Brandon's Trip to Spain - June 2011, Part 2

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of Joe Canal’s that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the BottleBlog.

In June 2011, Brandon Bartfalvi, Wine Manager of the Lawrenceville store had the privilege of traveling to Spain and immersing himself in Spanish food, culture, and most importantly, wine! Here is the second installment of Brandon's trip.

DAY TWO: WHAT HAPPENS IN RIOJA...

THE WINERY (ONDARRE): Bodegas Ondarre, founded in 1986, belongs to the Bodegas Olarra Group, one of the most famous names in the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja, but with wines with a character of their own. 

Bodegas Ondarre is located in Viana, a historic town 8 kilometres from Logroño (La Rioja), rich in tradition, still preserving traces of its medieval fortress. Its name comes from a hundred-year old country house, the property of the founders of the wine cellar. 

Production is solely composed of Reservas, Cask-fermented Whites and Cava sparkling wines, with a limited number of bottles.

MY DAY: I was uber-excited to visit this winery when I found out about this trip. I love the Reserva and the Graciano is fantastic but now I could put a face (or view) with a name. We arrived at the winery and were greeted by Javier Martinez de Salinas y Manso de Zuniga, technical director for the Bodegas Olarra Group. The winery isn't very large despite the amount of wine it produces but everything is state of the art and every aspect is micro-managed so nothing escapes notice. We visited the winemaking facilities and roamed around the stainless steel tanks and fermenting tanks and then went deeper into the winery to see the barrels and barrel storage areas. This winery was definitely impressive and its unbelievable how much wine that they have on hand at any given time. At one point we came to the room of the Orden de Ondarre. This is a special room dedicated to barrels personally owned by private consumers. For a certain fee, you can choose the wine you want bottled and have it aged for three years here at the winery. If you are interested in this, please let me know and I can provide you with a longer explanation of how it works. Following this part of the tour we went to the bottling line and watched the workers ply their craft. After a brief discussion we made our way back to the vehicles: it was time to see the vineyards.

We traveled a short distance and went into the vineyards on Ondarre right outside the ancient city of Viana (it means wine). A brief history lesson revealed that water was hard to get into the city because of its steep incline and hilltop location so the villagers used the most abundant liquid at their disposal to make some of the bricks for their buildings: wine.

A brief walk through the vineyard led us to an ancient church from the twelfth century. The newly restored church was simple in its design but the sheer age of the monument was breathtaking. The winery set up a small tour for us and we found out that we were the first official tour of the church by the group that helped renovate it. A wonderful experience!

The tour ended and it was time to visit the next winery...

THE WINERY (BODEGAS OLARRA): Bodegas Olarra is located on the outskirts of Logroño, right in the heart of the Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja and within the prestigious Rioja Alta sub-district.

Since it was founded in 1973, Olarra has been characterized by the beauty and complexity of its facilities, known as the Cathedral of Rioja, with its unique 'Y' shaped ground plan, as well as its 111 hexagonal "egg box" domes. 

This bodega has been able to combine the most modern winemaking techniques with the traditional vinification and ageing processes of Rioja, creating wines which have been conceived according to strict quality standards.

In Olarra we believe that it is by taking perfect care of the grapes that a fine wine is made, so we supervise every detail to the maximum. In making its wines, Bodegas Olarra only uses those berries which meet a set of strict conditions. Currently, Olarra offers several labels to the market and behind each of these is a wine with its own identity. Its star wines are the red oak-aged wines.

MY DAY: I saw pictures of this winery before the trip and I couldn't wait to see the design and architecture. From the outside the winery looks like a simple modern structure but there is much more to this impressive building. I wish I could add more photos to this story because choosing only a few doesn't do it justice but if you ask I can share more of the photos with you.

Well, back to the story. We were thirsty... all of us. We decided to do a little tasting before we went on the tour of the premises and this is where I fell in love with some new wines and ones you may see in the near future. Javier guided through each wine that we tasted and described them and gave us opportunities to ask questions and offer opinions. We tasted around twenty wines and all but two wines were keepers to me. I can't guarantee we will bring all of the wines in but we will have a few more offerings in the near future. The highlight of the tasting was trying some of the new vintages versus the current releases. I love the classic styling of the 2004 vintage in Rioja but 2005 offers more dark fruit flavors and more concentration. If you like the 2004 Ondarre Reserva, the 2005 offers more power and intensity. But I digress... the importance of this tasting was learning about the number of wines Olarra produces while keeping in mind that each bottling and label is distinct in its own right. It's hard to fathom that one operation can create so many different styles while still maintaining a high standard of quality for each.

Now, on to the tour. After our tasting we were shown around the estate and again we visited the winemaking facilities with the fermentation tanks, presses and other equipment but the fun is coming soon. When I stood in the window of the tasting room earlier I could see the honeycomb roofs that I heard about but what were they? As we continued our tour deeper into the depths I found my answer. The honeycomb roofs were the tops to the barrel aging rooms in the basement. Nothing monumentally mindblowing but interesting nonetheless. This was a more modern styled winery for the region but it was still steeped in tradition. This was a modern facility that still kept true to the Rioja traditions: state-of-the-art meets old school.

After a leisurely paced tour we made our way to the adjoining building that would be the site of our next great meal. Two of the winery employees were here readying our meal. Again, simple homemade cooking at its best. We went to the second floor and look down upon a great stove fired by cuttings from the vineyards. Once this stove reach the right temperature and full cage of lamb chops would be cooked upon the embers. The smells rose throughout the hall and stomachs grumbled in anticipation of whats to come. Needless to say, we had eaten a fair share of lamb on this day and there were no complaints from any of us. The entire meal was delicious but our day was at an end. We said our thanks and made our way to the vehicles to start our trek back to the hotel. We needed to relax after this dinner.

WINES TO LOOK FOR: ONDARRE GRACIANO, ONDARRE RESERVA 2004, CERRO ANON RESERVA 2004

WINES YOU MAY SEE SOON: ONDARRE RESERVA 2005, CERRO ANON RESERVA 2005, MAYOR DE ONDARRE RESERVA 2005, CERRO ANON CRIANZA, OTONAL BLANCO, OTONAL RED