Quite often,
Catalan people have the tendency of thinking that Catalonia finishes at the
Ebre river (or Ebro, in Spanish), but that’s not true because when you cross
the river you can find an incredible region, the Terra Alta!
This area has
the typical characteristics of Mediterranean areas: with lime coastal mountain ranges, little
streams, mountains with conglomerate rocks, Mediterranean forests with pine
tree and holm oaks, crops of olive and almond trees and, as well, vineyards, of
course.
The climate
in this area is quite different from other regions of Catalonia because the
summer is typical of the Mediterranean zones: sunny, with hot days, fresh
nights and not much rain... the winter has a continental climate.
With all these
characteristics it’s obvious that the wines from Terra Alta are different from
other wines of Catalonia. And
unfortunately it’s been the great forgotten area, like Priorat years ago, when
people think of quality wines. Nowadays people’s perception is changing because
they are discovering the great wines, as result of the support for traditional
grape varieties, specially the White Grenache, that’s become the bearer from
Terra Alta.
In 2010 the brand Terra Alta Garnatxa Blanca (Terra Alta White Grenache) was created by the Terra Alta Denomination of Origin trying to choose the best wines made with this grape variety and as a way of promoting the quality wines from this area. And the guys from TƎRN Obrador de Vi decided to make it’s first white wine and aiming for their wine to be the chosen wine with this brand… and it was!! So they decided that their wine was enough good to be introduced to the brand… and it was!! They got their first objective: to make quality wines, because their wine was recognised and, at the same time, it was recognised for the effort, passion and thrust of these three guys.
That first
wine was made in a winery that was not of their own and they only produced 1000
bottles of White Grenache and 500 bottles of (red) Grenache. There wasn’t very
many bottles as they were trying to discover if they were able to made quality wines
before pulling out of their wine workshop project. In 2011 they had their wine
workshop and increased the recognitions and the production. If in 2011 their White
Grenache was one of the best from the Terra Alta, their red wine was chosen as the
best red from Terra Alta. In 2011 their wines appeared in the Spanish wine
guides: the White Grenache with 90 points in the Peñín Guide (Guía Peñín) and with 9,53 in the Catalan Wines Guide (Guia de Vins de Catalunya). The success and recognition arrived
quicker than they expected.
This triad
showed that to invest in local varieties was a great choice, but they also
consider other varieties such as Syrah, with which they produce a young wine.
These three
guys chose very well for the name of their cellar, TERN, a word that in Catalan
means set of three things of the same
kind, and they knew quickly which these three elements were: themselves
(the viticulturist, the one that takes care of the cellar processes and the
oenologist).
Today we
introduce you to one of their wines, made with White Grenache (a grape variety
that in Terra Alta is documented from the XVIIth Century): TƎRN Garnatxa Blanca.
We
really can say that the elaboration process of this wine starts in the
vineyard, hand harvested in boxes of 15-20 kg and they only pick the grape that
is ripest and they dismiss the berries that are not perfect.
When
the grapes arrive at the cellar, they use a soft press to obtain the best grape
juice. Later, a third beat of this grape juice ferments in French oak barrels
and the rest in inox tanks. The fermentation process is done separately during
two weeks at a controlled temperature of between 15 and 17ºC.
After,
a three month aging process starts with the lees and once or twice a week they
are subjected to a batonnage.

The result is
a fresh white wine, that in appearance it’s clear, with a pale intensity. The
lemon-green colour stands out and the legs go down slowly.
On the nose
it’s clean with a medium+ intensity. The White flowers appear at the beginning
and also ripe green fruit, especially pear, later the tropical fruits such as
banana and pineapple.
The palate is
medium sweet with a medium+ acidity. The ripe tropical fruit such as melon and
pineapple are the first flavour, with citrus tinges.
The
aftertaste has a medium+ finish. It’s a well balanced wine with an excellent
acidity and a great structure.
If you are
interested in this wine, please, contact to info@winepassion.cat
#oletu
ReplyDeletedesprés de la nit de les garnatxes blanques he quedat ben saturada durant un any i encara em dura...
Tried a sample of your Garnatxa Blanca 2012 ,lovely wine ,as it was a trade show I purchased a bottle to enjoy over the Christmas festivities .
ReplyDeleteWhy have you put a label on the bottle that tells you nothing? Regards
Jeffn