2016 Capcanes Cabrida

Cellar de Capcanes Montsant is in the village of Capcanes, in the region of Tarragona, 100 miles southwest of Barcelona. Traditionally a grape-growing village, Capcanes growers formed a cooperative in 1933 and for the next 60 years sold their wine in bulk. But in 1995 the Jewish community of Barcelona asked the Capcanes cooperative to make a kosher wine, and that successful project led to overall improvements in village winemaking. And it inspired the cooperative to start bottling its own wines. Today the cooperative makes kosher and non-kosher wines including Carignan, Garnacha, Pinot Noir, Garnacha blanca and blends. Jancis Robinson has written that “Capcanes is a quality-driven cooperative…The wine is modern in style, hedonistic, easy-to-enjoy, juicy and super pleasant.”

Cataluña is the northeastern corner of Spain just under France. Its most famous city is Barcelona, which suggests a lot about the open-minded, entrepreneurial attitude toward winemaking in this region. Cataluña, or Catalunya as it is known in the local Catalan language, doesn’t think of itself as particularly Spanish, and its winemaking traditions are a mix Spanish and French. Of the ten appellations in Cataluña the most famous are Priorat, Penedès and Tarragona. Penedès is the largest and most productive of the appellations since it is home to Spain’s most important Cava producers, namely Freixenet and Codorníu. Cava was first made in Penedès in the late 19th century using Spanish grape varietals to making sparkling wines in the French manner. Cataluña is also known for intensely flavored, dark red wines from Priorat and other appellations. The primary red grapes are Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta and Cabernet Sauvignon. Cava is made from the indigenous white grapes Xarel-lo, Parellada and Macabeo.

One of the most popular red varieties planted, it ripens late and prefers hot dry climates. It probably originated in Spain, where it is still widely grown. Grenache is best known for its use in Southern Rhone wines, including those of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.