We have realised that we need to learn more about how wine is made and yesterday we completed the second session out of five of our theoretical and practical training course in wine production, from vine to bottle.
We need to put together a team that can drive this project and make it a success (produce some 25,000 bottles of wine a year). And in order to assemble and lead a team, you need basic knowledge of wine production. We are therefore delighted that Miguel Figini, principal at “Espai del Vi Català” (http://www.espaidelvicatala.cat/), has personally taken it upon himself to teach us.
The “Espai del Vi Català” school runs courses for new winemakers in Catalonia. Now, after seven long and intensive days of theory in the classroom interspersed with visits to vineyards, we have learned that a wine is not something that a winemaker simply mixes together, but starts to create out in the field, i.e. how the soil is worked, how the grapevines are pruned, etc.
Angel Teixidor, Cooperativa de Guiamets, lets us sample 100% Garnatxa straight from a barrel.The must is very sweet and has a strong grape taste!Alfredo Arribas, Portal del Priorat, although extremely busy during harvest, shows us enthusiastically how he makes his fantastic wines.Joan Asens (left), d’Orto Vins, and Miguel (right) in deep discussion.Carles Escolar (right), Celler Masroig, shows us the Cooperative’s enormous storage space for barrels.
Just two weeks after the purchase of the land had been finalised, we returned to Montsant to experience and be part of our first harvest ever. We hired the services of a professional photographer, Rafael López-Monné, to document this great occasion. When we bought the land, we made an informal agreement that 4,000 kg of grapes would be included in the purchase. The idea was to get off to a flying start and begin producing our first wine this year.
We were to join in and harvest our 4,000 kg. Everyone welcomed us warmly and we were given instructions on what to do. How difficult can it be to cut a bunch of grapes off a vine? After less than half an hour, we realised that it was not a simple job. Before the bunches are placed in the baskets, they have to be inspected and any bad grapes have to be removed. This was not an easy task for an untrained eye. We decided that rather than ruining everything it was best to step back and instead observe the proper way to pick grapes.
It’s this easy for a practised hand to cut a bunch of grapes.Maria & Joan always have a smile on their face.The grapes are loaded onto the back of the truck and then taken to the Celler Masroig cooperative.Joan hard at work.We were better at posing in front of the camera than at picking grapes.Joan thanks Peter for his hard work and effort. Gloves are hung up to dry ready for work tomorrow.This is what “real” grape-picker hands look like.
Nevertheless, the day was a success and we got to know the hard-working and delightful couple Joan and Maria from whom we had bought the land. Our purchase also included a number of olive trees which yield about 250 litres of oil a year. Joan and Maria will continue to tend to the olive trees and get to keep the oil in return. Well at least we had a go and got our hands a bit dirty that day… and the photographs were superb. We fell into a deep sleep back at the hotel. It must have been all that hard physical work.
We are not wine connoisseurs, we simply enjoy drinking wine. We had never really thought about or longed to own a vineyard. Just over a year ago we sold our company in Sweden and bought an apartment in Barcelona where we could spend a few weeks whenever we wanted. We have always liked the culture and climate of more southerly countries.
In Barcelona, we’ve discovered that Spain has many fantastic wines to offer, more than just Rioja. Some excellent wines are produced in the 10 or so wine districts around Barcelona in Catalonia. As a result, we came into contact with the wines from Montsant and Priorat. It was then we started thinking that perhaps we could buy a vineyard as a hobby project. In May 2017 we made an attempt to buy a vineyard that had gone bankrupt, but nothing came of it. There were many reasons why, but there and then we pushed the thought of a vineyard out of our minds.
A closer look at the vines of the local red grape, Cariñena.
However, on 1 June, we unexpectedly received an email from the real estate broker Xavi. He had been contacted by a local wine grower who wanted to sell his 6 hectares of land, planted with vines, in D.O. Montsant, about 2 hours south of Barcelona. Although we’d already put all ideas of buying a vineyard out of our heads, Xavi promised us that the vineyard was of excellent quality. It was mainly the local grape Cariñena that was grown there.
Having become familiar with the area during our first attempt to buy a vineyard, and with the help of Google Earth, we verbally agreed to the purchase within just one week. Xavi was fairly nervous when we visited the vineyard in the first week of August to see what we had bought. It was better than expected.
A slightly nervous real state broker, Xavi, showing us around our online purchase.
D.O. Montsant is situated in a very beautiful area surrounded by mountain ranges and next to the more famous wine district D.O.Q. Priorat. D.O. Montsant became its own appellation in 2001 and is an upcoming wine region with young, driven and enthusiastic wine producers.
An inspection of our newly-purchased vineyard.
The two months prior to the close of the deal have been full of bureaucratic processes and paperwork, including the formation of Skoglund Wine Estate S.L., which is now the official owner. Today, 13 September, the purchase of land from Joan Blanch Cabré and Maria del Camre Navarro Villalba was finalised at last and we now own about 6 hectares of grapevines! It was a very swift purchase and now it’s time to think about what we want to get out of this project.
