D.O./Region: Alentejo, Portugal
Address: Albernôa 7800-601, Albernôa - Beja
Telephone: +351 289 510 460
Fax: +351 289 510 469
Email: rsoares@malhadinhanova.pt
Web:www.malhadinhanova.pt
Founded: 2003
Hectares of Vines: 20 hectares, 6 more were planted this year
Wine maker:Pedro Garcia - winemaker resident
Luis Duarte - winemaker consultant
Total Production Liters:68,000 liters
Wines Produced: Monte da Peceguina red 2004
Monte da Peceguina white, Monte da Peceguina rosé, Aragonês da Peceguina red, Pequeno João red, Malhadinha white, Malhadinha red
Exporters in the UK and USA:: None in the UK, Almost done negotiating with a US importer

Last month, I had an afternoon appointment at Quinta Malhadinha in the Alentejo. My goal was to visit a Cooperative in Reguengos and then head South past Beja to this new winery in the hopes of finding some new exciting Portuguese wines. I was well aware that it was a bit of drive, so I took the rare occasion to sit back and enjoy the sunny day with my windows rolled down allowing the wind to caress my shiny bald head. About an hour after I set off to the winery, I saw the white and blue estate perched on top of a hill beckoning me inside its shiny white walls. The hard part was not so much locating the estate, but rather finding the exact way to get to its front door. Like a mouse in a maze looking for that sweet morsel of cheese, or in this case a glass or two of wine, I ended up having to pull more than one u-turn to find the off-ramp that would eventually lead me to my goal.

Arriving a little after two in the afternoon, I pulled into the main parking area which sat between three buildings. To the left, sat the estate where the owners lived whose white-washed walls were skirted along the bottom by a glowing blue band typical of the Alentejo. Looking to your right sat a modern building with large glass doors hinting at the stainless steel tanks within forming the heart and soul of the operation. Directly infront of me stood a large wooden stable. This was later confirmed when I toured the property that indeed, both horses and poultry resided near here, but we’ll delve deeper into this topic later.
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It was about 6 months ago when we had a somewhat lively debate here at Catavino regarding the merit of having numerous wine competitions around the world. I had posted the results of the International Wine Challenge as proof that Spain was producing quality wine; but after a reader pointed out the bias in so many of these competitions, I quickly posted an explanation as to why I thought there could be some merit to the Spanish wines showing so well. Since then, I have seen an incredible amount of awards brandished about by wineries that have won a gold medal or a ribbon at the latest tasting event. Therefore, it was interesting when I saw the following two prizes mentioned on the Wines of Spain website:
Two Spanish wineries Take the top prize at the “Chardonnay du Monde” Competition
and
Spanish organic wines triumph at Biofach 2006
At first, I dismissed them as frivolous awards lacking both meaning and significance. To me, these two shows have a common goal to give awards to people that normally wouldn’t win them. Kind of the school house rule of “everyone is a winner” or no one wins at all. However, once I took my assumptions and placed them on the side burner for a minute, I realized that there is another side to this debate. Take the Biofach award as described on the Wines of Spain website:

In total 777 wines made from organic grapes competed (72% more than the previous year) from leading producer countries such as Spain, Italy, France, Argentina, Chile, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Hungary, among others. The wines were evaluated by a panel composed of 30 expert tasters, oenologists and winemakers from Germany, Italy and Switzerland. The prize categories were red wine, red wine with barrel contact, white wine, rosé and sparkling wine.

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Some of my loyal readers will no doubt remember my interview last year with the well known Christopher Cannan of Europvin. I mention this because at Alimentaria, I was able to talk with him again and taste through some of his wines - more specifically, the Spanish wines from his estate Laurona located in the Montsant region of Spain. I was also able to taste a few wines from his personal property in Clos Figuera located in the Priorat region. Laurona is co-managed with the famous Spanish winemaker René Barbier of the famous Clos Morgador - possibly one of Spain’s greatest red wines.

For me, both sets of wines were everything you could hope for in their respective styles- rich, intense and full of complexity. After having just been to the Priorat region and having toured the area, I found it absolutely amazing how different the wines could be, considering that they are made within a very short distance of each other.

The Priorat wines you can typically spot from afar with their inky concentration of color and intoxicating aromas that seem to draw me in with ghostly fingers. On the other hand, the Montsant wines were somewhat lighter in color with a delicate, soft nature that felt a bit seductive - never quite giving up their full charm but leading me on and drawing me back to take another taste.

I have to admit to having not spitting all that I should have while tasting his wines at Alimentaria. In truth, I almost always do, but in this case I found that the wines I had before me deserved to be acknowledged for what they were, and experienced how they were meant to be.

Enjoy the notes…
Ryan Opaz

• 2002 Europvin-Falset Montsant 6 Vinyes de Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Deep clear red in color. The nose shows toasted oak, red fruits, and pepper. In the mouth fine thick tannins and a strong acidity balance each other well. Great raspberry flavors with black pepper, and minerals.

• 2002 Europvin-Falset Montsant Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Rich clear red color. The nose shows anise, vanilla, wood, ripe fresh cherries. It has a high acidity with fine tannins apparent in the back palate. Flavors of raspberry, pepper and rich mineral flavors throughout.

3.5/5

• 2003 Clos Figueres Priorat - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (3/13/2006)
  Deep reddish purple in the glass with a nose that shows dusty earth, anise, tar and mineral laden dark fruit. Deep and powerful with huge tannins thick and dense. The palate is awash with black fruit, anise, chocolate, minerals, tar, cherries…earth….and more. Really the finish is close to a minute. Great wine,

• 2003 Europvin-Falset Montsant 6 Vinyes de Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Deep dark red, very intense in the glass. The nose shows a fruit background with oak, pepper, and vanilla overtones. Creamy in the mouth with a lush fruit palate, anise, black raspberries, and more. This is a great wine with tannins and acid to go for another 5-10 yrs.

• 2003 Europvin-Falset Montsant Laurona - Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant (3/13/2006)
  Rich red color, clear and brilliant. The nose shows chocolate, anise, and fresh cherries. Dense in the mouth with medium weight tannins. The acidity is high and helps to keep this wine fresh as flavors of fresh raspberries and vanilla oak round out the palate.

• 2004 Clos Figueres Priorat Font de la Figuera - Spain, Catalunya, Priorat (3/13/2006)
  Deep rich purple in color. The nose is of raisiny earth, black fruit, and rich spice on the nose. The palate is dense and intense with firm but fine tannins. Flavors of chocolate, anise, black raspberry, plum, prunes and clove all come wrapped in a rich earthy blanket. Fun wine

By now, everyone knows that I’m a sucker for an unknown varietal. Give me a wine with a grape whose name I’ve never heard of and I’m a happy man. Be it a Schiopettino from Italy or a Nergamoll from the Canaries, until I’ve tried it, I won’t be satisfied! It may not always be the best new grape or most interesting flavor, but nonetheless, it’s something intriguing, new and out of my realm of knowledge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the hunt or maybe it’s to make up for my inability to collect anything worthwhile - I sold all my baseball cards when I was 17, which are probably worth a small fortune by now - but I finally get to join the ranks of a privileged class.

The Wine Century Club, which I wrote about earlier on this blog, was founded by Deborah and Steve De Long in hopes of promoting the less obvious varietals in order to preserve some of the nuance found in the wine world. Today, I proudly announce my membership into this small group. Granted it’s membership is based on your word of honor - and technically, anyone can join - but I hope that those of you who do think of signing up would take the time to thoughtfully consider if you have the 100+ varietals needed to become a member.

To celebrate my membership, I want to add a new previously unknown, to me, grape to my list. During my recent visit to Alimentaria, I found a grape that peaked my interest called Eva de los Santos. I was at the Bodega Dolores Morenas both from Extremadura, a Spanish wine region with close links to the Alentejo in Portugal. This Bodega was recommended by a close friend, but in no way was I expecting to come across this special little grape. (more…)

xA new grape? I suspect by this point most of you have heard of the grape Garnacha (grenache). Found through out Spain, France and slowly the rest of world, Garnacha can be found producing wines of great depth and power. Its profile is often of ripe red fruit and hints of black pepper. If you’ve had a Cote-du-Rhone from France or a wine from the Navarra region in Spain you’ve most likely tasted this grape.

But what is Garnacha Blanc?

While from the same family as Garnacha, it is a separate varietal with a set of characteristics. Ampelography, or the study of grape varieties (yes there is a specific field just for this), has over time, traced the roots of both Garnacha and its white partner to the island of Sardinia. In Sardinia, it goes by the name Cannonau and is thought to have been brought to Spain between 1200 and 1700 A.D. While Spain was under Aragonian rule, it was planted widely mainly due to its hardiness and ability to withstand abuse from Spain’s sometimes temperamental climate. With time and having only the Pyrenees to contend with, it found itself a home in the Rhone valley in France, where some of the most famous example of it exists in both its white and red form.
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