I recently had the opportunity to participate in a grape harvest in the “old” Priorat region at one of the Priorat’s finest wineries, La Conreria d’Scala Dei. We arrived at the bodega and donned our straw hats and took a short ride out to some of the garnacha vineyards owned by Scala Dei. Pairing up with my buddy, Vivian, we grabbed a crate and some clippers and headed out to do some cutting. I must say that it’s pretty tough work. The grapes we were harvesting were on five year old vines and thus are not very tall. First you gently hold the bunch of grapes underneath and then clip the stem, being careful to look for any mold or fungus on the bunch. Drop it into the crate and move on to the next one. You are bent over a good bit of the time so you have to be careful not to strain your back. We spent about an hour or so in the fields and filled three crates (Vivian and I). Given that the vines grow on slopes and that they are all hand-picked it is no wonder these wines tend to be a little pricier; but it is also easy to see how much attention and care goes into the process and it makes it all worth it.
After the grape harvest we were treated to a taste of the grapes as they go through the process to become wine. We tried grapes that had just been pressed an hour before (it was the absolute best grape juice you have ever had). Then we tried some juice that had been fermenting in the tank for about a week. Next, we headed into the cellar and were able to taste wine from the barrel – currently aging in French oak for 12 months. After a taste it was obvious that this wine was not quite ready yet. Our guide told us that this wine would need another couple of months in the barrel and then a year or so in the bottle before it would be at its best. Finally, we tasted the finished product – a wonderful 2005 Iugiter made from a blend of garnacha (the base grape), cabernet sauvignon, cariñena, and merlot.
Tradition says that once the grapes have been harvested everyone gets together for a big barbecue where they chow down on a “clotxa.” A large round loaf of bread is cut open at the time and all the filling pulled out. Inside the hollow loaf you place roasted onions, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, grilled cured herring (yes, herring), and a generous portion (and I do mean generous) of olive oil. Take a fork and mash it all around and have at it. What did I think? Um, yeah. The herring was just a bit much. The best part of this was washing it down with more of their wine! After getting about 2/3 of my clotxa down (I guess I’m just polite) we had the best butifarra sausage that I have ever eaten. It was worth it.
This was an experience that I will never forget – being able to go from the grape on the vine to the wine in the glass was awesome. It makes drinking these wines all the more fun.
Life is short. Drink great wine!
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