Eugenia Keegan

After 54 1/2 hours door to door (Sardinia to Newberg) I was thrilled to wash the travel grit off my tired self and flop into my own bed.  Nine hours later I was refreshed and ready to get back to work.  And although I had been “at work” while researching cannonau in Sardinia it was framed by the majestic Mediterranean.

I was reminded a couple of years ago about cannonau and the history of the Crown of Aragon who at one time was “given” the isle of Sardinia. We are told that they brought garnacha with them, although many Sardinians would beg to differ.  What there is agreement on however is that what is called cannonau in Sardinia is the same grape known as garnacha in Spain and grenache in France.  Hence, my need to explore and research.

We took the overnight ferry from Civitavecchia to Olbia, arriving in the very early morning, around 6:30.  It was a Sunday and the place was as expected very quiet.  The brilliant blue sky was a stunning wake up call, the silence almost eerie.  We meandered along the coast enjoying the beautiful Porto Cervo and were soon rewarded with a cappuccino and a brioche fresh from the oven.  It took a bit to find towels and the perfect beach but we did.  We rented an umbrella to keep the fair skinned fair and picked up a bit of sleep denied us on the boat (lack of time, not lack of sleeping quarters).  By 1:00 we were famished and found the quintessential shack on the beach…ah, but with an immaculate kitchen and a grill sizzling with the catch of the day.  We each picked a different fish, ordered a green salad, a dry vermentino, fries, and lingered over an impeccable repast.

David Boning Our Luncheon Fish

Lining Up for the Ferry to Sardinia

Darkness Descends

And the People Pile In Along with the Cars

Packed in Like Sardines!

Majestic Morning

Along the Porto Cervo 

Finding the Perfect Beach

Corsica in the Distance

SAVED from Our Tires!

Aragonese Watch Tower

Sunday in Sardinia

Since it was early in the “season” we decided to head over without the benefit of hotel reservations wanting complete freedom to explore.  We did have however some serious maps and instructions on finding Sardinia’s best wineries and vineyards.

Treasure Map handed to David in Hong Kong by Sardinian Winemaker

View from Our Hotel, Night One

Preparing Dinner

Always the Grill, Always Fresh Fish

An Ancient Nuraghe

 

Inside Cantina del Vermentino di Monti

Cork Trees Recently Harvested

Cork on Its Way to the Factory

Azienda Vitivinicola Giuseppe Gabbas

Cagliari, Capital of Sardinia

Yep, Old Vine Cannonau

Back on the Ferry

Fields of Girasole on the Road Back to Rome for the Flight Home

We were treated to a perfect week of sunshine (OK, hot…over 100 degrees) but softened by the coastal breezes.  We ate fish each day, most of it within hours of the catch.  The people were….well, Italian, and therefore friendly, helpful, and happy.

Will there be an Old Vine Grenache Project cannonau?  You can count on it!

The other large city in the area is Zaragoza.  David and I had a short stop here a couple of years ago.  We stayed on the “new” side of the river in some very modern hotel.  A short walk over the bridge brought us squarely in the old town with the magnificent city hall, museums, etc.

I decided that Zaragoza would be a civilized stop over for the weekend and thought that the old town would be a different experience.  My hotel was in walking distance to everything and this happened to be a beautiful late winter weekend.  The trees and shrubs were still in their winter hibernation but the sun was warm and enticed the entire city out of doors.  It just amazes me that at 10:00 on Sunday evening the city is alive with activity including children.  I had the leisurely pleasure of walking the town for hours on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.  Museums of course are all open for free and I took full advantage of this.  My final stop was an unbelievable collection of over 250 aqua tints by Goya.  It was amazing to see many of the people and animals that made their way to the canvas sketched in detail through this process.

Street Art: Zaragoza

View from the Pedestrian Bridge Linking Old and New Zaragoza

The Artist Honored

Night View Zaragoza

Beauty Around Every Corner

Day one in Navarra was mostly about getting my bearings AND a very important meeting with a winery that I worked with before when an importer.  My appointment went much better than ever hoped.  My contact, Concha Vecino is an extraordinary woman.  She is not only the head winemaker but runs the place without question.  She is both intensely professional and a ton of fun.  She asked that the winery Export Manager, Carlos Biurrun join us as he would handle any details if we decide to work together.   Carlos spent four years in St. Louis at university, speaks excellent English and was equally fun.  We had a great day tasting through several different lots of OVG from 2010 and 2011 and then visited the vineyard sites from which the wines came.  This was topped off by a delicious lunch.  Growing up in California and taking Spanish since grade school I am pretty comfy around the language, as long as we don’t venture too far from the present tense!  I don’t know if they didn’t teach the other tenses or I was absent that term, but really, it is weird.  I can only speak in the present tense and then add the lame “en el posado” or “en el futuro” !

I am always intensely ill when traveling though this area of Navarra known as Valdizarbe.  I have had the pleasure of three trips in ½ dozen years and once I learned that the lovely grassy hillsides were once covered in old vine garnacha and carignane I truly get physically ill.

One of the Potential Sites

The Owners of One of the Biodynamic Sites....Enjoying Their Lunch Among the Vines

Their Site. They Maintain the Forest Behind as Part of their Biodynamic Philosophy

Old Vines with New Power; Dynamic Spain!

Welcome to Town!

South End of Valdizarbe: Lots of Rocks

On day two I ventured to the other bastion of old vine garnacha, Baja Montaña, one of the five regions (and the other that specializes in OVG) of Navarra. I was thoroughly charmed.  There are more old vines here and indeed more fruit agriculture altogether.  The area seems lost in another age. Although it is not THAT far from Pamplona it feels miles apart.  The lovely towns just south of Pamplona are in fact “suburbs” of Pamplona which is only 15-20 minutes away.  When driving/walking through the small towns I was taken with the quiet nature, beautiful houses, many of them new or fully renovated construction and no services.  I was certainly surprised to learn that these charming towns are now occupied by the reasonably well heeled white collar working people from the big city.  The area of Baja Montaña has a much more agricultural feel, which was truly noted as I walked into a lovely restaurant for lunch only to discover that I was the ONLY woman in the building (except servers of course).  I prided myself however on being of the same working cult, Levis and boots, plenty of dirt!

The Incredibly Sophiticated Canal for Water Delivery

Old Vines of Baja Montaña, Town of Sada in Background

Another Small Patch of Newer Garnacha

The Ongoing Contrast: Old Vines that Remain on Right, Newly Grubbed Up Ones on Left

Lunchtime!

More Sadness, Newly Grubbed Up Vines

Just Another Bodega Sign, Bienvenido!