El Agitado Mediterráneo Catalán y Más Allá

The Rambunctious Catalan Mediterranean and Beyond

BY JOAQUÍN HIDALGO | SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Spain is an enormous wine producing country overall. The autonomous territory of Catalonia makes a decent contribution to that output. Three statistics offer an idea of the scale involved. Although Catalonia only occupies 6% of Spain's surface area, it houses a third of the population and has 56,000 hectares under vine (also 6% of the Spanish total), divided across 11 DOs.

Montserrat is a mountain range as distinctive as it is omnipresent in Catalonia. This view is from the Sabaté i Coca vineyards, near the Bitlles River, on the outskirts of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia.

The Catalonia region is quite fractured. Replete with mountainous terrain, a jagged coastline and regular shifts in altitude, it’s evident that vineyards here can experience entirely different conditions within a brief distance of each other. Walking the slopes of the pre-coastal range, I noticed two things: temperatures are mild as you go higher, and they rise inland, while the soils also change. Attempts to bring order to this diversity, coupled with the autonomous region’s fondness for choosing differentiation over finding common ground, results in a complex patchwork of subtle (sometimes so much as to be imperceptible) wine classifications.   

The Penedés region is an excellent example. It’s the largest region with around 24,000 hectares under vine across coastal and pre-coastal mountain ranges, where the soils are mostly panal, the local term for the calcareous sandy loam prevalent here. It is a beacon for sparkling wine despite the warm climate. These wines fall under three categories: Classic Penedès, CAVA and Corpinnat. For instance, a producer like AT Roca makes the former two, while their close neighbors, Gramona, label their wines Corpinnat. All are sparkling wines made mostly with Xarel·lo, often combined with Macabeu and Parellada.

In truth, the differences between them would appear to be mostly a matter of local pride–I often thought of Groucho Marx’s famous quip, “I’d never join a club that would have me as a member.” Nonetheless, in the Penedès DO, multiple approaches add nuance to the picture while also making things a little more complicated for consumers.

Once the spice of local characters is added to the mix, then things do get intricate. As an example, over the course of one morning, I sampled a diverse range of Catalan wines. These included Piwi grapes like Sauvignac and Muscaris (unofficially recognized), Cavas, Classic Penedès, and still wines made with Mandó, Sumoll, and Xarel·lo, and Cariñena, Garnatxa Blanca and Gris (known elsewhere as Lledoner Roig), whose names vary by region. Thus, diverse landscapes are only one part of a tangled conceptual equation.

Catalonia is best described as a great big wine labyrinth. Yet, the way the DOs are structured also has a certain logic, with Empordá or Allela being crystal clear examples. For this first report, I tasted around 600 samples in Catalonia over two weeks and in Buenos Aires, focusing on whites, sparkling wines, Rosés and just a few reds. I intentionally left out the DOs of Priorat and Montsant, which will have their own reports, as they mostly produce reds.

Cap de Creus marks the point where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean. The photo shows the Espelt Viticultores vineyard, with the cove to the right, where the famous El Bulli restaurant once stood. The town of L'Escala is in the background at the tip of the Gulf of Roses.

Empordá DO

The slopes of the Cap de Creus offer breathtaking views. This coastal promontory, bordering France where the Pyrenees plunge into the sea, embodies the essence of Empordá as a DO: sun-drenched vineyards, a plethora of aromatic herbs and Mediterranean influence. The region's nearly 2,000 hectares are split between 42 producers. Under the watchful gaze of spring kestrels lies Anna Espelt’s ancient slate terraces that house her vineyards today. The rolling dark blue sea stretches out into the horizon, “I come here every time I need to think something over. This vineyard is my favorite,” Espelt says, who is the oenologist in charge of Espelt Viticultors. It’s the perfect setting to mull things over, a place to soak in the celestial spirit that inspired Salvador Dalí, who was born nearby just over a century ago and seduced Ferrán Adriá, whose El Bulli restaurant was located a couple of bays further on and is visible from the vineyard.

In the 1960s, neighboring France, just a stone’s throw away, heavily influenced Catalonia’s wine scene. Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot were widely planted. Today, the resurgence of the Catalan identity has switched the focus to local varieties, like white and red Garnatxas and Cariñenas.

Further inland along the border and the Pyrenees, Empordá becomes a hot, sunny area between Figueres and Espolla. Here, the wines have a greater richness. This is what struck me about the output of Olivardots, Vinyeta and Peralada; the first two are small producers, and the last is a very big one. This trio exemplifies the wineries in Catalonia: a winemaker who set up his winery (Olivardots), a livestock rancher who diversified into winemaking (Vinyetas), and a venture capitalist who has invested significantly in wine (Peralada).

Some wines to pay attention to from the region's coastal area include 2020 Espelt Viticultors Les Elies and 2019 Lledoner Roi. Further inland, you won’t regret trying the 2020 Perelada Centenario, 2019 Olivardots Mircovins Cariñena, or the 2019 Clos d'Agon.

Old Cariñena vines form an important part of Olivardots' heritage. According to the producer's view, the sandy granite soils are ideal for this variety.