We took a day trip to the walled city of Montblanc and the close by Monastery of Poblet. Montblanc is a very real and working town inside the walls. It's nice to see a medieval town that hasn't been completely touristicated. The Monastery has been restored and can only be toured with a guide. It's totally surrounded by vineyards and there are monks still in residence. There are some incredible alabaster sarcophagi containing the remains of various kings and queens of Aragon-Catalunya.

Montblanc and Poblet

This area of Catalunya is famous for its fruit as well as its wine. A couple of our neighbors have peach orchards. The peaches are so ripe and juicy you have to stand over the sink to eat them. The "paraguayos" are something new to us. They are a little fimer than regular peaches when ripe. Our neighbors have been very generous with gifts of fruit and vegetables. We have a big freezer downstairs and plan to freeze some peaches for later.

How to eat your weight in peaches!

The Beach

We've been taking a few afternoon trips to the beach since it's only forty minutes away. As you can see, they are spectacular and very clean. We like Cristall Playa and the near-by Hospitalet d'Infant where the mountains come right down to the sea.

Here are some pictures of the vineyards so you can see what this adventure is all about. There are two vineyards of approx. two and one half acres apiece. They are separated by a paved road and are just west of the town of El Molar in Catalunya. Both are planted to Carinyena (Carignan). The upper vineyard, Finca Alta, is forty years old and the lower vineyard, Finca Vieja, is sixty years old.
Both vineyards face south and enjoy full sunlight all day long. The vines are head trained and spur pruned low to the ground so there is very little shading from vine to vine or row to row. The soil has a calcareous base with many small quartzite stones, a little slate and the occasional galet. The drainage is excellent. You can see the light color of the soil ranges from pale pink to pale yellow. The soil is highly reflective and doesn't hold much heat after sundown. There is almost always a breeze blowing from one direction or another. During the day, the wind usually blows from the south (off the ocean).
As often happens with older vines, the vigor is relatively low and the berry size is smaller. The clusters also tend to be looser. This combination of factors produces better color, more flavor and fewer problems with fungus on the vines. In years past, most of these grapes have gone into a $30 per bottle blend at the cooperative.
I've been working with the vines almost every day. There was quite a bit of root stock suckering that needed to be cleaned up and I had to replace almost 500 emitters on the irrigation system. I've also done some lateral shoot removal in Finca Vieja to open up the canopy a little. We put some water down last week due to this year being somewhat warmer and dryer than usual.
Yesterday, we visited a little winery just around the corner from our house. Pilar owns the building and Toni and his brother make wine there. They've converted some underground concrete tanks to barrel storage. This place is very similar to where I'll be making my wine. Our little winery is still under construction but should be finished in time for harvest.

Why we're here (photos of the vineyard)