Hello everyone and welcome to to today’s Session my name is joseph and you joined Us here for our first Wset events hub session of the new Academic year it’s back to school season In so many parts of the world so we’re Looking forward to today’s session um And you’ve joined us for a bite-sized One that is all about grenache Although as you’re going to hear we’re Probably going to refer it more as Garnacha throughout today’s session and That will become apparent why Um So my name is joseph i’m joined also by Ferran he’s our expert and i’ll give you A little bit of an introduction to him In a second Um if you’ve got any questions for us Throughout the session please just post Them in the q a box so you’ll see There’s a chat box and you’ll see There’s a q a box if you’ve got a Specific question that you’d like to be Answered put it in that q a section and We’ll get to as many of those as Possible at the end This session is going to be available on Our youtube channel afterwards so if you Want to watch it again If you’ve got to leave halfway through Share it with friends family whoever You will be able to find it on wct’s Youtube channel
Um so without further ado let me Introduce ferran vendees He is wine director at elbowy foundation Lots of you might have heard of that Famous restaurant elboy Faran is linked to Has been linked to that team since 1999 Um and he’s got numerous accolades from His history including bessemelier in Spain in 2006. he won the National gastronomy award in 2011 and Also recently and we’re very proud of This for him as well wset’s own Outstanding alumni award back in 2020. He does lots of teaching for wset Throughout the world including At home in barcelona And he’s a regular judge in lots of International wine competitions such as Decanter Worldwide awards Um Now he is also very busy man um he’s a Specialist and he’s a writer for Www.jansysrobinson.com i’m sure many of You are familiar with that wine review Website And he’s the spanish specialist for it So fantastic person to be talking about Today’s subject on garnacha So without further ado i’m going to Introduce him and let him get on with Today’s session Hello hello
Joseph thank you very much for the uh Introduction and uh Hello to all from barcelona so happy to Be sharing time with you i’m so happy to Be the first of this Course so we’ll be talking about Garnacha Or In france as it was in Grenache and i have a lot of Material to to go through so i’m going To be kind of Quick Starting so happy to be sharing this This moment with you uh joseph Did a great introduction thank you for That just Um talking about chancellor robinson and Trying to push you into it i’m sure if i Didn’t find my diploma I would never never never be part of a Chances team today so for the ones going To wct Keep going for the ones Going for the diploma keep pushing and Not give up never never because it is Really worth it and also so happy to be Assessor of think abby which is In catalonia the official body uh And catalan catalanwa institute that Promotes controls All the viticulture and the winemaking So Here we are and let’s go and let’s start
Talking about garnacha And the first the first Text where Garnacha appears Is the agricultural general From our own alonso herrera He was an agronomist born in toledo He’s so famous in in In in spain and and he has He had published uh back in times this Book called General well where he describes many Many grips and one of those is Aragonese you see here aragonese i have Tried to translate More or less and Is About It talks about a tight grape Which uh Tight bunches Uh that carries a lot of weight uh but Gives depending on on where it’s planted Uh more concentrated uh fuller wines or Kind of lighter so that can be so that Would be the first mention to garnacha Before being called garnacha okay so Sorry for my italian friends i don’t Know if there are some some italian Friends so you see here more or less the Crown of aragon at its uh splendorous Moment with the bariatric islands Sardinia sicily southern italy you see Here the map and of course
A catalonian and being very very sorry For my many many italian friends we have Been discussing a lot about The origins of garnacha And I can tell or thanks to the dna profile Today we know that taking account the Genetic Data Garnacha it’s Very close relative with verdejo or Exactly from extreme madura in spain or Irene so they have many uh Genetic Connections and proximity to garnacha Okay so we know that bernatcha vernacha In the middle age and the modern age It was a white Variety from italy And somehow burnacha and bernazza Are adaptations from italian to the Hispanic language of arabones So The name Garnacha grenache might come from from Italy But The grape Was originated in the east of the Iberian peninsula and of course in in Catalonia Just just to to to point it and uh i Don’t want to create any any polemics But it seems that the the origin of
Garnacha grenache now it’s from the Peninsula uh ibalika One very very interesting research has Been published by terra de garnachas uh Terada garnachas and uh and gabby Working together teragarmachas is an Association of Buying growers from different parts of Catalonia very active people very very Top people and they have done A research tasting see blind tasting 3 000 garnachas without oak right that’s Very important so imagine they they go And they do a huge tasting 3000 wines From garnacha from different parts of Of europe uh sardinia russian Navarro And of course catalonia And They can afterwards after the The analysis and the testing They came up with uh five Main descriptors flavor aromas Descriptors for uh garnacha You see them in the in the screen so It’s red and black fruits uh brought Orange in sangina Plum Medicinal herbs And licorice okay So licorice is important because we Normally think always that decreases a Is a thirsty flavor Stereo aroma so comes from the oak uh
Or even for from from the from the Normally from the oak But not in garnacha so in garnacha Without dog we can also find some Licorice aromas together with this blood Orange which is super sexy and and Beautiful sorry i should not say sexy in Wct Forgive me oh i won’t do it again but It’s a it’s a it’s a great Aroma that comes through the glass of Of garnacha so you see here the the Spicy the fresh the fresh red fruits The floral the candy fruit the The orange And licorice that are common descriptors For for garage this is one point another Super interesting point about garnacha Is that it’s a Mutant Varietal it’s a mutant grape that means That keeps changing a lot when you do The the Muscle selection uh It it can It can mutate and it’s very easy that it Really develops a lot of clonal Differences so it’s and you see here you See the the in the screen it’s great It’s the same plan The same plan from the same uh shoot Some of the grips are Right and in the same same one some of The other grapes are white that means
Something is going on there and has been A change a mutation in in the grape uh It happens also with pinot we have pinot Noir not blank many different notes one Of those are top and the other ones are Less less Interesting it happens also with Vernacular the clonal uh Effect with gamaches so so important Getting to the to the right clones Normally they all clones that Brings and enhances uh quality and trust Me garnacha has a huge huge Clonal uh diversity that’s why that’s Why we have so many um Kinds of of garnacha Okay garnacha tinta and that’s the grape We’ll be focusing today with permission Of garnacha blanca garnacha luda I love i love the wines from garnacha Peluda we call it peluda like fairy Because on the on the reverse of the Leaves the it has some kind of hairy That protects The protects the leaf can be more Aromatic and and acidic More more vivid It’s a Great great grape more full of flavors That i would love i would love to see More and more planted in in catalonia And also Another favorite is garnacha greece Garnacha and russia which is pinky like
The acoustraminer you know but we use it For um For white wines So interesting uh grapes okay maybe the Seeds are kind of kind of low but today Today For garmacha foreign Many of the wine growers or a lot of Vine growers they can do like two Different harvests so harvesting At the beginning of the harvest and Picking the grapes with more acidity a Probably more kind of Vegetable character and also in the same Vineyard do and later uh harvest that Gives a kind of balance that is very Interesting and many producers are are Doing so in in catalonia especially in In the real time okay so speaking at two Different uh Rapid moments and two different timings It’s a great for for keeping the balance Of of of garnacha and of course garnacha And catalonia are so related and we have You see here the the map of uh of uh Catalonia this beautiful mediterranean Country with a very long History by producing wines and with These 11 different um Galatians You see here in Blue These are the appellations where Garnacha is present is present but is
Not you know the main focus of of the Appellation and in red imported And terralta That are appellations That really focus on garnacha and where You can find Super super top uh and well regarded uh Matcha so that’s that’s the reasons We’ll be looking looking at but just to Mention in catalonia today and this is a Very up-to-date data we have two Thousand two hundred hectares of Garnacha blanca And four thousand three hundred hectares Of garnacha negra and then the peluda And the russia are more kind of a Russian one so let me talk about importa In puerta It’s a favorite reason because i work Many times many long time for a long Time until budi uh that was the famous Restaurant in in emporta Here the garnacha is called Blanc And negra and it reminds me a little bit Of to the priority they have slate and Granite soils and the wines are full Rich And It’s a great potential of old um Albins so actually 60 as you see here 60 Percent of the emperor divines are 30 years old And
70 of all importer it’s 80 years old That that means well The potential of of all the grapes are Are great and you know what uh in the Border at my back in times i’m not a White mercury no i didn’t i didn’t do Any any but i had some wine making Experiences and i chose of course back In times 2012 and 13 garmacha Negra okay So Welcome to chloro i’m very bad in the Pronunciation of plural so i will use a Much easier welcome to the poor fruit Set okay and i remember and that’s Something i’ve been commenting and Talking with with different producers I remember in 2012 Uh The fruit We didn’t have any plural at all so all The flowers Converted to to fruit in a very good way But then just previous to the harvest it Rained so The graves you know that they get water And they kind of inflate a little bit uh That gives problems fungus as as you Know Mildews and other other fungus problems So somehow and especially on those uh Young binds or maybe this kind of Viticulture that is uh probably
Irrigated or less accurate kind of a Slight degree of Poor fruit set it helps Just to to the punches not to be so Compact yeah so remember 2012 We we didn’t have chloro and we had lots Of fungus because they inflated but 2013 During the flowering we had Montana wings So the fruit Would have less fruit But but the branches they look beautiful And and the fruit was in a perfect Condition and super super healthy And so somehow and i’ve been talking That with many other producers and A poor fruit set helps And brings up the quality and that’s why In 2012 i didn’t do Any carbonic maceration i did a normal Winemaking and 2013 Uh i did uh 30 percent of carbonic Maceration for my garnachus It was just for um for having fans and Friends and family nothing commercial at All Uh Okay Second reason penides Nice benedez i i just add the map Because you need to know sorry for the For you the ones that are studying uh We have now divided our lovely benedict When region south of barcelona in 10
Different soup zones garnacha here is Soft is gentle it’s elegant it’s a bit Kind of frenchy if you allow me to to Put it in in That way and with with nice nice fruit Panetta it’s another beautiful reason For ganacha and we are finding More and more hundred percent garnachas In penides which i’m super super happy Second very important fact about Garnacha Garnacha it’s a very very very clever Great variety Super intelligent very clever you know What yeah because When when when garnach when the plant Starts to see that There is not enough water supply it kind Of Slightly closes the stomata in a way That can still Do some work yeah still breathe a little Bit yeah but not like not like crazy not Like tempranillo temporary it’s a stupid Great variety that matches clever Symphony keeps breathing and Doing all the transpiration Very very accelerated that’s why Garnacha is better suited for better Treated for um Warm and hot climate because it can Slightly closer stomach and it keeps Working okay it doesn’t develop the the Color or or maybe the tannins but but
It’s very very drought resistant and That’s why That’s because it’s super intelligent And can detect that he Or that the plan she is uh Lacking water that’s that’s a clever uh Great variety and that’s why I think we will see this plant and this Cultivar in hot water regions being Planted and replanted okay Monsan monsant it’s a southern catalonia Is you see here this is a map we Developed with chancellor robinson to Explain the reason Uh there are one two three four five six Super regions not official not to be Studied okay But They’re working on that but not official Yet And it’s incredible how many garnachas Are today produced in in monsanto since 2000 i would say um i’m not gonna say Names because okay i don’t want to be a A commercial here but since since that Time It’s been it’s been uh crazy how many Interesting Projects uh betting on hundred percent Garnets are boosting from from the Region uh and for me it’s Kind of A period okay i’m gonna put it very easy And you can criticize if you want but
You know Monsan it’s it’s kind of a Similar quality to to pre-order and even The some of the soils are in some areas Are are quite similar and and not super Great value price point so you really Find lots of quality of course some uh Outstanding and top uh ones too yeah but It’s a reason you can you can really Look at it to find great quality Potential garnacha’s Kind of a priority Style at Top very nice prices like 10 to 15 Retail here in in catalonia right so Monsan Another important another important Point that low yields are really really Uh uh Important for for quality Okay i’m sure you know you know that and And and the ones the ones studying about Diploma the ones going through the Diploma you have of course heard about The clone 70 that was Broadly planted in In southern france and giving high Yields what kind of dilute Flavors and this concentration here in Spain At the time that France was planting this new clone in Spain we were In catalonia we were planting
International grape varieties so we Didn’t use this clone so all the Garnacha that we find Planted a long time ago or even today It’s from last productive clones we Spoke at the beginning of the of the Conversation about the clonal importance Of garnacha okay so here in in catalonia Most um I would say all the the the garnachas Are kind of In In a very good cloned selection we don’t Have clone 70 here and we are a dry Farming country And the average yields in in catalonia It’s less than 5 000 so we are very okay Here to really get the flavors and the Maximum potential of of garnacha And talking about garnacha i absolutely Need to talk um About triorat I’m not gonna i’m not gonna be the one Discovering plut but uh another another Uh Map uh published published in uh for for Jensen robinson where we analyzed all The vida villa you know each village has Owned the right uh to use its its name For for a wine produced hundred percent In in the village and that We are starting i’m gonna say it Not very loud but we are starting to see Kind of differences between uh villages
Uh from garnacha and from canadiana some Some villages produce more kind of heavy Style of ratcha the other ones like Escalade super light ethereal with no Tannins garnacha and moon more kind of Heavy depending uh Grata jobs for sure The Orthodox garnacha so we’re starting to To uh to see that period always on the Top end of catalonian wines very low Production this is late Uh soil Planted on on very steep steep slopes It’s crazy if you need you need to visit That that’s region and this is really Really steep um [Music] I’m at college that’s uh an ancient Roman saying saying that pakus and the God of wine she loved steeper slopes So do i I’m not bakus by the way okay and now That’s uh really important Now it’s really important and It’s totally forbidden to kill me Joseph helen You are listening to me but please don’t Kill me We normally study and we Normally talk About nacho like being A low acidity grapes Okay that
Has low low acid and actually i kind of Uh Disagree and i’ve been doing a lot of Of research on a city level in garnachaz And Okay we are agreed that uh garnacha has A great variety has less malic acid uh Compared to tempranillo but uh for Instance right but tartaric acid it’s It’s kind of uh i mean i wouldn’t say It’s low uh Easily five 5.5 Grams per liter of tartaric acid it’s It’s it’s common for garnacha Let me put it this way if you plant Shira in a very hot warm region in Southern catalonia a city is is less Than than garnacha Different thing it’s The Flavor profile and the palette profile Okay see that’s different but but if we Look to the numbers if we look to the Lab numbers garnacha still keeps Additional acidity although malic acid Is super super low okay so that’s Something we need to to review all Together uh we are talking a lot in Catalonia about about that about this Question uh i will be happy to to keep Investigating and to do a proper Research on on that yeah and finally my Last Wine region southern a bit inland in
Catalonia between The ebola river and the border of Aragon it’s terra alta geralda In a nutshell terralta is 33 percent of All garnacha blanca in the world Are you seated towards 33 Of all garnacha blanca in in the world Uh production alone for alone for Terralta with these beautiful modernist Wineries that are a Beautiful landscape it’s a great great Also a great vision to To visit uh as i said at the beginning Different timing times and different Harvesting times for it it’s uh It’s normal okay for for garnacha Blanca white or much Here and super deals super deals lots of Fruits fruit-driven wines very sexy Sorry sexy again not not a word to be Used uh for the value city but you know The point uh easy drinking yeah And And why we love garnacha Basically we love garage because of the Tanning stunnings are Soft are mellowed are rounded uh they Are not heavy it’s it’s uh it’s uh it’s A good mood great variety it’s so ample And rounded But not being heavier uh or Kind of harsh at all it’s it’s a very Welcoming embracing embracing great Variety in terms of of palette okay and
Uh for the ones doing a lot of blind Testing let me just do a final tip for You A final tip about garnacha And tdn tdn you know it’s this molecule Responsible for giving Petrol kerosene flavors we we found it Uh in in riesling but also we also find It in in garnacha so if you see here uh Two million uh micrograms per liter yeah You see that the two complete two Micrograms per liter That is the perception threshold so Above that you can actually feel it yeah You can perceive the tdm so you have for Instance chardonnay cabernet sauvignon Those grape varieties The threshold of tdn it’s below two that Means you cannot not feel it but For garments blanca and also sometimes You can experience or feel it uh Especially with with kind of all bottles Of garnacha uh That that might be an aroma you can you Can detect i have been I have mistake a few times garnacha [Music] And wrestling But although if you keep focus on the Palette then you have some key key Points there okay but Don’t forget sometimes petrol in Garnacha can be found of course okay This thing is almost 40
Micrograms per per liter that means Much much more but sometimes we think It’s just a smell of tdn of petrol but Here you find it kind of mixed with the Fruits and Yeah so that’s that’s also nice a nice Research done by our our own vicente Ferreira who is a top researcher and for Aromas in in spain very top top guy And he has discovered that garnacha has Some white garnacha white they’re not Just some tidian Just to finish uh remember that garnacha Can also been found in a Fortified with Alcohol added And that’s also super traditional in in Catalonia and as it is Easy to oxidize this is this laboratory We can also find it In an oxidized like soul solid serena Like you see here in in the picture that Means with direct direction glass in in Those glass jars that’s very traditional We love like kind of Manuals or port Style wines and this is a Type and style ones we we also Love here in in our country beautiful For sweet sweet wines beautiful for for Desserts that’s a Great uh a great that can be also like Muscata muscatine In catalonia in southern catalonia and
Garnacha they share in common that They’re super able to produce Oxidative Fortified wines okay So I have tried to cover sorry if i’m i’m Being so quick through through The presentation but uh we need to to Keep with this bite size by the way Joseph i see you now i have uh two Spanish uh one catalan and one spanish Word that is better than bite size it’s You know in spanish we say mordisquitos Yeah and in catalan musa Which sounds much better okay yeah and Literally bite size Brilliant ferran thank you so much it’s Very welcome to hear that much Information about Garnacha and and just to see and hear How diverse this great variety Can be Um so brilliant to delve into that we’ve We’ve got some questions from the people That have joined us today on the session Some really good questions so i’m going To bring them to you now One here from carla And carla’s asking if you’ve ever tasted Garnacha from mexico um and maybe Elaborate on that and tell us the most Surprising place that you’ve tried Garnacha from i know you travel a lot No no i have never come across to a
Garnacha from from mexico uh i’m sure It’s been planted uh There but i haven’t Noticed anyone from from from mexico yes From australia Yeah and there are some amazing garages Being produced in australia And In new world it’s also yeah An increasing rate and it’s it’s But but i have a green memory of of a Garnacha in australia that was premium Level also so it’s interesting to see That new world Producing countries they bet on garage For also premium wines are not just Completely agree yeah i mean i’ve had Some brilliant um examples from from Australia and south africa also um i i Guess Maybe you were suggesting this a little Bit in the presentation I mean this summer in particular in Europe there’s been so much Pressure from drought and the heat level Would you expect garnacha to start to be Planted even more widely than it is at The moment i i think so i think so Because it’s it’s uh It’s a grip that if you work well and You shade the you know you you were with With the canopy to protect from from Direct sun Uh
It’s so so Very good on the drop resistant Character no uh and so as i said i i i Was doing kind of joke that garage is a Clever grip but really it is no because It compared to temporary or some other Reps i keep working working working you Know He said okay we slow down uh Maybe the the synthesis of uh of uh Shannon’s is less or the tiniest or Whatever but it it kind of resists uh The the heat years and on the drop Yeah real survivor grape i think yeah Exactly exactly exactly A question here from anna who’s Obviously you covered four Different um Types of car natural in today’s Plantation are there more types beyond That um or just those four they’ve gone Actually these are the four main main Main ones but what is crazy it’s the Clonal diversity yeah So Uh garnacha uh from from Okay we we opened the scope here Karnataka from from grados from cerveros Okay first For the ones studying fibres is a new Upcoming appellation in spain From from griddos the clones are so Different to the ones planted in in Prioret so in there there is always less
Color uh kind of more delicate uh on on The On the palette and in plural is super Savory And fleshy and garnacha’s always with uh This kind of good mutant insert with Soft And gentle and very easy to to To enjoy tannins but clonal i would i Would always talk about cloning Diversity in aragon always when i when i Keep traveling to spain we end up Talking about what clone of garnacha Because it okay the grape variety might Be the same but the style of wine it’s Totally different extremely different Okay really good point um we’re going to Wrap up in a couple of minutes i’m just Going to do a couple more questions um From the ones that have been posted one That i think is a really good one is It’s always talked about these special Soils in prior rats could you just give A bit more of a description of what uh Licoria is like as a as a soil type No not like liquor yeah it’s crazy no no Licoria has because of the of the of This late yeah and the salt formation The the water It goes kind of up yeah Through through the likolaya rocks To To meet the to meet the roots you know Okay okay i’m not i’m not um
I’m not the one to talk about minerality Because i have Okay i i can i don’t feel it that way But uh korea is able First of all it allows roots to be super Deep and also the water it kind of picks Up the water from from down down down Okay up so they And they meet the roots in there and There’s this kind of uh solid collision Is very good because it helps Very all plants to to survive and if you Go to pre-rack you If you look at the vineyards in prairie Wrap what do they look like with that Soil can you can see it there they look Can i put it in one word They look very tiring you You know because it’s so difficult to Work And Very very difficult to to work and then Your Your back hurts i can’t tell so but very Super steep slope i have i have the the The Actual data and Because they have been researching that Uh very deep in the appellation in the Plural Appellation but it’s it looks like like Liars liars or or of of rocks okay Uh super rocky and actually to to to Plant this is uh it’s it it’s crazy
Because you don’t need to break the Rocks uh if you want to plant yeah so That that’s a work you need to do before Before planting in in very intense work Um one more question and i know this is A big question but we’ve got an Award-winning sommelier On the session today we need to ask you This question for That’s come in um can you talk a little Bit about food pairing with garnacha and And how you would would pair with these Wines absolutely absolutely uh and and i Like i really like this uh That you have come with with this this Question uh And okay uh as you say always at wsct uh Wine pairing can be somehow a bit uh Subjective and depending on On the preferred personal preferences on And i kind of be can kind of very agree But Think about yeah think about we have we Finished in in our culture in the metro We finished a lot of of long cooking uh Dishes with with Orange pato la raja took orange yeah or Even with chicken And Imagine this dish with orange and and Then licorice That’s something we do Naturally Many recipes i have and when you are
Finishing or at the medium of the Cooking process you add some orange peel And you add some licorice there That’s Super beautiful because it kind of Matches the flavors of the of the Garnacha that’s something you can you Can do even even with your Yeah you can you can use Orange that’s that’s very good with uh With garnacha and also garnacha Despite the alcohol okay we have been Talking about that and It’s a very late ripping rape and can Have you know has Normally High high alcohol despite the tannins Can be kind of lower But but despite uh The the the alcohol level the tannins Are soft that gives a lot of uh praying Opportunity because normally what what Normally works Less with food it’s uh high tennis wines So that kind of it has kind of Versatility too uh and it’s a it’s a Grape That it’s very welcome to be matched With with easily with wood yeah Definitely found that is especially Those those more delicate styles of gar Nacho you’re talking White meat and fish is absolutely a Possibility
Absolutely absolutely especially if they They’ve cooked if they are cooked Yeah so i’m not gonna use it for Probably like raw fish but when you do Some cooking and you work with some kind Of Onions and You go to the oven and and that that Works Thank you so much for answering those Questions i want to thank everyone who’s Attended today it’s been a really great Audience um what what’s some brilliant Questions there um we would love to hear From you uh my colleagues have posted a Little feedback poll we would love to Hear um how you’ve received today’s Session please tell us what you think if You’d like to hear more of things like This Just a reminder that we are going to Send out a link to this recording to Everyone who’s attended and signed up Please catch up on all of our wct events Hub content on the youtube page there’s An absolute library of content with Brilliant speakers just as we’ve seen From from firan today If you haven’t started your journey with Wset or you want to continue that Journey head to our where to study page You can find out all the information About different course providers around The world and which courses they’re
Offering So do that after this session veron i Want to thank you so much what a Brilliant session um Thanks thank you for wct also And all the all the ones that are they Are listening to us Go go for it it’s worth it it’s really Worth it listen to this man brilliant Thank you everyone