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Alta Alella vineyards with the cellar buildings visible in the distance |
Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets is one of the leading winemakers
in Spain, working with Marqués de Alella / Parxet, his own cellar
in Penedès called Privat, and in Priorat where he owns half of the
Mas Igneus venture together with Albet
i Noya. But of all these projects, Alta Alella is by far his most personal.
The estate (called Finca Tara) is based just outside Alella itself, and
is a tiny valley overlooking the Mediterranean, just 15 km as the crow flies
from Barcelona city centre. Since the summer of 2002, Pujol-Busquets lives
on the estate with his wife and two daughters, in a period house he has
restored beautifully. |
| The six hectares of vineyards that make up the estate were
completely replanted between 1991 and 1993, and from the beginning, they
have been certified organic vineyards. The local soil, named Sauló
is a sort of flakey, sandy granite, low in organic content, and with excellent
drainage. Mind you, when it rains on this part of the Barcelona coast, it
really pours: most water runs off, but that which is absorbed by the soil
quickly drains away. These factors help to produce low yielding vines, and
facilitate farming the estate organically. Seeing as two of the wines produced
are sweet - requiring leaving the grapes hanging longer on the vines - these
factors are important to maintain good fruit quality. |
The local Sauló terrain |
South facing Mataró vineyards |
Visiting the estate you have the feeling that a good seven
iron shot would easily make it into the sea, although the actual distance
is probably a couple of miles. Nonetheless, the sea influence is very marked,
with sufficient evening breezes to lengthen the ripening process enhancing
the aromatic complexity of the grapes. The estate is planted with Pinot
Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mataró, Pansa Blanca, Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc, Viogner and Muscat. Mataró is usually known in Spain
as Monastrell, although in the new world it is called Mataró. Seeing
as the city of Mataró is just 20km up the coast it is unusual that
this name is not used more, and entirely logical that Pujol-Busquets should
want to recover it's use so close to its home. |
| The cellar itself is brand new, minimalist and ideal for
small, personal vinifications. Everything is done using gravity (and a forklift
truck) rather than pumps. To "pump over" (the process during fermentation
of red wines when you take juice from the tank and pump it back over the
skins that end up floating in the top of a tank) they plave a stainless
steel basin beneath the tank, fill it with wine, and using a fork-lift,
pour it back over the skins at the top of the tank. Likewise, each barrel
is manoevred beneath the tanks to be filled and then stacked away. |
Small fermenting vats |
Josep Maria Pujol-Busquets |
The results to date are Josep Maria's most personal wines:
Lanius is his "take" on the Alella tradition of white wines, an
opulent barrel fermented white based on Pansa Blanca and Chardonnay. The
two sweet wines are very different beasts: The white wine Mirgin (named
after his daughters Mireia and Georgina), is a blend of Muscat and Sauvignon
Blanc. It is partially barrel fermented, and then fermentation is stopped
by lowering the temperature whilst there is still residual sugar. Mataró
is made from over ripe grapes that macerate for 2 months to get full colour
and aromatic extraction before being aged in French oak. (The only oak used
here is French). |
| There's a red in the pipeline too, which will be Syrah based.
I was fortunate enough to taste it (just out of barrel) the day the above
photographs were taken in November 2002, but we will not see it on the market
until autumn 2003. |
Orbus 2001 in barrel |
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