Magazine Mar/Apr 2018

Calstell d'Age wines are available at HOME and The 2 nd Floor. Gramona Cavas can also be made available upon request at HOME.

Priorat This region has a hilly, mountainous terrain that proved difficult and tiring for a city driver like me to navigate. Fortunately my mobile GPS did not give up on me even high up in the mountains. When I first entered this region, I realized why the wines here are generally more expensive than in other areas of Spain. Most vineyards are situated high up on the hills, with uneven terraces facing multiple directions. Virtually impossible for machinery access, producers have little choice but to hire manual labor to toil in these death-defying milieus. Clos Figueras is a quaint little winery in Gratallops, an old village with about 200 inhabitants at the heart of Priorat in Tarragona, one of the most beautiful regions of Catalonia. The winery is owned by Europvin, a Bordeaux-based wine trading company, and is currently run by Englishman Christopher Cannan who took me on a tour in his Ute (utility vehicle) up the undulating slopes. The wines are elegant, silky, and often velvety-textured and plush with tannins. Another winemaker I encountered was Franck Massard , a Frenchman who has lived in Spain for the past 15 years. He had honed his trade as a sommelier in top restaurants in France and London before he found his calling in Spain. Franck, who produces wines in several regions across Spain, is the epitome of a flying winemaker; but it is here in Priorat that he has found home. Lately, he purchased a little vineyard on one of the highest points of this hilly region and started to plant grapes. His wines are structured, and the obvious product of a sommelier’s intensity and eye for details.

Conca de Barbera This relatively unknown region has been established for more than 30 years, yet remains in the shadows of more famous territories. Conca de Barbera is located north of Tarragona and some 2.5 hours away from Barcelona. My desire to discover some small and unknown winemakers compelled me to visit this area. Joan-Ramon Escoda, owner-winemaker of Escoda- Sanahuja , welcomed me at 10:00 a.m. with his floppy white hair and a warm ‘Que pasa!’ He oriented me around his vineyards of well-tended vines, and I could not help but be infected by his passion for his trade and winery. We headed to the barrel room and partook in what he described as a ‘professional barrel tasting’, before adjourning to his restaurant for yet more professional (and countless) bottle tastings. Joan-Ramon's wines are not distributed in Singapore. Yet. Three regions, five wineries, and innumerable vintages. I left Catalonia with more appreciation and a tinge of wistfulness. The wines I had discovered in this beautiful country are, to me, embodiments of value, conviviality and passion. But as with all countries, there is so much more to discover and learn about in the quest to conquer the world of wines. I find it therefore necessary to keep an open mind, and to continue traveling to see what more this wonderful world has to offer. Salud!

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MAR / APR 2018 THE AMERICAN CLUB