Wine – La Vendimia

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

WORDS ÓSCAR GONZÁLEZ CALZADA After thousands of uncorked bottles and as many opinions from the lucky individuals who sampled their contents, I decided to add something more to my thirty years of experience serving Bacchus. Questions! Yes, I added questions. And the first one that occurred to me, despite having taken part in many conversations on the subject, was the following:

WHAT IS THE PERSONALITY OF A WINE?

With the sole intention of settling this issue and putting black on white, allow me to elucidate this controversial issue and perhaps we will make it more understandable.

Personality is the result of a simple sum in which the factors are temperament and character. There are many discussions on the subject and if we want to clarify it, perhaps we should immerse ourselves in the masterpiece The Delusions of Certainty, in which its author Siri Hustvedt, expatiates knowledge on the subject in question. Of course, fasten your seatbelt if you do, because it is possible that, as it has been in my case, your doubts about the meaning of the word ‘Personality’ will increase.

LA VENDIMIA

We are in September and most Spanish wineries are at that magical moment when their grapes are about to undergo their great transformation. It’s time to harvest! The bunches are ripe. The grapes are mature. And it’s time to work the miracle.

The harvest is the turning point in which the temperament of the grape, that is to say, the variety, the DNA, the genetics of the noblest castes, has acquired its moment of maximum expression, thanks to the character imparted by the terroir. The soil, the climate and the care with which the guardians of the kingdom of Dionysus have taken care of our future elixirs, imprint the definitive personality.

After collecting the product... it’s time to suffer.

The harvest has been excellent, but the clusters, at their perfect point of maturation, like any of us when we raise our level of consciousness, must be crushed, de-stemmed and fermented. It is also time to make a selection, and only the best clusters will result in the best wines.

THE INVISIBLE HEROES

There are thousands of people with a passion for what they do who gather each year during this month around a project, a winery. It is a real show and a privilege to be able to enjoy the moment when these scissors virtuosos take action. They are invisible heroes, whose names will not appear on any label nor will they be interviewed in the major wine publications. They will not be remembered when uncorking a bottle of good wine, despite the fact that they are the gold dust that unites the vineyard, the unequivocal origin of the winemaking process.

Let’s toast to them!

WATCHED BY THE STARS

More than 25 years have passed since the first wineries in Spain opted for the nocturnal harvest, in which the lack of light makes the stars the protagonists of a new way of harvesting that is becoming more and more widespread.

With the disadvantage of having to carry out the process mechanically, which can harm the treatment of the grapes, the night harvest is here to stay and, for now, the wineries in the warmer areas are the ones who use this technique on a regular basis.

With this process, the grape is protected from the high temperatures of the day, which at this time are around 35ºC, thus avoiding a possible oxidation of the fruit, especially of the white varieties that have a skin more sensitive to solar radiation. Night harvesting precludes possible premature fermentation (mosteo) and provides significant energy savings by avoiding the cooling process of the grapes upon arrival at the winery.

HONORARY MENTION

It is always a good time to congratulate someone for their achievements, and today is a great day to congratulate my friend, Vicente Dalmau Cebrían-Sagarriga, alma mater of the extraordinary Marqués de Murrieta project. His commitment, constant work, and values adhered to extend a fantastic example that innovation and tradition are the perfect marriage. Marqués de Murrieta has become the first Spanish winery to ‘sneak’ into the world’s top 10 best wineries in the prestigious Wine Advocate guide. e

REAL

de La Quinta