March 5, 2015
Today was a day to catch up on our notes, and we woke up refreshed and a little cool as the fire had gone out during the night. It was also laundry day as it was beautiful outside and the sun would provide us a great clothes dryer.
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| View from the driveway |
Breakfast was all fresh items from the market with fruits and vegetables and bread. We got back and Ferran, the son, brought us 4 eggs for breakfast the next day - fresh from the hens. Their Black Lab Tarzan didn't seem to happy that we were recipients of the eggs instead of him. Ferran also grabbed a dozen small tomatoes that were suspended from the ceiling in their barn. They had ripened over time and there were probably a couple hundred of them hanging from their vines on the ceiling there.
Ferran Senior came over and said that he had arranged for us a viewing of the winery where they use his organic grapes to make a superior Cava and white wine. We met Raimon Coll Pi at his winery called Terra De Marca (Marked Line) that they started in 2007. Ferran had explained that his vineyard and those around here are on the line between where the Christian Kingdoms and the Moors had fought. Between his house and the sea and the mountains you can see the watch towers that would send out smoke signals when the Moors approached by Sea to attack. So this line would go pretty much right though his 30 Hectares.
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| Ramon Coll Pi in his ancestral cave - the wine pool. |
Raimon told us that his winery is located in his grandparents farm that has been reconstructed to support the massive weight of all the bottles of Cava and wine stored inside. We had a great conversation about his family and how they had been making wine and cava for years, but that it was just for the family. Their difference will be in the quality of their cava and wine, because they don't have the facilities for large productions. We did see their hundred year old cellar that was where they used to put the grapes into a subterranean pool to ferment and then they would scoop it out as needed. The brick colored tiles appeared almost new and are a testament to the true quality that can be achieved when desired. We finally ended in a futuristic white lab tasting room. With Reidel glasses and 3 bottles to taste, it was very enjoyable. We tasted a sampling or "flight" of their very dry Cava; UR an oak aged white; and Solitude, a white. The two wines are from a grape native to this area Xarel lo, and the vines are over 55 years old. They produce a very good white that can lay down for years. You too can visit their artisenal organic winery at Terra De Marca.
After our tasting we returned to leftover food and veggies that still tasted great. An early night.
