Prologue:  File this under “strange but true”.  At the conclusion of Day 1’s Cava tasting and sumptuous lunch, the entire group had the evening off before setting out on the crux of our journey.  I chose to retire to my hotel room and catch up on a bit of rest (still needing to shed a little jet lag).  It was 5 PM local time and I was hoping to get a few hours of shut-eye and then check out the tapas scene in Zaragoza.  I set my alarm for 7 AM the next morning just in case I zonked out.  We were slated to leave the hotel at 8 AM.    

I awoke from a dead sleep at 7:45.  The dim morning light was peering through the drapes into my room.  How did I over sleep?  No matter.  I put on a fresh set of clothes and proceeded downstairs to the lobby to meet the group.  However, when I reached the lobby I noticed something quite surreal: no one in my travel troupe was there.

Instead, I witnessed a parade of people in dinner jackets and evening dress shuffling off to the hotel dining room.  Outside, people were gathering at the local square for café and cocktails.  Dumbstruck, I had to pause to gather myself.  It wasn’t 8 AM the next day but 8 PM the same evening! 

(BTW, the sun stays out until nearly 10 PM in Spain this time of year).

Day 2 (Part 1): Campo de Borja

After a bite of tapas and a full night’s sleep (sort of), I awake at Hotel Palafox and prepare for first full day of winery visits.  All members of our group meet in the hotel lobby at 8 AM and board the bus for the hour and a half drive north from Zaragoza to Campo de Borja for scheduled appointments with Bodegas Borsao and Alto Moncayo. 

We arrive seemingly at the junction of anywhere and somewhere: a fork in the road outside of the tiny village of Fuendejalon where we meet Borsao GM Jose Miguel Sanmartin.  Back in 2002 Señor Sanmartin partnered with Jorge Ordonez, noted Australian winemaker Chris Ringland and Dan Phillips of Grateful Palate Imports to create the Alto Moncayo brand. 

We pile out of the bus and pair off into awaiting courtesy cars to tour some of the old vine Grenache plots that comprise the three Alto Moncayo bottlings (Veraton, Alto Moncayo and Aquilon) and Borsao Tres Picos.  The weather is hot and sunny (like Florida in July but without the humidity). 

 

The vineyards are all old vine Grenache ranging from 45 to 100 years.  The vines are pruned into the classic bush-vine configuration which allows for good canopy development to keep the fruit from getting an unwanted suntan.  The vineyards are a mixture of clay, calcareous and red slate sub-soils with a high iron content.  There is very little annual precipitation here and no irrigation systems installed as a supplement so each vintage is the literal expression of what Mother Nature did or didn’t provide.

 

Before too long our group retreats to Alto Moncayo’s modern but nondescript winery facility in the nearby town of Bulbuente.   Jorge Ordonez treats us to two barrel samples of the 2010 Alto Moncayo, one in French oak and the other in American.  It was a terrific opportunity to taste the separate components of the wine before they’re blended together.  Alto Moncayo is typically a 60/40 ratio of French to American oak.  We also tasted the 2008 and 2009 vintages of Veraton.  All the wines were outstanding modern interpretations of old vine Grenache.

Coming next time: Bodegas Borsao and Jamon Iberico

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor SW Florida