Homage To Catalonia
My love letter to Catalan wines. Plus: a vermuteria crawl, as well as Spanish vermouth recs.
Anyone who’s been following me over the past few years knows that I’ve been spending a good deal of time in Barcelona and in the nearby wine regions of Catalonia. In April, in The New Wine Review, I published a piece on Priorat, Catalonia’s most well-known and prestigious region. I’ve also taken on Cava and the sparkling wines formerly called Cava. Last fall, I published articles on my favorite Barcelona wine bars (in Wine Enthusiast) and another on my favorite vermouth bars in Travel + Leisure. For the latter, the story rights have finally reverted back to me, and below I have liberated my vermouth text from behind the T+L paywall for you all to read.
I’ve enjoyed writing all of those pieces, but this week I’ve published what may be my very favorite piece on Catalonia over at the The New Wine Review, on wines from Catalan regions such as Terra Alta, Conca de Barberá, and Penedès.
In this feature report, I talk in-depth about native Catalan grapes such as Xarel·lo, Trepat, Sumoll, and Malvasia de Sitges, as well as Garnacha Blanca, the main grape of Terra Alta. These are some of the most exciting wines in the world right now, and we’re seeing more and more of them on wine lists and wine shops.
I met with a great roster of wineries, including Celler Pardas, Enric Soler, Josep Foraster, Mendall, Celler Frisach, La Furtiva, Parés Baltà, and others. Here is an except below:
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Americans tend to think of “Spanish wine” monolithically. Media and wine educators often offer the condensed, abridged version: Tempranillo, Albariño, sherry, Cava. No other major wine country is given as short shrift as Spain. No one would cover the wines of France or Italy as a simple, single entity. It would be unthinkable, for instance, to interpret the wines from Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto, Alto Adige, or Sicily—each with its unique culture—under the catch-all rubric of “Italian wine.” Similarly, we expect to learn about Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, Rhône, or Loire as separate regions with distinct styles and histories.
Not so with Spain. The diversity of wine on the Iberian Peninsula remains relatively misunderstood. This becomes especially clear when we talk about wines from Catalonia. It’s likely why Catalonia wines remain underappreciated, even as more and more of them turn up on cutting-edge wine lists in the U.S.
To understand Catalan wine is to realize how much wine and culture are intertwined. I have a poet friend in Barcelona who writes in her native Catalan. She speaks five languages and expresses mild irritation that I have not learned any Catalan, “considering how much time you spend here.” The last time I was in the city, she and I had an intense conversation about Bad Gyal, a musical artist who is popular in Spain for her very Auto-Tuned dance songs. Bad Gyal’s first hit was a Catalan cover of Rihanna’s “Work,” and she regularly mixes Catalan into her lyrics. When I suggested that Bad Gyal’s music is just derivative Latin dancehall—reggaetón lite—my friend insisted that I didn’t get it: Bad Gyal is the first to sing this type of music in Catalan. That alone, she said, is an important distinction (even in a club song that translates to “Lost This Ass”).
Without getting too deep into Catalan identity politics or talk of the separatist movement, let’s just say that in a place like Catalonia—where 8 million Catalan speakers live as a minority within a Spanish nation of 47 million—these things matter. When it comes to culture, wine is not dissimilar to music. Wine in Catalonia is different than the rest of Spain, with unique native grape varieties and special terroir.
Last month, I explored Priorat, Catalonia’s most internationally famous region. In this report, I will focus on Penedès, Conca de Barberà, and Terra Alta, three appellations with a critical mass of up-and-coming winemakers that we’ll soon see more of in the U.S.
Please click here to read more at The New Wine Review (Also, readers: be sure to claim your special subscription at the top of this email).
My Barcelona Vermouth Crawl
It was early evening in Barcelona—that wonderful time in Spain when work is over, but the sun is out, and dinner is still a few hours away. I lounged outside a trendy bar called Morro Fi, drinking vermouth, over ice, and nibbling olives, potato chips, and convervas, those tinned fish that are such a delicacy in Iberia.
Morro Fi is sleek and modern, with a minimalist interior and equally minimalist menu. “We only serve vermouth, beer, and snacks,” said owner Marcel Fernandez. “As a kid, I went out with my parents after church for a vermouth, before going to lunch with the family. So, I haven’t been very creative. It’s the same menu that a vermuteria served when I was a kid.”
The hora del vermouth — “vermouth hour” — is a sacred time of day in Barcelona. Originally, it meant sometime around noon or 1 pm, when you had a vermouth and a snack to tide you over until lunch. But these days, the vermouth hour can be any time before a meal, though it usually means day drinking. “We don’t like to be open late at night,” Fernandez said.
Morro Fi operates in a narrow space that had been a bodega from the 1950s until 2010, when Fernandez first opened his vermouth bar, after covering the city’s bar scene as a blogger. “This is the perfect bar for me, a contemporary place that hasn’t invented anything,” he said. “I don’t know if this bar would work you if you put it in the U.S.”
I found that to be true of vermuteria in general when I spent a few days recently on a vermouth crawl, slowing and leisurely, sampling the house vermouth at a number of spots. At Bar Electricitat, in the old port neighborhood of Barceloneta, dating to 1908, lined with barrels, I drank vermouth from an unmarked bottle, which the waiter measured to calculate my bill. At At the more posh Quimet & Quimet in the Poble Sec neighborhood, I scarfed down tinned cockles in oil, montaditos, and stuffed piquillo peppers.
Vermouth is an aromatized wine, infused with botanicals, herbs, spices, and fruits, and fortified to clock in at around 17% alcohol by volume. The ingredients are usually secret, but they generally include quinine, wormwood, citrus peel, vanilla, gentian root, thyme, ginger, and baking spices. “Producers will say, ‘Ah, our vermouth has 30 or 60 or 1 million herbs,’” says Fernandez, who created his own house vermouth for Morro Fi. “Ours has ten ingredients,” he said, “but it’s a secret.”
The historic roots of vermouth lie in Torino, Italy, where it became a staple in the late 18th century. By the mid-to-late 19th century, the beverage was being exported all over the world. Barcelona, in that era, had the largest community of Italian immigrants in Spain, and the local importer of Martini vermouth created a bar that was decorated in part by legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. “That’s when vermouth became the drink of choice for Catalans,” said François Monti, a Spain-based drinks writer and author of El Gran Libro del Vermut. Catalonia is now the center of vermouth production in Spain, with dozens of brands.
I met my friend Lucy Garcia, a Barcelona-based film producer who worked with Anthony Bourdain when he shot in Spain, at Cala del Vermut , near Barcelona’s old Gothic cathedral. There, we ate a fantastic tortilla, patatas bravas, and pan con tomate with our vermouth, which was poured from a barrel on the bar. “Fer el vermut (literally “to do a vermouth”) was typically done all around Cataluña and almost disappeared in Barcelona, pretty much around the same time people stopped going to mass,” said Garcia. “It was basically an old man’s drink until about 10 years ago.” At Cala del Vermut on that evening there were no old men, but rather a good-looking, smartly-dressed young crowd.
But a decade ago, a younger generation of trendsetters — like Fernandez — kicked off a vermouth renaissance. “Hipsters started to drink vermouth again,” Monti says. But there was also a deeper element: Catalan pride. “This is when Catalonian nationalism was growing. People were interested in local products like vermouth,” Monti said.
Spanish vermouth has evolved into a quite different taste than its Italian cousin. It’s not as bitter, but more citrusy and fresh, and meant to be drunk not in cocktails but on the rocks with food. “Spanish vermouth is not something you spend your time thinking about how complex it is, or how sophisticated you are,” Monti said. Catalan brands such as Casa Mariol, Yzaguirre, and Timbal can all be found in the U.S.
In Barcelona, my favorite vermuteria have less to do with the quality of the vermouth, and more of general feeling, a vibe. “The weird thing about a great vermouth bar is that vermouth is an afterthought,” Monti says. “A lot of the classic places serve just one brand and often they don’t even communicate what the brand is, they just say, ‘It’s the house pour.’ It’s all about the atmosphere.”
When I asked Garcia which was her favorite vermouth bar in Barcelona, she chuckled, and said: “I love the one in front of my apartment.”
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Morro Fi
One of the spots that kicked off the vermouth renaissance in Barcelona, Morro Fi has several locations, with the most centrally located in L’Eixample.
La Cala del Vermut
Next Barcelona’s old Gothic cathedral, this buzzy spot with classic tapas serves its house vermouth from a barrel on the bar.
Quimet & Quimet
This crowded, popular spot in Poble Sec has some of the most renowned tapas and bocadillos in town, along with its house made vermouth and a large wine list. Get there early (around 18:00) if you don’t want to wait in line.
Bar Electricitat
Located in the old port neighborhood of Barceloneta, this is among Barcelona’s oldest bars, dating to 1908. The wall is lined with barrels and the waiter calculates your bill by measuring how much you drank from the unmarked vermouth bottle.
Els Sortidors del Parlament
More expansive than only vermouth, with good wine-by-the glass and craft beers, this lovely spot in Sant Antoni neighborhood is a good place to start or end a crawl.
Senyor Vermut
Perfect second stop in L’Eixample, just up the street from the original Morro Fi, is a mix of old men and hipsters enjoying vermouth with classic Catalan dishes.
Spanish Vermouths to Seek Out
Barcelona was the spot where Spain’s vermouth renaissance started, and so Catalonia remains a source of great vermouth. But there are growing number of vermouth brands now coming from Jerez, as sherry houses look to diversify their offerings.
Note: If you’re in New York, a good place to taste a number of Spanish vermouths is Bar Celona at José Andrés’ Mercato Little Spain.
Casa Mariol Vermut Negre
Intense and citrusy, with big flavor and great heft and texture. I love the herbal nose and the underlying notes of cola and birch beer.
Yzaguirre Rojo
This is a classic Catalonia vermouth of the style you’d likely find at a corner vermuteria in Barcelona.
Timbal Vermut de Reus
Easy drinking, wormwood-forward vermouth full of baking spice and an underlying sweetness.
Priorat Natur
A fascinating “orange” vermouth, earthy and bittersweet, with notes of white blossoms, rosemary, and a hint of vanilla.
Navazos-Palazzi Vermut Rojo
This vermouth from famed negociant Equipo Navazos and importer PM Spirits comes from Jerez. Bright, citrusy, and super floral, with notes of lavender and chamomile on the nose and tea-like notes on the palate. Great on ice or in cocktails.
Valdespino
From the famed sherry producer, this is vibrant and bright, with a nose is a swirl of blossoms, orange peel, and oregano, and is light and lithe in mouth with citrus and cocoa flavors.
Atamán
Another vermouth from a sherry house, in this case Barbadillo. Nutty and full of clove, nutmeg, and brown sugar.
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