to eat and drink across Spain and experience the incredible synergy between the wines and the food.

Wine and The Way

For many, walking the Camino Francés is a pilgrimage of discovery and reflection, and a reward unto itself. I am walking the Camino for the next 35 days or so to combine two loves, a love of chances for reflection, and my love of wine. As I walk, I will be taking the time to think about things, but also I will be on the lookout for good wine, and opportunities to share those wines with people in the future, on one of my tours.

Seant-Jean Pied-de-Port

The Camino Francés starts in Saint-Jean Pied-de-Port, in the south of France, It is also home to one of the smallest of AOCs of France, Irouleguy (pronounced Ee-Ru-La-Ghee) comes from the Northern Basque Region, and includes the town of Irouléguy and St.-Jean, in its entirety. About 70 percent of the wines are red wines, some 20 or so are whites, and the rest are rosés.

Irouléguy and local cheese and sausage from Basque Country in southern France

I start the Camino tomorrow, but found time to buy a lovely Katttalingorri 2105, organic (biologique) red. Plum and ripe fruit on the nose, and medium tannins, the wine opened up nicely after about an hour. This particular red was a blend of 65 percent Tannat, and 35 percent Cab Franc, which are the two typical varietals used in red wines from this region and Irouléguy. It also paired fantastically with a local Basque sheep cheese and a meat and cheese sausage from the region. One of my favorite things about traveling to these different regions is not only trying the new wines, but finding how intertwined the wines are with local foods. Cheers to northern Basque Country and Southern France, and Buen Camino!!

Wine, Speculation, and the Gift of Not Listening

The Casablanca Region and Kingston Property

When my friend Ellen Brittan, of Brittan Vineyards, talks with my students about business and marketing, she suggests that vineyards and wineries need a story to tell, or they will just be any other winery. Kingston Vineyards, in the Casablanca region of Chile is one of those places that truly has a unique story. Its founder. Carl John Kingston, came to Chile from Michigan in 1906 looking for gold, and when that failed, worked on finding places that were good for copper and then trying to sell the mining rights to those places to mining companies. As a result of one of these failed transactions, he ended up with several thousand acres in the Casablanca region of Chile, which lies between the coastal town of Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile.

The Kingston property was not a vineyard right away, and in fact, the bodega is a relatively recent development. As one staff member said, the family is willing to try new things, and willing to fail – a characteristic of the willingness to speculate that seems present even today with the fifth generation of the Kingston family. Among the most successful ventures was, and is, a dairy, that even now supplies around twenty percent of the milk consumed in Santiago, Chile. In 1998 they planted wine grape vines, and about five years later released their first wines, which were Pinot Noir and Syrah. (Source: https://www.kingstonvineyards.cl/pages/historia).

Harvest crew, just before lunch break

The Kingston varietals were red, which is notable, because of the fact that up until then all of the grapes that had been planted in Casablanca were either table grapes or white wines. To some the degree, the Kingston family had to become winemakers of their grapes, because most people did not believe that it was possible to make good red wines from black grapes. Today, the family makes a few thousand

Kingston wines

cases, and sells the rest to other bodegas in the area for their wine. But they have most definitely proven that the terroir, just a few kilometers from the coast of Chile, supports red wine making, as well as some great whites, including the Sauvignon Blanc that was being harvested when we arrived.

History is littered in both good and bad ways with reasons why people never did things, or reasons why they have always done another. As we drove down the dusty road through the vineyards, the coastal fog began to lift, and showed us the beauty of the Casablanca Valley and the sounds of the harvest echoed through the vineyard – all of which made the wines smell and taste even better. A toast to speculation, even in the form of grapes, and to asking why it something that is not usually done, can and should be.

The new Kingston tasting room

Aranjuez and Tannat

One of the strategies often discussed in the wine industry, when it come to wine varietals, is how to make that transition from large production levels of “ good cheap wine” from

Aranjuez wine making facilities

Chile/Bolivia/Argentina, to customers being willing to pay more for wines perceived as premium wines. This has been the mission for Malbec from Argentina, or Carménère from Chile. As I have traveled around South America, when I tell people I am down here for the wine, the eyebrows always rise when I include Bolivia among the countries I am visiting. In part, it it is because there is little wine production in the first place, but also because there is no identifiable varietal as there is with Argentinian Malbec, Chilean Carménère, or even the Tannat of Uruguay.

Gerardo Aguirre, Jr., one of the family members and associates of Aranjuez.

Single vineyard tannat and award winning Juan Cruz

Bolivia has different forces at work in establishing its viticultural identity. On the one hand, wine has been made for hundreds of years, using local varietals that were planted from seeds of European varietals. This locality is important, and yet there is also the feeling that Bolivia needs to establish a varietal identity. Some would argue for Moscato de Alexandria, which represents around three-quarters of the grapes grown in the country. Bodegas Aranjuez planted Tannat in 1999, and has won gold medals alongside some of the premier Tannat wines of Uruguay. They argue that this should be the signature grape for Bolivia, because it suits the region best.

The tour of Aranjuez is impressive – the growth of the bodega in terms of size and production over the years is equally so. They are focused on expanding along three lines, but focused on the quality of wines. They have established as their foothold, the Tannat of Juan Cruz,

Newer plantings at Aranjuez

which is spoken of with reverence, while at the same time offering blends and single vineyard productions. After being in the Cinti Valley, it was a very different, large scale experience to tour Aranjuez, as they took in their Petit Verdot harvest. More vines are being planted, a new tasting room opened, and tastings being done to cultivate wine tourism.

Planting Gold in the Valle Cinti

The Valle Cinti is largely inhospitable to humans and grapes, unless one or both of them manages to establish a foothold on one of the precious few hectares along the banks of the rivers that flow along the 85 kilometer canyon. It is a beautiful, if stark, valley – a rocky floor with cacti and scrub brush, surrounded on one side with a stunningly red mountain range and on the other with one that is a drab grey-brown. My sense from my visit to Cepa de Oro was that perhaps humans help grapes survive there, because the grapes in turn make the stay a bit more pleasurable.

A tree, supporting a 100-year-old grapevine

The Spaniards, and Jesuits in particular, brought grapes into the Cinti Valley almost four hundred years ago, even though the indigenous presence itself goes back thousands of years, as documented by Riveras Casanovas in 2004. Most of the grapes would have been planted as seeds, and not cuttings, and would be brought down to the Cinti Valley from places further north, such as Potosí and Sucre, and they would require innovative methods to keep the sun and hail off of them. As I walked the vineyards with don Jaime Rivera, from Cepa de Oro, he shows me some of the strategies used – trees with umbrella-like shapes that give shade and deflect the hail. Plantings near rivers along what must be only a few hundred hectares of fertile soil in the 85 kilometer valley to protect against drought in the land that only gets about 3 months of rain a year.

Jaime Rivera Andres, on the left. Image taken from onlime, as he was holding his daughter most of the time!

Jaime Rivera named Cepa de Oro (“cepa” means vine, or the trunk of the grape) when he saw the sun reflecting off of the golden Moscat de Alexandria grapes, from which he would make white wine, and distill Singani, but now his son, Jaime Andres Rivera, is the fourth generation to make wine here. The latter has a particular love for the regional varietal La Vischoqueña that comes from a nearby town, as well as La Misionera or Criolla Negra, both of which are used for red wines. His father has a love for the unusual grapes that are not found elsewhere, or which are very rare, such as a varietal they call Borgoña which I’ve not seen elsewhere, and a black grape with a dark red juice to it called Lagrimas de Cristo (Tears of Christ).

With don Jaime Rivera in the vineyard. Note the flooding from the river.

My visit with them was not the everyday “desgustación, or tasting, because it took place at the huge birthday party thrown for Jaime Andres Rivera’s one-year-old daughter. Bottles were opened in between clowns and cakes and a meal, but they were amazing. A Vischoquena rose, as well as bottles of red Vischoquena and a rare bottle of Borgoña – all amazing and passionately discussed. The future for Cepa de Oro seems to be a focus of these primary local varietals, along with some Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and of course, the pride of the region, some incredible Singani.

An amazing bottle of La Vischoqueña