Siebe's birthday with El Grupo Fantastico!

We celebrated Siebe's birthday the last Sunday I was in Spain. Freya and her childhood friend Laura Ann come down Saturday night. Siebe came the next morning because he had a gig on Saturday night. Freya and Laura met in their early teens. They were members of an organization called the Air Cadets. It seems the Royal Air Force has a program for young people in the UK. For more info, check out:

Home - RAF Air Cadets (mod.uk)

Freya and Laura were both officers. Laura was a sergeant and Freya was a corporal. They must have been a couple of pretty tough cookies in their youth! It was sweet to watch the interaction between the ladies. There's nothing like longtime friends!

We went to Celler de l'Aspic in Falset for lunch. Freya says it's her favorite restaurant in Catalunya. I really like it, too. They accept reservations and are happy to prepare vegan entrées for Freya and Siebe with a few days notice. The food is always excellent. The wine list is comprehensive. They have a good selection of imported wines which is very rare in Catalunya. I selected the Venus 2015 Montsant for lunch. Venus is made by René Barbier, Jr. It's mostly Grenache with some Carignan. The wine was drinking spot on!

I ordered the shoulder of cabrito for lunch. It was slow roasted and literally fell off the bone. We just don't get cabrito like that in Texas. 

We took a walking tour of Falset and saw the sights. We walked up to the castle, the old town and the medieval gate. I showed Laura my vineyards on the way to the train station. It was her first time in a vineyard. 

The weekend was a great finale to a wonderful trip. The vintage went perfectly and I'm very happy with my wine from 2022. 

¡SALUD!

Laura and Freya in Plaza Vella, Falset.

Okay, so I tore into the cabrito before taking a picture. The devil made me do it! Also pictured in the Venus 2015.

Freya and the Birthday Boy.

Laura does rehab for old people. She studied literature in College. What a fun and nice lady!

We stopped for coffee after lunch and were over-served with Anis del Mono. 

In Finca Vieja.

 

Super Montse landscapes the front yard!

Ever since our big tree fell over in February 2020, our front yard has been a mess. The tree took out most of the wall by the street and all of Maria's roses. As with most things around here, it took some time to get things put back together. I told Montse I wanted to replant the roses.  She pointed out that roses are very labor intensive if you want them to grow well. That wasn't a problem when Maria was alive and able to work in the garden. Sadly, those days are behind us. Montse suggested we put in some native, drought resistant plants. We went to the nursery and selected several kinds of aromatic plants. We picked out lavender, rosemary, thyme, something they call mint (which really isn't mint) and curry plants. I'd never heard of a curry plant but the leaves smell just like curry powder. The soil in the garden is easy to work so we got everything planted pretty quickly. We put down a weed barrier. Montse covered the whole yard with decorative stone. It looks fantastic!

Thanks, Montse!

 

Josep Maria works his magic!

Josep Maria gave me a tour of his microbiological program. He operates out of his brother-in-law's carpentry shop right next to the Cooperativa.  He makes his own compost from microorganisms he collects and cultures. Josep Maria keeps the cultures in specially made wooden boxes. When he's ready to make a batch of compost, he will inoculate it with the various cultures.

We finally received permission to plant next year. Josep Maria will begin preparing the soil in a couple of weeks. This involves putting down ten tons of manure and tilling it into the ground. Josep Maria asked if I preferred to use chicken or sheep manure. I opted for the sheep even though it's €200 more expensive. The chicken manure they use around here is the foulest-smelling stuff you can imagine. I really don't want to use it that close to the school. The sheep manure smells, too, but it isn't nearly as bad. I suppose Josep Maria will put down some of his bugs at the same time.

The reason all this is necessary is because the soil in my vineyards is very poor in organic content. This isn't quite so much of a problem for established vines but, in order to get a good result with newly planted vines, the soil needs to be a little "richer". The soil in my vineyards is mostly powdered limestone as a result of glacial activity. There are some interesting photos below.

Josep Maria with one of his cultures.

Specially made boxes to keep the cultures warm.

Luna the vineyard dog.

Specially made sprayer for organic materials. Josep Maria makes an application or two of organic foliar fertilizer each year. It's made a tremendous difference in the health of my vines!

Josep Maria Beltran

 

Futbol en El Masroig! (and some other interesting, random stuff)

We now have a men's futbol club in El Masroig. The village turned what was once an area for public gatherings into a mini soccer pitch. This is still where we have the Festa Major and other festivals. It's just been painted for futbol.

Like many villages in the area, Masroig once had a regulation-size futbol pitch. Most of these have since been converted to parking lots. Even though there are only half as many people in Masroig as there were sixty years ago, parking can be a problem. Many houses don't have garages. Parking on the streets is discouraged and parking in the plazas is no longer permitted. So our old futbol pitch is now a large unpaved parking lot.

Our rival last Saturday was the team from Els Guiamets. As the crow flies, Els Guiamets is probably less than three miles away. It's locally famous for its bakery. If you really want to show people you care, then bring them a cake from Els Guiamets. It's a very small town (pop. 300 vs. 430 for Masroig). While walking up to the game, I noticed there were well over seventy cars parked in the lot. 

At two to a car, that would have meant that half the people in Els Guiamets had turned out to support their boys. That's highly unlikely. I'm guessing we had a bunch of folks from other nearby villages in attendance. 

The small size of the pitch makes for a faster, more intense game than regulation futbol. It's exciting and a lot of fun! Our Masrojanos played with elan but Els Guiamets ended up prevailing 6-3. It was a good time and I'll definitely go again. 

Masrojanos on the left. Els Guiamets on the right.

Man down! I'm sure it hurts to get knocked down on that concrete.

Overflow of spectators on the street.

A little fall color on the west side of town.

Pressing my 2022 estate wine. This vertical basket press is very gentle.

The compressed grape skins in the middle of the press are what's know as the "cake".

My happy place! I had to make one last trip. Temperature in the high seventies and fewer than forty people on half a mile of pristine beach. I wish y'all were here!

My friends Ania and John Andrews invited me to supper last Friday. Ania is our official BCV tour guide for the Spanish Wine Experience. To my left is their son Kierin and his girlfriend Nuria. Nuria teaches English in Barcelona. Kierin just got a job as sommelier in a posh French restaurant in Mayfair. He's working on his Master Sommelier certification.

 

Merrianne comes to visit.

My longtime friend Merrianne came to visit for a few days. We met over forty years ago in Houston through a wine tasting group. She was on a five week bus and cruise tour of Italy before she landed in Barcelona. Merrianne is an art historian and a culinary historian. We had a blast!

I took her around to see the sights. We went to Scala Dei one afternoon. Another day we visited Miravet and stopped at the ceramics factory nearby. We hiked out to the Ermita and to the dry-stacked shepherd's hut near El Masroig. We had a nice hike along the beach. Then there were the walking tours of Sitges and Tarragona. I'm guessing we walked over three miles a day. We definitely got our steps in!

Merrianne knows food and cooking so we had some fabulous lunches. We went to l'Ancora, Celler d'Aspic, Brichs and Clos Figueras. We made sure to get in our quota of jamon iberica. I cooked a couple of meals at home. Merrianne even got to meet Frances for coffee at the Casal.

Please check out the photos below.

Thanks for coming Merrianne!!!

 

At the Miracle Beach in Tarragona.

So much ham! So little time!

At the ancient McDonald's in Scala Dei.

The town fountain in Scala Dei.

In Finca Alta.

Late breakfast of bocadillo de iberica in El Molar.

The ceramics factory in Miravet.

Miravet with the Ebre river.

Lunch at Clos Figueras. Merrianne had an artisanal omelet.

Gin and tonic gelato for dessert!

Old shepherd's hut outside of El Masroig.

Merrianne identified this plant as a "squirting cucumber". Check out this amazing YouTube video:

The "Bar" at the Ermita. 

Knife and sword sharpening place at the Ermita.

You can't beat the Med for pretty.

Gigantes in Tarragona. 

 

MY FORTIETH HARVEST!!!

 It's a little hard to believe this is the fortieth time I've been through this cycle. It seems like yesterday I was standing on the crush pad at Phelps and this is my tenth vintage in Spain.  As they say, time flies when you're having fun!

2022 looks to be an outstanding vintage in Montsant. We've had near perfect weather in spite of the fact that the vines were almost two weeks late coming out in the spring. We had a few little heat waves but nothing too severe. 

Josep Maria has done an outstanding job. He brought twelve people to pick and they were done by a little after 3:00pm. We ended up with three full trailers (6350 kilos or right at 7 American tons). We were done processing by a little after 5:00pm. The fruit looked fantastic! Small berries with practically no raisining or spoilage. The chemistry is spot on.

The fermentations are going well. I have three pumpovers left to do and then we'll let it rest while the fermentations perc on down. I'm so grateful!

                                                                      ¡BENEDICIONES!

Getting started Tuesday morning, September 20.

I picked a little. I can't begin to keep up with these people!

The reason I'm laughing in this video is because the guy with the pink hatband broke into some crazy dance moves as I turned the camera away. It turns out he's from Mexico. After all these years, he's the first Mexican I've met over here.

Josep Maria pulling the trailer along the road to keep from damaging vines.

I have two white grapevines in the vineyards. This is over three pounds off one vine. They were super sweet this year.

Finca Alta.

Into the hopper!

Up the conveyor!

Through the de-stemmer and the must pump!

Old Faithful. I also have another fermenter but this is where the wine will end up after fermentation.

Lunch with friends

 I had lunch on Thursday with two of my favorite people from the village. Pilar on the left. Montse in the middle. Friday was Montse's birthday. Montse is my landlady. Her birthday coincides every year with the Festa de Santa Tecla in Tarragona. This year marked the 700th anniversary of the arrival of the arm of Santa Tecla which is kept in the cathedral. Every September 23rd (weather permitting) the arm is paraded around Tarragona in a huge procession. This year the weather didn't permit. A super-cell thunderstorm settled over Tarragona late in the afternoon and dumped five inches of rain in less than two hours. There was widespread flooding. One of the restaurants I like to take friends to (l'Ancora) was almost swept away. You can check out the video.

Montse, Pilar and I had a lovely meal in a sweet little restaurant called Les Coques. A couple of the highlights are pictured below.

                                                                   ¡Buen provecho!

Pilar and Montse at Les Coques.

Dessert of fresh figs with vanilla custard. ¡Si hombre!

Starter of mandolin sliced melon with jamon iberica.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Montse!

This is the area I like to take my friends to eat. It's adjacent to the marina in Tarragona. So sorry to see this.😢😢😢