By Adam Greenberg
How do you sum up maybe one of the best experiences of your life in just a small sentence…YOU DON’T! So, sit back, relax, and venture down short-term memory lane with me (excuse the term, after drinking so much wine today, I may forget a few things-but I guess that’s why I took notes).
The day started off in Barcelona at 8:00am, with a few of my cohorts waking up late after a night of exploring into the wee hours of the morning. There is no sleep needed, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, and there is nothing but energy flowing through all of our veins. So, after we gathered our things, we made our way to the Boqueria el Mercado just in time for breakfast. Universal Kiosko here we come! We started ourselves off with a fresh squeezed juice, followed by the most gluttonous meal I’ve ever had before 10:30am. Foie gras fries with egg, razor clams, setas a la plancha, zucchini tortilla (surprisingly a huge fan favorite over some of the previously mentioned), were just a few of the great things we got to eat.
Some of us even decided to buy some Iberico Bellota and Paletta to bring along for the car ride (clutch for whoever is in my car). We made our way to Gramona Vineyard, which produces some of the best Cava, if not the best, in all of Spain! As a novice wine drinker, this opportunity for me to come along on this trip has been one of the most educating experiences I’ve ever had. Traveling with Gretchen Thomas and Adam Halberg is like traveling with royalty, the respect given to our group is quite humbling and an honor. Anna, who is their director of sales, gave us a private tour of the vineyard in what looked like a safari truck with Joian (the guy who is responsible for maintaining the land). As we approached the top of the hill at the highest altitude of their vineyard, we were greeted with imperial Cava and some melon and mint. What a treat! Did I mention it’s hot?
But who’s complaining, I’m in Spain! Anna and Joian gave us a close and personal tour all over the land. What is special about Gramona, besides the excellent Cava, was the attention and respect given to the details of their craft. This company is 5th generation family run, and is also bio-dynamically controlled, which means animals run free and help cultivate the land in order to get it ready for optimal growing of the vines. It’s an eco-system of sorts, allowing Mother Nature and wildlife to help adapt the land in order to be stronger and fit for hundreds of years.
It’s a really specialized way to operate a vineyard, and one that takes a lot of smarts, hard work, and passion. Some of these vines in Gramona are estimated over hundreds of years old. We were given a tour of the cellars, and as Anna explained the history, the place just spoke to you, as if the old-timers in the family wanted you to know how special and unique their place is. There was a Solera system, which is over a hundred years old, and the tools they used to use way back in the day are saved on the walls (still today, even some techniques are done by hand, such as corking, riddling, and wrapping). After the tour we were given a phenomenal tasting of all their cavas, cheeses, meats, and “mixta paella” of rice, chicken, sepia, squid, sausage.
Mr. Javier Gramona decided to pay a visit and enjoy some lunch with us, and he could not have been more gracious, telling us stories of his growth from little boy to wine owner. He was so proud of his families’ wine and the way in which they operate their business. In over twenty years, not one person has left Gramona unless they were leaving to open their own business, which makes Javier proud.
I’m not even at 3:00pm yet! After lunch, we thanked everyone at Gramona and headed to Falset to visit with the Mountain Man Rene Barbier. I call him the “mountain man”, because he is known all over Spain for re-inventing how people grow vines on mountain sides, he rides a horse to his vineyards, and he has no electricity in his house, which is of course on a mountain side.
Rene has been growing vines and producing wine for over thirty years in this region and is considered to be the god of wine making all over the world. Gretchen has formed a close relationship with Rene, so much so that he doesn’t just pass us off to some worker for a tour of his three vineyards (clos Mogador, Laurona, Espec), he personally drives us around in his “van of death.”
Rene has a passion for giving us a real adventure, and as we drove to his vineyard up to about 400M on dirt roads with no side rails, we all had a few holy sh-t moments. We overlooked what seemed like all of Spain, all of us taking panoramic pictures and just admiring what the world has to offer. It is truly heaven on earth from that view so far above.
The interesting thing about Rene’s vineyards is that they are built on a mountainside, so they are levels of vines resembling steps going all the way up the side. No machines can get down the steep terrain, so all the work is done the old-fashioned way, by hand. This man doesn’t mess around, he chooses the best ingredients to work with, treats the land with more respect than people give each other at times, and produces wine a novice drinker like myself can appreciate and know that I’m in the presence of greatness. All his wines were delicious, each one having its own characteristics, and all having a story to go with it.
After tours of all three vineyards, we had dinner on a patio outside with Rene, and Noel (his business partner, and one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met), where we sipped wine, talked wine, and ate some great food. Tomorrow we are scheduled for a dip in the ocean, some fideos, white priorats, and dinner at Casa Montaña in Valencia. If this is day 2, I certainly can’t wait to see what days, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 bring.
“If you LOVE what you do, you will never work a day in your life,” and this has never been so true.