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!

After a morning of more exploration following up the tips from chef Jesus Marie, I set off toward Montsant/Priorat.  My plan was to stop along the way and I decided in the very late part of the afternoon that the large city of Lleida would be my destination.

The weather thus far had been somewhere between perfect and more than perfect.  Warm breezy days were the counterpoint to cold nights, the best for deep sleep under luscious down comforters.  But this day a storm drifted in from the north and it was cold and wet.  I arrived later than hoped to Lleida but had my trusty IBIS hotel book and although the Accor Group does not have a lot of hotels yet in Spain, Lleida was listed in their 2012 book.  I arrived as the dreary late afternoon was turning a dark gray and started my general wandering around the city heading to the centro part of town, looking for hotel signs.  An hour later I was still wandering around looking for the hotel….or for that matter at this point, any hotel.  I was having no luck.  I had noticed a hotel just as I pulled off the auto pista and decided I should head back to that.  It took far too long to retrace my steps but finally, and almost accidently, I found the hotel.  I pulled up to the front very relieved to find my resting spot for the night but before even getting out of the car I thought better of this.  Perhaps it was the proximity to the AP but somehow this did not look like the kind of place where a single woman (of any age!) should be staying.  So, I turned around to return to Lleida.  I headed back to the center of the city and started my hunt again for my IBIS or any other hotel that looked like a good place to rest my head.  Unbelievably, I could not find any hotel that looked halfway decent (and I have stayed in my share of those) and kept looking.  Thankfully as I neared the train station there was a tourist office….and this being Spain it was still open at 7:30. I drove around the block and then into the alley going the wrong way just to get somewhat close to the office (By now I am SO used to those looks…..I just smile and wave).  In my best Spanish I asked about the IBIS and showed the clerk the book.  Ah……turns out that this IBIS is not open yet….probably the end of March.  That was both wonderful as it confirmed why I could not find the hotel, but it left me without a clue.  But the clerk gave me a couple of ideas, a map and off I went.  By now the rain was coming down in sheets and it was completely dark (this was a few days before day light savings in Europe) but I had a map!  Let’s see….how many times did I get to practice my Spanish vocabulary and the art of asking directions?…..well, plenty.  But finally I pulled up in front of the NH Lleida…..and thankfully they had a room.  I am sure you can feel and hear the sigh of relief when I had parked the car, pulled my suitcase up to my room, and opened that bottle of wine.

It continued to rain, hard, the next day, which was coincidentally the 21^st of March.  In no time I was in the high hills and valleys of Montsant/Priorat.  David and I had visited the region in May of 2010 which was great in helping me with the lay of the land.  But I had forgotten how absolutely beautiful the area is.  It is extreme farming whether grapes, almonds, or olives.  I pulled into my destination, the Hostal Sport in Falset just in time to close the restaurant for lunch.

By late afternoon the storms had retreated, the sun was dappled through billowy clouds and the air was clean and fresh.  The next couple of days were picture perfect spring days and I spent them exploring every small sub-region, the varied vineyards, and many small grower/vintners.

I arrived having forgotten our first date; I left perfectly smitten.

Guiamets Resevoir through Old Vines

Retrofitted Irrigation on Old Vines

Extreme Farming on Schist

Steep Slopes and a Solution to Erosion

Hmmmm, Maybe I Should Turn Around…..

Shear Schist

“Trellis” Retrofit

One of the Five Towns of Priorat

The next stop along the grenache trail was the DO Campo de Borja.  The area does not get a lot of respect sadly.  Perhaps because the wines that hail from the area, at least many that we see in the states are so reasonably priced….really, $8.99/bottle and even less.  But in fact this appellation has some of the most exciting old vine viticulture in Spain.  Garnacha is by far the number one grape with 68% of the red production which is just short of 95% of the grapes.  The weather is heavily influenced by the Moncayo Mountains.

The trip from Navarra to Campo de Borja was remarkable as I climbed to about 2200 ft. along miles and miles of hillside terraces neatly cascading down to the Huecha River bench land.   The tiers were filled with a variety of fruit and nut trees each in a different state of spring flowering.  Neat, tidy, serene, and beautiful steps of agriculture nestled at the foot of the Moncayos still covered in snow.

As I wandered the countryside from one end of the valley to the other and up to the south and down to the north I discovered one small ag town after another.  What I did not expect to encounter was the town of Talamantes.

Apparently the Moncayo mountains are a hiker’s heaven.  As I drifted along a country road with agriculture on both sides I hit the dead end at the town of Talamantes.  This is the headlands to the Parque Nacional del Moncayo and I am sure that on a summer day the place is packed.  But on this late winter day of pure sunshine and spring hopes I found the place deserted.  I left the car and walked the town for perhaps an hour.  I did not see or hear the activities of a single person.  One lazy older Golden Retriever was sunning himself on the side porch but did not even cock an ear as I walked past.  The place was eerie and gorgeous.  Fantasies of hiding here for a week or two were only enticed when I looked into charming renovated homes and apartments available by the week or the month.

Next stop was the well known Wine Museum for DO Campo de Borja.  The museum is part of the 12^th century Monasterio de Veruela which is a site in and of itself.  After a too rushed look at this beautiful testament to early grandeur I visited the museum.  The theme is the Empire of Garnacha and is filled with the history (garnacha is originally from Aragon) and importance of the grape variety.   The kids room features “Garnachica” who is the little grape that we follow from vine to bottle…..truly too cute!

A late lunch (yep, 4:00) finished the day with a long conversation with the chef about food and wine and the beauty of pairing the fresh, spicy garnacha wines with the local bounty.  I had a deep sense of pleasure when I could not just explain in some detail and clarity my Old Vine Grenache Project but proudly ran to the car to pull out a bottle of the first finished product.  Of course this new friend introduced me to some of the small, local growers and more insight into the garnacha grown and produced in Campo de Borja.

Marcona Almonds in Full Bloom

Little Patches Here and There

Again, the Old Agriculture and the New Power

Prehistoric Flora? No, Old Olive Trees for Sale

New Construction, Asian Influenced, Spanish Address

Shepherds in the Vineyard???

Yep! Keeping Down the Weeds!

Slopes Along the Huecha River

Welcome to Talamantes

No Need to Worry About Language…..Water

….and Electricity!

Just Waiting for New Owner! At the Foot of the Moncayo

Homes for Rent

Directional Signs for Hikers

And of Course, the Old Castello Overlooking the Town

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!