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There are wine tastings\u2026and there are wine tasting experiences.<\/p>\n
Living close to the river Ebro in southern Catalunya I am surrounded by olive trees, orange groves and vineyards.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to go very far to find a bodega or a wine producer who will offer a tour and a tasting of their produce and so far, each one has been a great experience.\u00a0 Even when I was away and travelling the world I would manage to get in at least one trip to a vineyard each time that I returned to Spain.<\/p>\n
Some friends of mine have long been extolling the virtues of a particular vineyard called Bernav\u00ed.<\/a>\u00a0 The nearest big town is Gandesa which is in the Terra Alta region, and six months ago I finally got there myself.\u00a0 I certainly wasn\u2019t disappointed and I enjoyed it so much that I returned a second time a few weeks ago, taking along a couple of good friends who were staying with us for a short holiday.<\/p>\n Pulling up in the car outside an unassuming building on a windy but sunny morning we were warmly greeted by Marco who is one of the owners.\u00a0 Marco is Italian and together with his Catalan wife Ruth and his brother Gino they purchased the Bernav\u00ed vineyard back in 2007.\u00a0 The place had long been abandoned but they replanted the land and they have been improving and nourishing their land ever since.\u00a0 Their vision was to establish and maintain a sustainable and ecologically sound vineyard producing quality wines and as we walked outside among the rows of vines, Marco explained their vision and the process of their wine making to us.<\/p>\n The majority of wine tastings in Spain focus on the drinking, but Marco was keen to impress upon us that the secret of the wine begins outside; with much of the magic happening even before the grapes reach the vats and the barrels.\u00a0 Here at Bernav\u00ed they farm in an artisanal way, picking by hand and with as few interventions as possible and visitors are taken outside so that they can see this for themselves. Standing in the field we could see how the weeds are allowed to grow along alternate rows where they provide ground cover, nutrients and shelter for insects.\u00a0 Alternate rows are kept clean, with bare earth and the vines are trained along a series of wires so that the leaves face the sun.\u00a0 This enables them to \u00a0turn as the sun moves around in the sky much like solar panels do.<\/p>\n As we walked slowly around together, Marco explained about the different grape types and the wines that they produce at Bernav\u00ed, and although despite taking notes, I have to confess that I will not be able to give you too much technical information here; we did after all, move on to tasting the products!\u00a0 However (and I hope that I have this correct) there are 70,000 individual plants here, all of which are cared for by hand and this small team produce 65% of the world\u2019s Terra Alta wine which equates to 35,000 to 50,000 bottles depending on the harvest.<\/p>\n Morenillo is a grape variety that is native to the Terra Alta region yet it is quite a specialized crop.\u00a0 For all of you aficionados out there, the other vines which form the larger proportion on this bodega are the more common garnaxia blance or granache blanc.\u00a0 Many of the wines are sold locally, although much is exported to Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States, but less so to Spain where Catalan wines are not usually received well. (There is a lot of political history between Catalunya and Spain and you can read a bit of my experience on one specific event that happened a few years ago \u2013 click this link<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n Moving inside and into the cooler air Marco showed us the large stainless steel vats, the different types of barrels that are used depending on what final properties of the wines are required and the corks which are called \u2018technical corks\u2019<\/a>.\u00a0 I have to admit that prior to this conversation I had assumed that those strange corks with the waxy texture are plastic and whilst some might be, Bernav\u00ed use true cork, but one which has been manufactured in a specific way so that there is less chance that a bad batch can contaminate the wine.<\/p>\n Going upstairs, we got on to the serious business of tasting the wine.<\/p>\n For me, the most fascinating part of any experience is the human side of a story and when my friend Annie commented on some of the beautiful labels on a set of bottles that were on display we were treated to a lovely history about how the designs had come about.<\/p>\n Marco, Ruth and Gino had set up a parallel project to introduce some of their blends into restaurants and an artist\/designer friend, Javier Comas Carrasco<\/a> offered to come up with something a little different.\u00a0 He was sent the five different wines with no identification or details and came back with a truly inspired design.<\/p>\n The labels depict the stages of the vines through the seasons and creatively link them to the human body.\u00a0 I will do my best to explain it here.<\/p>\n Winter is represented with a drawing of brown bare roots that take the form of the arteries of the body, the kidneys and salt.\u00a0 Spring is all about re-growth and the uterus, summer is centered around the hot sun and the eye because this is the time of the year when the growers have to be the most vigilant.\u00a0 Autumn has colourful leaves which, when you look closely take the form of the hands which will pick the grapes, and the grapes themselves which are small boobs!<\/p>\n A final creative touch is that when all of the bottles are lined up in the correct order, an irregular red line along the upper part of the labels forms the outline of the skyline of the Terra Alta region.<\/p>\n One thing that really resonated with me on our visit was the modern day worry about the increasing lack of rain.\u00a0 Spain, along with much of Europe is entering a period of drought and extremely raised temperatures and whilst many people deny that climate change is a thing, the farmers who are so closely bound to the land do recognize it.<\/p>\n Marco explained how no snow fell at all last winter, yet how beneficial snow is to the vineyards.\u00a0 Snow slowly releases moisture into the soil as it melts and it fills the cisternas (water storage tanks) but this year with higher temperatures, no snow and hardly any rain they are already transporting water in by tanker.\u00a0 That is a worry both from a cost perspective and because they will need to manage the irrigation manually.\u00a0 Nature (usually) used to deliver just the right amounts of water when it was needed at each growing stage but there is now also the increased risk of wild fires to contend with which, fanned by the stronger than normal winds, threaten everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n This year in Catalunya there have already been some large wild fires, starting much earlier in the season than would normally be expected.\u00a0 Higher temperatures and less water will mean less grapes, less wine and higher prices which is being reflected right across the land and with all the crops that are grown.<\/p>\n As I hope you can tell, time spent at Bernav\u00ed is not simply about tasting the wine, but is about experiencing the human story and the passion that each of the owners have for their land, their grapes and their wines.\u00a0 I really hope that this passion and enthusiasm will rub off on you and just like me you will appreciate your next glass of wine from a different perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n For a better and more comprehensive explanation of the wine production, the labels, the grapes themselves or simply just the opportunity to experience some very nice wines you can contact Marco, Ruth or Gino at Bernav\u00ed and book yourself a tasting session.\u00a0<\/p>\n Address:<\/strong> Finca Mas Vernet, Cam\u00ed de Berr\u00fas km.4, 43782 Vilalba dels Arcs, Tarragona<\/p>\n Contacts: <\/strong><\/p>\n +34.651031835 \u2013 Marco e-mail:\u00a0info@bernavi.com<\/a> Directions: <\/strong> To get to Bernav\u00ed you need to leave Vilalba on Carrer Vall de Sant Isidre and follow the dirt track Cam\u00ed de Berr\u00fas as indicated in the map above. Beware:<\/strong>\u00a0By default Google Maps sends you down a different path apt only for mountain goats but not cars.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you want to read about some of the other things that you can do in this small part of Catalunya, click this link.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Note: This is not a sponsored post. These are my personal opinions and I received no financial gain for this article.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe wine tasting<\/h2>\n
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Environmental problems<\/h2>\n
+34.619014194 \u2013 Ruth
+34.689341522 \u2013 Gino<\/p>\n
skype: celler.bernavi<\/p>\n