A blast from the past! Damian and Carolyn come to visit.

  My longtime friend and his wife, Damian and Carolyn, came to see me last week. Damian was one of the first people I met after moving to Napa. He was with Joseph Phelps Vineyards for almost forty years and made a huge contribution to the success of the winery. And, yes, this is the same Damian who used to call me "Jethro". It was funny then and it's still funny! Also, maybe a little more accurate than not in those days. Carolyn is a retired math teacher and has three daughters.
   Carolyn and Damian have been spending a few months a year in Rasteau since they retired. They're talking about buying a second home there. I hope they do so I can go over there and camp out for a few days. It's one of my favorite places!
   They spent a few days in Barcelona before coming to Falset. Carolyn and Damian came to El Masroig and we toured the village. By now, the people here are accustomed to see me leading groups through town. They just can't figure out why.
   I made reservations at a couple of wineries for tastings and tours on Wednesday. Our first stop was Mas Perinet. Mas Perinet is now owned by Americans. It's a really fabulous facility and they have around forty acres of really steep vineyards in Priorat and Montsant. I was there last year and our tour guide, Sara, remembered me.
   Sara asked us if we wanted to tour the vineyards and we agreed. We climbed into an open 4X4 and Sara took off up the mountainside. Sara told us the grade was 25% but it looked like straight up. We've had a lot of rain here lately and the ground is soft. We made our way through the vineyards with fish-tailing, rocks flying and bouncing up the mountain. Coming down was just as bad because there were ruts over a foot deep from erosion due to rain.
   I'm not a timid man but I was as frightened as I've been in a while. I'll have to admit the view from the top is spectacular. We got to check out the vineyards. They had been abandoned for a couple of years before the Americans took over. I was glad to see the work that's been done to bring them back into production.
   The wines at Mas Perinet are very good. I know the winemaker (Toni Sanchez) and he's a talented young man. Sara gives a great tour and we tasted out of multiple barrels. The winery is what I call "gold plated". Whoever built it spared no expense and the barrel room has a Gaudi inspired design.
   From there, it was on to Mas Doix. Mas Doix is the other side of Priorat winemaking as far as facilities are concerned. It's very small and homey. They have barrel storage downstairs that's cut into the rock. As mentioned in another post, they're working on a new winery and hope to be in next year.
   We had lunch in the plaza of Scala Dei. Carolyn and Damian had the conejo (rabbit) and said it was good. I drove them out to the Priory to look but we didn't go in. We stopped by my vineyards on the way home. Damian expressed his approval. Damian's son bought a vineyard in Colchuaga, Chile and Damian will go down to help him in November.
   On Thursday, we went for a short walking tour of Tarragona and saw the Roman amphitheater, Circus and part of the old town. It was threatening rain and we got rained on just before getting to the restaurant. We had lunch at L'Ancona. I like that place. We had Iberica, patatas bravas, mussels and shrimp. Damian ordered a bottle of Muga rosé which was tasty and went well with the food.
   I had to dash off to Penedés after lunch for business. Carolyn and Damian headed back to France the next morning and planned to stop at the Dali museum on the way. It was wonderful to see them and I hope they come back!

                Carolyn and Damian with what may be the world's tallest grapevine in El Masroig.

                                         Just before the harrowing ride through the vineyards.

                     Sara, Damian and Carolyn examining the shale that makes up the "soil" of Priorat.

                          Lot's of fruit on the ground. It was a tough year for Grenache in some places.

                                                   In the "gold plated" cellar at Mas Perinet.

                                  Damian with Valenti Llagostera underground at Mas Doix.

                                                            Lunch in Scala Dei.

                                             Finca Vieja and El Molar in the background.

                                                 Carolyn preparing to catch the pot of gold.
 
 
 

T.J. y Familia come to visit!

  T.J. Garcia and his family came to visit last week. They are members of the Wine Club at Barons Creek. The group included his wife, Denise, and their daughter, Allison. Allison's husband, Jeremy, and his parents, Dorinda and Jim, were also with the group. They toured Montsant and Priorat for two and a half days before heading out on a nine day cruise from Barcelona.
   The group hired my friends Ania and Gerard with Travel Priorat to take them around. Travel Priorat does a great job and I highly recommend them for anyone who wants to really get to know this area. Ania and Gerard know everybody and can get you into places it would be difficult to see on your own.
   They arrived on Thursday and, after they checked into Hotel Lotus, we took a taxi ride out to look at my vineyards. We went back to El Masroig and took a tour of the village. We ended up at the Casal for a beer. They returned to Falset for dinner.
   The next day, they toured several wineries including Clos Mogador and Merum Priorat. These are two stunning properties and are hard to visit on your own. I met them for lunch in Gratallops at the Clos Figuera restaurant where we tried some lovely wine from Clos Figuera. The meal was excellent!
   On Saturday, the group went to more wineries including Mas Doix and Capafons. Mas Doix is a new discovery for me. Their wines are really good and the people are nice. They are building a new facility just outside Poboleda. We had lunch at the Cooperativa Restaurant in Porrera. The food was also very good and the owner is a friendly and lively character.
   I regret I wasn't able to spend more time with T.J. and his family. Unfortunately, their visit coincided with a busier than usual time for me. They are all wonderful and interesting people. It's great to see an extended family adventuring together and everyone getting along. T.J. and Denise talked about coming back to the area for a longer stay. I hope they will!
                                        ¡Gracias de nuevo T.J. y familia!

                                                       Next to Fincca Alta.
                                       Jim, Dorinda, Jeremy, Allison, Denise and T.J.

                                                             A cold one at the Casal.

                                                  Relaxing after lunch at Clos Figuera.

                                        Ania, tour guide for Travel Priorat, in the pink shirt.

                                  I had breast of Guinea fowl at the Cooperativa Restaurant. Excellent!

                                                                    At the Castle in Falset.

                                   For more info on Travel Priorat, please check out this link:
                                          https://www.travelpriorat.com/priorat-wine-region/

The grapes are in!

    It's been a busy few weeks since Bill and Kathy left. We harvested my vineyards on September 28th. As you can see, it was a beautiful day. Harvest has been a little later this year but we had 10 days or so of Indian summer that brought things right along. My friends in La Figuera are already finished and this is the earliest finish for them I can remember.

   The chemistry looked good. The fruit came in at 24.7 Brix or, as they say here, 14.2% potential alcohol. I'm not sure why these folks continue to use potential alcohol because it's basically meaningless. It doesn't take into account the various conversion rates of different fermentations or the possibility the fermentation doesn't take the sugar to zero grams per liter. Oh, well. 

   We had some uneven ripening and a little dehydration. as usual, but the numbers looked good overall. Marc brought a stellar crew once again and they picked a metric ton apiece. This year it was mostly Romanians. I'm VERY happy to be finished!

   Last Sunday there was a Festa at the Ajuntament (City Hall). It was organized by some of the younger chicos in town to commemorate last year's vote for independence. Francesc invited me to come with his mom and sister. The chicos were grilling sausage and pork chops for lunch.

   When we arrived, there was a cloud of greasy, delicious, savory smoke drifting over the crowd. The chicos were playing loud Catalan hip-hop over the PA system. I don't listen to much hip-hop but it frequently has random background noise behind the "music". This music had a background that sounded like a car alarm (or so I thought).

   It turned out to be the smoke alarm inside the Ajuntament. The place had filled up with smoke from the grill and there was more on the way. I went over and closed the doors in order to muffle the racket. The smoke eventually dissipated as we sat down to lunch and the alarm stopped.

   The food was excellent! These folks make really good sausage. In addition to longanissa, there was butifarra. Butifarra is blood and onion sausage. I usually don't care for it but this type was really good. Please see the photos below.

   There was a good crowd and all the usual suspects were there. Shortly after lunch, some of us went into a meat coma. I had to go home and lie down. Thanks for tuning in!

   

   

                                                     Marc Tost supervising the harvest

         This is what professional grape picking looks like. Notice that they left all the second crop.

                                                                Beauty!

                                   If this photo looks hazy, it's because of all the smoke!

                                       Francesc with the Astros t-shirt I gave him. He wears it well!

The man you see on the left is Jaume. He's a black belt grape grower for Alvaro Palacios and has vineyards in Priorat. According to Francesc, Jaume can grow anything. I ran into Jaume in front of the Cooperativa a couple of weeks ago. He had a box of homegrown onions some of which were almost the size of an American football. He has a wonderful family and is always very pleasant.

Let's face it. I'm not very good at food porn. The food was so good and I was so hungry that I forgot to take a picture until this point. What's left of the butifarra is in the upper right corner.

                                                   The beginning of a meat coma.

Francesc' sister, Pinyeres, at far right in the yellow blouse. She organized the logistics of the meal. Pinyeres is a professor of language and a wonderful person all around. She and Francesc take turns caring for their mom, Maria.

                              Crystal blue sky over Carrer Major. A blessed day in paradise!

Greetings from El Masroig!!!

   It's been a busy time here in El Masroig since I got back on August 25. The Festa Major was in full swing and I went both Saturday and Sunday nights. The bands were good and it was fun to see all of the neighbors.
   You will be happy to learn that Marc Tost, my farmer, is now a card-carrying Diablo. There was a smaller than usual turnout this year for the Diablos but they did a fine job. They accidentally set a planter box on fire so there was a little more excitement than usual since it was on the second floor. They put the fire out quickly so no harm was done. Make sure to check out the Facebook video at the bottom of this page. El Masroig now has a Facebook page if you want to see what's happening here.
   Philip has gone to England for two weeks and I've been looking after his garden. I made another batch of fig preserves. They're delicious!
   My vineyards are looking good but harvest will be late this year. We had a couple of big rains since June and the sugars are not building as usual. The wines in Montsant will be a little leaner this year. I'm very happy with my 2017 wine and will bottle it in the next few weeks.
   My longtime friends, Bill and Kathy, came to visit for a few days. We had a great time going around and seeing the sights. We had Pilar and Philip to dinner one night. I prepared a typical Catalan meal. We started with foie gras and fig preserves. The main course was longanisa (local sausage), white beans with onion and garlic, roasted pepper then melon with Iberica for dessert.
   Kathy and Bill were here for the Festa on September 11th (the Catalan national day). We went to the Plaza Major for the annual sardine breakfast. On the way up, we ran into the band coming down my street. They turned around and followed us back to Plaza. I haven't been at the front of a parade in a long time!
   We had a great time cooking and eating the sardines. Bill tried his hand at the porón and did a creditable job. We stayed for a couple of hours and met a Belgian couple who bought a place here a couple of years ago. They don't come here very often but I hope to see them again.
   That night we drove over to Cornudella for Sandra's birthday party. Her friend, Judith, was there. Judith works at Scala Dei Winery and is a lot of fun. They fixed a nice dinner and I took some deviled eggs. The people here seem to like them and I'm always happy to spread a little Texas culture.
   Bill and Kathy left on the 12th. They are going to Rioja, the Pyrenees, Costa Brava and Barcelona. It was wonderful having them here and I hope they come back. ¡Muchas gracias, Amigos!
 
 
 

                                                     Green and black figs for preserves.
                                                                 Thanks, Philip!

                                                              Marc Tost el Diablo

                                                       Container for Diablo fireworks.
                                                         Make sure to watch the video!

                                                             Philip and Pilar.

                                        Kathy and Bill at the fountain in Scala Dei.

                                                       Finca Alta.

                                 The famous concrete table at l'Ermita de les Pinyeres.

                                                       Sardine breakfast.

Josep Rius leading the band down my street.

MAKE SURE TO CLICK ON THE

VIDEO BELOW!!!

https://www.facebook.com/928288670563726/videos/2167252106883687/UzpfSTEwNDE1OTM5Mzc3MzY5NDoyNTQ1NDEyNzg3MzU1MDQ/

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO VIEWERS!!!

Dear Friends,
In a few days, the web address for this blog will change to:

www.russellinspain.blogspot.com

Thanks for keeping in touch!
Tu amigo,
Russell

Adventures at the Fish Market

   Philip, Lana and I went over to Ametlla del Mar and had a wonderful tapas lunch last week. There's a restaurant there called the No Stress Bar right across from the marina. After lunch, we stopped by the marina to watch the fishing boats unload. It was fascinating.

   The boats pull in and the catch is already sorted by size and species in small plastic tubs. The tubs are loaded onto trailers and pushed up to the back door of the market. The tubs are placed on a conveyor belt and taken into the auction gallery. 

   The auction gallery is like an auditorium with rows of seats overlooking the conveyor. Each tub of fish is auctioned individually. There are computer monitors on the wall above the conveyor that show the prices bid, the sale price and the buyer. Each tub is sold in about five seconds. Every buyer has a hand-held digital bidding device. I did see a few hand bids. The whole thing was modern, brisk and efficient.

   After purchase, the tubs are conveyed out into a staging area. Each buyer has a pallet for his purchases. There is a crew that puts ice into each tub. Outside is a loading dock where refrigerated trucks are waiting to take the fish away. I saw trucks from all the major grocery stores and local fish retailers. Please check out the photos below.

   I had parked in a public lot right next to the fish market. We discovered that my car and the one next to me were blocked in by one of the fish trucks. Ordinarily in Spain, when someone blocks you in, they put on the flashers to let you know they'll be right back (more or less). There were no flashers going on the truck and the cab was locked. Philip observed "We could be here awhile!". 

   After a three hour lunch, I was ready to get home and decided to track down the driver. I went into the staging area and started asking around. Since there was no company name on the truck, nobody inside could help me although several people did come outside to look at the situation. When I asked them where the drivers were, they pointed into the auction gallery.

   I walked upstairs into the gallery and looked around. There were around thirty people bidding but I didn't see any "truck driver looking" people just hanging around so I went back downstairs. I asked again where the drivers were and was told they were all absolutely in the gallery. I finally came to the realization that the bidders were driving their own trucks.

   Heading back upstairs, I pondered my options. My friends,...I regret to tell you I reached into my pocket and pulled out my angry face. I reached into my other pocket and pulled out my angry outside voice. 

   I walked to the top of the auditorium and shouted "¡Una pregunta! ¿Quien es el dueño de un Isuzu Iveco numero ocho cinco cinco ocho jota ce efe?" Needless to say, both the conveyor and the bidding came to a screeching halt when everyone in the room turned to look at me. Then they turned and looked around at one another.

   I heard a couple of people ask "¿Que numero?" so I went through the "ocho cinco cinco ocho" drill again. I noticed a few men had stood up on the far end of the gallery. They were talking and gesturing to a man who was standing just above them. They were also pointing at me.

   From the distance, I couldn't make out what they were saying but suspect it was something like "Hey, Paco! Ain't that your truck? What did you do? This chico in the pink shorts looks really pissed off!". I glanced over and made eye contact with Paco. He looked back very surprised and concerned. He started moving toward the door. I got there first.

   As Paco passed by me, he said "Geez, mister, I'm sorry! I just had to unload a few things down there." I replied "Of course" and we left it at that. He moved his truck and we were on our way. I suppose the whole process took about fifteen minutes. In any event, it's a safe bet that the folks at the fish market won't be anxious to see that chico in the pink shorts again anytime soon.

   

                                                                  The fleet's in!!!

                                                 Tubs of fish getting ready to go to auction.

                            Lot's of different kinds of fish. The Catalans eat almost anything that swims.

                                               Philip and Lana checking out the action.

                                  Staging area for the buyers after the auction. The gallery is behind those big glass windows at the far end.

                                                              Icing down the fish.

                             The conveyor belt with tubs of fish. The bidding goes very quickly.

                                                         Gallery with bidders/drivers.

                                                              THE CULPRIT!!!