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Wine Roads of SpainBy Carole Kotkin
The estate of Morlanda is located in the Priorato region, a tiny pocket spotted with 2,000 acres of old vines, about 60 miles south of Barcelona. Morlanda’s big red wine, Crianca is made entirely of hand-harvested estate grapes, a blend of traditional grapes of Priorat: Garacha and Carinena. Due to wide fluctuations in temperature (as much as 50 degrees in one day), dry winds and severe terrain, yields tend to be low, yet the incredibly complex Priorato wines are among the most expensive and sought after in Spain. Many of these wineries can be visited by anyone roaming through the region, but appointments are strongly recommended. If you want to visit more than one winery, look them up on a map and leave yourself enough time between places. Appointments are necessary to visit Morlanda, and Segura Viudas. Visits can be arranged by fax or e-mail to Gloria Collell. Fax: 0034938183611, e-mail: freixenet@freixenet.es. Freixenet is open from Monday to Friday with 4 tours daily, but for a better tour, fax or e-mail. Let the winery know the number of people in your group. Avoid going during a harvest when the winery is busy. Treat your appointment like a restaurant reservation; confirm the day before and show up on time. Gloria Ferrer, the wife of Jose Ferrer, the former president of Freixenet, has an extensive collection of 800 wine glasses on display at the Freixenet winery in Sant Sadurni d’Anoia. Tours are available by appointment. For more information contact them at 011-34-93-891-7000 or by email: freixent@freixenet.es .
ABAC (011-93-319-6600, Carrer Rec 79-89) will excite you with its wonderfully fresh seafood and elegance. Ruccula Restaurant, 93-508-82-68, at the World Trade Center and Talaia Mar, 93-221-0-90 at the Olympic Port and two other good bets for dinner. Images by Carole Kotkin |
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Although it is
said that Spain is a country that lives by the vine (there are more acres
of vineyard in Spain than in any other country in the world), only recently
have the nation’s vintners started producing wines that meet world
standards. For much of the 21st century, the prevailing philosophy among
Spain’s thousands of wineries, called bodegas, was quantity over quality.
The advent of quality control systems by the wineries combined with
government incentives for wineries has resulted in this significant increase
in quality . With the advent of the local version of the French Appellation
Controlee system in 1970, called Denominacion de Origen (D.O.), Spain now
produces wines that rival the best of France, Italy and America.
Until quite
recently, Spain was known to wine lovers for a single wine region, Rioja.
But as new wine regions become known, Northern Spain is the taking the
spotlight as the destination of choice for wine connoisseurs. When it comes
to wine types, Northern Spain offers them all: big reds and crisp whites,
and sparkling wines made according to the traditional Champagne method .
Spain is developing a reputation not only for fine wines made from
international grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot, but
also from homegrown varieties that have been around for over two thousand
years, such as Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura and Albarino. It’s not hard to
explain this bounty when you consider Spain’s exceptional growing
conditions—hot and sunny days, cool evenings, the Mediterranean sea, rivers
and enough micro-climates to make any winemaker jubilant.
Some of the
less-well-known wineriess of Spain are an easy hour-and-a-half drive from
Barcelona. Stay in Barcelona, make a dinner reservation a ABAC
(011-93-319-6600, Carrer Rec 79-89) where one-star Michelin chef Xavier
Pellicer Guillo will wow you with his interpretations of regional Spanish
cuisine. The next day check out the wineries of Sant Sadurni d’Anoia
in the Penedes winegrowing region which is one of the oldest wine producing
regions on the Western Mediterranean.
The Spanish word
“Cava” is used to describe Spain’s champagne-method sparking wines. The vast
majority is produced in and around the small quiet town of Sant Sadurni
d’Anoia in the Penedes region about 27 miles southwest of Barcelona where
you’ll find the great Cava house of Freixenet (FRESH-uh-net), the world’s
largest producer of sparkling wine. The wine is traditionally constructed
from three local grape varieties; Macabeu, Parellada, and Xarel-lo. These
grapes are high in acidity and subtly aromatic, and produce wines that are
dry, pleasantly austere and very clean on the palate. Cava, which is nearly
always reasonably priced is a good companion to the various garlicky fresh
seafood dishes that are so well loved in Barcelona. 
Right down the
road from Freixenet is the Segura Viudas estate where the jagged peaks of
Montserrat can be seen on clear days. The modern winery of Segura Viudas was
built on the site of a 12th century medieval farmhouse in 1954.
Segura Viudas is well known for its rich and elegant Cavas, but the winery
now produces a limited release of premium still white wines made from the
same Xarel-lo grapes used in Cava, and red wines made from Tempranillo
grapes. In nearby Vilafranca del Penedes don’t miss the Museo del Vino, a
splendid museum of the wine industry in Spain.
Barcelona food
tips: Spaniards start out with tapas (snacks) around 7:30 p.m. to 10:00
p.m.; dinner hours are 10:00 p.m. to midnight . Wander into La Boqueria
market off the Rambla de Sant Josep for wonderful produce, cafes,
restaurants and fancy food shops. 