Harvest 2023 is in the barn!

I had my earliest harvest in Spain this year. We picked on September 5th. Ordinarily, harvest averages within a few days of September 23rd. Because we were able to irrigate, we had a good crop. I ended up with 6300 kilos which was a little more than last year.

Almost all the farmers around here ended up with 25-50% of a normal crop because of the drought. All of the irrigation reservoirs dried up early in the spring. My irrigation comes from a well. Sometimes even a blind hog finds an acorn!

Josep Maria brought ten pickers so the work went well. I ended up with the ripest fruit I've ever had here. There is fabulous depth and color in the wine. I did fewer pump-overs to keep from over extracting. We pressed on September 15th. It's looking good, y'all!

My baby garnachas. Most of them are way over the top of the stakes. We'll start the head-trained, spur-pruned regimen next year.

 

Marc managing the vertical basket press. They used the must pump this year to get the must into the press. What an improvement! Formerly, we used buckets that had to be dumped by hand into the press. Some vigilance is required when using the must pump for this. If the must hose becomes clogged, it will explode and fling grapes into outer space.

Another crop in the barn.

The vineyards look fantastic.

Montse and me at the Sardinada. She's a wonderful person!

Cookin' em up. That fire is really hot.

My official sardine cooker gets used once a year. In order to do this properly, pan catala must be prepared to put the cooked sardine on. Pan catala is bread cut lengthwise then smeared with raw garlic then smeared with tomato then doused with olive oil. If they catch you doing this out of sequence, you will be chastised.

My plate is in the foreground. This is the way it's supposed to be done. Open face sandwiches on pan catala. Most people will roast their onion. I like it raw because it acts like a foil to the intense fish. The sardines are salt cured so that, in addition to the olives, you get a month's worth of sodium in one meal. The fresh sweet grapes and the wine help cleanse the pallet every so often. Not pictured is the coffee and liquor for dessert. Multiple bottles will appear on each table. I always have to go home and lie down afterward.

 

back in the village and waiting for harvest.

I got back to the village on August 22nd. Ended up with three seats to myself on both legs of the trip which is pretty unheard of these days. Weatherwise, the first few days were as hot as Texas. As usually happens, the season changed abruptly last Saturday. Daytime highs are in the 80s so it's very pleasant.

Freya came down to visit just before her birthday so we had a little celebration. Salvador Burgos came over later in the evening. He brought a bottle of his Mas Sinen rosé and some home-grown tomatoes. It was a fun pairing! Salvador is a lively lad and ended up staying past midnight.

Siebe and his childhood buddy Sam came last weekend. Sam is also from Australia and is touring Europe for a couple of months. These guys are a lot of fun. They were headed to the Tomatina near Valencia. It's billed as the world's largest food fight with 20,000 paying attendees. Siebe described the event as "mental". Apparently, it's very popular with Australians. For complete info, go to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Tomatina

Although it's raining right now, the historic drought continues. Most of the farmers I talk to are reporting yields of 25-30% of a normal crop. This year has been a disaster. Everything is ripening at once. We will pick my vineyards on Tuesday. The fruit looks pretty good overall but we're noticing some dehydration in about 15% of the clusters. It's time to bring them in! I've been able to irrigate so my yield will only be down a little (hopefully!).

                                                                Sunset in El Masroig.

Freya celebrating her birthday with Barons Creek Cava on the beach.

Freya and Salvador.

Siebe and Sam.

                                                      Sam and a blurry Siebe at the Tomatina.

Note the flying tomatoes!

Loading Grenache for the Campeon at Celler Masroig.

Shipping the tanks to cold storage in Reus. The tanks will go into a container for shipping to Barons Creek.

 

Summer fun on dia de Sant Joan

It was a beautiful weekend to celebrate the official beginning of summer. Freya, her boyfriend Gonzalo and friend Cecilia came down from Barcelona for the festivities. Gonzalo and Cecilia are both from Argentina but have been living in Spain for several years. We spent a few hours at the beach. Afterward, it was back to Russell's Resort for lunch. I made the gazpacho pictured below and grilled some salmon. Altogether, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Friday evening was June 23 so we had the usual throwdown behind the Ajutament. There was a sizable crowd for the lighting of the bonfire. According to custom, the oldest man and woman in the village were allowed to light the fire. These folks generally take good care of the elderly here.

I was invited to a wedding the afternoon of June 23. My friends Ania and John youngest son got married. Nuria and Kieren met in Ireland just before Covid. They were compelled to return to Catalunya for the pandemic and were not able to see each other for months. Apparently the relationship blossomed over the phone so they are now happily married. It was a sweet, small ceremony at the house. I really appreciated the invitation!

As always, thanks for checking in!

  

Your boy with Gonzalo, Freya and Cecilú. A beautiful day at the beach.

Cecilú and Freya. Freya was test driving her new thong and ended up with a sunburned bottom (not pictured). Yikes!

On the balcony at Russell's Resort.

This honeydew/beet gazpacho I made was a hit!

Bonfire behind the city hall.

As mentioned in years past, they bring fire from the sacred mountain in Catalunya to light bonfires in all the villages. The young lady is holding the flame in a lantern.

                                                           Nuria and Kieren. Cute couple!

The newlyweds with their parents.

 

News from El Masroig.

 

Yesterday was the annual release festival for Vi Solidari. Vi Solidari is a collaboration for several wineries here in El Masroig. A couple of families in the village had children with childhood cancer. Mercifully, both of the kids survived. 

Someone came up with the idea to bottle a special wine every year and donate the proceeds to researching childhood cancer. Last year (2022) was the eleventh vintage to be bottled. The festival has now become a real thing here in the village. There is wine tasting, food vendors, bouncy castles for the kids and other activities. This is the first time I can remember a concert.

As you'll see from the poster below, the gates opened at 11:30pm. The music started a little after midnight. It sounded like the band was set up on my balcony. I decided to go up to the sports area to join in the festivities. In characteristic fashion, the village was jumping! 

I stayed about an hour then went home to listen from my balcony. There were three sets. The first was contemporary rock. The second was Ska and reggae. The bands were really good. I went to bed when the DJ came on at 3:00.

The coming week will be busy preparing for the 2nd Annual Barons Creek Spanish Wine Experience. We'll have fifteen people this year. I'm really looking forward to it!

                                                         A short video from the concert.

The clusters will be smaller this year. We're in a historic drought. I'm able to irrigate but many farmers are out of water.

             Josep Maria suggested we plant a couple of shade trees. These are fruitless mulberries.

                         Baby garnacha vines. We had a good take in spite of the dry weather.

                                                            Poster for last night's concert.

The plants Montse put in last year are thriving! This lavender is ready to conquer the world!

The labels for Vi Solidari are designed by kids undergoing cancer treatment. There are four different labels.

Springtime in Priorat

Springtime in Priorat

I really enjoy being in Catalunya during the spring. Especially this year since it was a bit warmer. I was only there for a little over two weeks this time. There was a wine fair in Poboleda the day before Easter. It was sponsored by DOQ Priorat and featured mainly wineries from near Poboleda. Freya came down from Barcelona and Sandra invited us to a very nice lunch at her place in Cornudella.

The fair was fun with many of the usual suspects present. Salvador Burgos from Mas Sinén was there. He's a great guy and always lots of fun. Franck Massard, a Frenchman who moved to Priorat several years ago, was there showing his wines. Freya consults with both of them from time to time.

                                                       Beautiful spring day in El Masroig.

                                                    Franck Massard with Freya and Sandra.

Food truck with yummy empanadas.

                                    Freya visiting with the president of DOQ Priorat and his wife.

Freya brought Sandra and me a hot cross bun she bought in Barcelona. Apparently, they are only available at Easter in the UK. You slice them in half and toast them. While they're still warm, you put some chocolate in the middle and allow it to melt. My new favorite!

                                     Road Trip to Zaragoza!

Pilar, Montse and I have been talking about a road trip to Zaragoza since last year. It's only about two and a half hours away. We left around 8am and got to Zaragoza a little after 10:30. Zaragoza is a pretty city. The Ebro river runs right through the middle of town. The city has a very open feel compared to other large Spanish towns. The streets are wide and there's a lot of open space.

Our primary goal was the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. This is a vast building housing a miraculous statue of the Virgin that appeared on a pillar around 40 AD. It's reportedly the first church dedicated to the Virgin. My friend Pilar was named in honor of the statue so the church has a special meaning for her.

The church is 430 feet long by 67 feet wide. I think it's the largest church I've ever been in. The place is done up in the usual splendor. there is a vast plaza in front of the church.

We then walked up to Castillo Alfajeria. This is a very well-preserved Moorish castle somewhat in the style of the Alhambra on the inside. There are fabulous arches, Moorish decorative art and a garden in the middle of the castle. I'd never heard of it before but the Aragon government has done a superb job at restoration. In fact, the regional government has it's official proceedings inside the castle. It's interesting how the different regions treat their Moorish heritage. It's celebrated in Aragon and Andalucia while being largely swept under the rug in Catalunya.

We were hungry after all the walking and ended up in a neighborhood near the Basilica called "El Tubo". The streets are very narrow so it's obviously an old area. By the way, Zaragoza was founded by the Romans in 25 BC. El Tubo has lots of bars and restaurants. We found a place that specialized in tapas. They were delicious! Pilar and Montse helped me with plates of patatas bravas and calamari. Yeah, baby!

We headed back to El Masroig a little after 5pm. These ladies are always lots of fun. We had a great day.

                                                             Thanks Montse and Pilar!

 

                                                                  Inside the Basilica.

                                                                 This place is big!

Two bombs that fell on the Basilica during the Civil War that failed to explode. I hope they disarmed them before hanging them up.

This photo makes it appear that the campanile is perpendicular while the church is leaning. It's actually the opposite. Zaragoza's answer to Pisa.

                                                                   Castillo Aljaferia.

                                                           Awesome Moorish arches.

                                The ladies in the garden. Those are orange trees in the background.

                               Official chamber of the government of  Aragon inside the castle.

                                                                       Yummy tapas!

Barrio El Tubo.

Dude! Where's my car?

We did have one little glitch on our trip. Montse was navigating by GPS on our way into the city. Once we got parked, we all jumped out of the car and started following Montse and her GPS. We were about a 15 minute walk from the Basilica. When we got ready to head home, the ladies asked me if remembered where the car was parked. I really didn't have a clue. We found the street we'd come down earlier and started walking. After about 15 minutes, we thought we must be close but nothing looked familiar. The ladies stopped a couple of passersby to see if they knew of a garage nearby. It was then I remembered I had the parking ticket in my pocket. The address was on the ticket. So this is a quick reminder to ALWAYS TAKE YOUR PARKING TICKET WITH YOU!!! Don't leave it in the car. Especially if you're a ding-dong like me! 

The fateful ticket.

The vineyards are looking good.

The vineyards are looking good but we need rain desperately. I'm able to irrigate but much of the county isn't able to because the reservoirs are dry. My water comes from a well. We planted 1000 baby grenache vines. I probably won't have a crop for four years but you gotta start somewhere.

Baby grenache.

Festa de l'Ermita

The Festa de l'Ermita is the most important day in the village. It's always held the Saturday after Easter. I'm not able to go every year but always enjoy it when I go. Almost everyone in the village turns out. People group together mostly by family. The tradition almost always involves cooking paella. Because of the weather (drought and high wind), the local authorities instituted a burn ban. It was a shame because this festival is where the local paella chefs can strut their stuff. Instead, people brought food from home so it was more like a picnic. 

I made some pimento cheese tapas to share (see below). These were the subject of some skepticism but the people who dared to try them said they were good. I also took some bottles of cava that were less controversial.

Traditional dancing by the village kids. They don't dress up this way very often.

                         One of the rare last bottles of Francesc's wine. We used to have this often

                                                    when I first moved to the village.

           Texas-style tapas. Pimento cheese with pickle. A few people were brave enough to try them.

                                        Francesc with a winemaker from Alella on the Costa Brava.

                     Preparing the table for lunch. Notice the duct tape holding down the tablecloth.

                                                  

                            Freya, Ben and Siebe come to visit.

Freya, Ben and Siebe came to visit the Saturday afternoon of the Festa. Ben is Freya's middle brother. He works on ships that lay and repair fiber optic cables in the ocean. He was formerly with the R.A.F. and is a very sharp and interesting guy. He brought a drone with him and took some aerial videos of the village. I'll share them with y'all when I get them.

We cooked dinner on the grill on my balcony. I took them on my famous walking tour of Falset. We drank a bunch of wine and had a rousing game of Skopa after dinner. Freya won and was very pleased with herself.

On Sunday, I fixed a paella behind the house. It's been a while since I dragged out the paella rig. As usual, the charcoal was uncooperative so I had to finish the last 15 minutes on the stovetop. Overall, I was happy with the result. Everybody else seemed to like it, too, so I sent a bunch home with them.

I came back to Texas the next day.

                                                       THANKS FOR CHECKING IN!!!

                                                Ben, Freya and Siebe at the castillo in Falset.

                                                                  Paella rig in action.

                                     I had this much paella left over to send home with the posse.