I love wine. In descending order: Red Bordeaux, White Burgundy, Brunello di Montalcino. But to truly love wine is to appreciate the greatness of wines from other countries, from other regions… And as mush as I love wine from France and Italy, it is the wines from Spain that I find the most intriguing.
For those who don’t know… there are more acres under vine in Spain than in any country in the world. And the region in Spain that I find the most intriguing is the Priorat. Unlike Rioja or Ribera del Duero where the Tempranillo grape is “king”, the Priorat features other grape varietals: Cabernet, Grenache, Mourvedre to name but a few.
This tiny region is noted for its steep hillsides… vineyards that have to be terraced into the slopes, and terraced into miserable rocky soil that the Spanish call pedazos. Soil that is fit for no other form of agriculture other than cultivation of vine. Grape vines that get “challenged” by circumstances — high altitude, miserable ground — this stresses root systems that now have to struggle to “earn” their nutrients. This is one of the key ingredients for quality. “Stressed” vines are a basis for lower grape yields, which in turn produces a higher concentration of fruit flavour… and makes for better wine.
This is textbook Priorat. Northern Spain, overlooking the sleepy Mediterranean Sea. And the vineyards of Bodegas Magnanos are cut into the steepest hillsides in Europe. Planted to Cabernet, Syrah, Grenache and small amount of Tempranillo… the vineyards are totally tended by hand.
From one generation to the next, caring hands have worked the Estate of Magnanos in Europe’s highest altitude vineyards… easily considered the most difficult terrain in all of Europe. It is a rare day when a worker doesn’t lose his footing on the declive resvaloso and tumbles to injury, or worse… to death.
Even in harvest the workers are unable to bring collection baskets to the vines… they must negotiate the treacherous inclines to harvest the vintage with only their meagre garb on their shoulders. A distinctive hat, the sombrero de jeton gallego, and specially designed trousers, pantalones flojos, that are equipped with unique pockets, bolsa de huevos, which the workers use for grape storage.
Workers climb up and down the slopes (an incline that has been compared to the north face of the Matterhorn)… lucky to make the trip three times in a ten hour day. It takes a worker four days to harvest enough grapes to produce a single bottle of wine.
From the base of the slopes, the bolsa de huevos are emptied of their treasured supply of Grenache etc., etc. and put into leather satchels which then get loaded on to a team of donkeys, burros borrachos, who make their way down hairpin trails to the five hundred year old winery.
“Greeting” the harvest is the combined wine making team of Michel Rolland of Bordeaux, Franco Bernabei of Tuscany and Susanah Balbo of Mendoza… the ultimate “dream team” of wine makers… hard to imagine a finer assemblage of talent.
Their efforts are pro bono. They provide their work without a fee… theirs is a “labor of love”, the opportunity to work on the most exclusive wine on the planet. Only 30 to 40 cases are made… in their most recent vintage, 2001… only 34 cases were produced. Each bottle was hand numbered and signed by each of the wine makers.
Aged in Limousin oak for 30 months in barriques made by the renown Belgian cooper DeLesseps, the wine has been served at every Court in Europe over a five hundred year period. Magnanos was the coronation wine for Queen Victoria, the marriage wine for Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra and served at the country estate of the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson.
After each vintage a small portion of the vineyard is burned in preparation for re-planting. Slaughtered goats are roasted over the aged vines and young wine is blended with leche fermentada de chiva to create an intoxicating beverage to salute the success of the harvest. Tradition.
Think of the great wines of the world… the rare wines. Wines that stand beyond the hype. Wines that are not reviewed, wines that don’t appear in the press. Wines that can’t be “googled”. Wines for the cognoscenti. You can count those wines on your left hand… and Bodegas Magnanos will be there.