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Published: September 27th 2008
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About a week ago, we had a group field trip to la Bodega Sierra Salina, located in the mountains in the south of Alicante Province. As we left behind the main highway and drove through winding, country roads with hardly any buildings (just miles and miles of grapes and olives being grown) I began to feel back in my element. All that was missing was some cows and a squirrel or two, although I did hear chickens crowing at the winery. Stepping off the bus, I was cold for the first time since I'v come to Spain as the winery is located at 600m above sea level. Feeling refreshed and invigorated by the crisp country air, I was ready for my wine tour. Disclaimer: I learned a lot about the wine making process during the tour, but as the guide spoke in very fast Spanish, some of my information may be a little bit off. We started off with a brief tour of the fields were the grapes are grown. The winery also grows olives and almonds and as we were walking to the vineyards, we passed an almond tree. The guide encouraged us to help ourselves to the almonds on
the trees. Not being one to pass up free food, i eagerly picked off a couple of almonds and proceeded to smash them open with a rock as the guide had instructed. However, in my enthusiasm, I not only crushed the almond, but my camera as well, which fell from my hand and shattered on the rock. I may have broken my camera, but at least the almonds, fresh from the tree in rural Spain, were the most delicious almonds I have ever eaten. And luckily, 10 minutes later, my camera started working again despite a small crack in the side. In the vineyards, we looked at three different types of grapes; monastrell, cabernet sauvignon, and garnacha tintorerra. In the actual vineyard, the bodega performs a series of experiments to see what type of growing conditions produce the best grapes possible (i.e letting the grapes grow freely, tying the plants a stake, or having the plants hooking up to a trellis) The monastrell grape grows in tight bunches(oftentimes making it harder to pick out the bad grapes in a bunch), is very sweet, and is mainly grown in the Murcia and Alicante regions of Spain. The cabernet sauvignon grape is
less sweet, and grows in loose bunches. Finally, the garnacha tintorerra grape is unique to Southern Spain and is one of the only grapes whose flesh is red as well as the skin, producing a very deep colored wine. At each of the stops in the vineyard, the guide would cut off a bunch of grapes and pass it around so we could each try a sample of the different types. Grown without pesticides, the grapes were some of the best i have ever tasted, completely different from the grapes you buy in the grocery store(a lot sweeter and less firm and they all have a pit) By this point in the tour, with all the free samples and what not, I was having an excellent time and couldn't wait to see how the wine was made. We next walked into the sorting room, where the grapes were sorted through by hand, and the bad grades pulled off the bunch and thrown into the waste(to be used as fertilizer later on) After being washed, the grapes are placed in a big vat and allowed to sit until the desired color/flavor/consistency are achieved. The actual fermentation does not take place until
after and that is very carefully controlled as well. I was a little confused and didn't quite catch the exact process for the fermentation and draining of the grapes, but it involved a huge vat, 2-3 months of waiting, and the movement of the wine from the top to the bottom as it underwent the different processes. In the basement, where the bottom of the huge vats were located, the wine was collected into casks where it was either allowed to sit for a specified amount of time, or placed into bottles. Before being shipped off, the bottles must sit for about a year so that the wine can settle and acquire an optimum taste. A lot of waiting for just one bottle of wine. I the basement there were rows upon rows of casks and wine all just sitting and waiting to have matured to the correct flavor. We also got to see the tasting room, in which different wine critics or potential buyers come to taste and sample the different wines. It was very interesting because the entire room had to be kept as sterile and bland as possible; everything was white or metal, absolutely no colors, and
Fermentation room
The tops of the big vats that span 3 stories of the building. Here is where the fresh washed grapes are placed and mixed before the fermentation process starts. the air must be kept free of any smells or distractions. There was no decorations or anything extra in the room; just chairs, a table and sinks so as to not contaminate or alter in any way the smell, taste, and color of the wine. I never knew so much effort went into the production and tasting of wine. And so, after about 1.5 hour tour, everyone was getting a little tired and a little bit hungry so we were all very happy when the guide announced it was time for the wine tasting. Not only did they give us wine, there was also fresh cheese, chorizo, salchicho(cured ham meats), jamón serrano, olives from the vineyard as well as more of the delicious almonds, this time with salt and a little bit of olive oil. The wine was very tasty, I enjoyed it very much(I'm not quite sure how to explain different types of wine, I'm not that skilled in the art of wine tasting but it tasted good to me so I guess that is what counts), but my favorite part by far was the almonds. I don't want to think what the guide thought of the big group
Cracking the almonds
Seconds before the camera fell and became cracked as well. of americans shoveling food down their throats(we finished the entire spread in about 10 minutes), but it was almost 2pm at this point, none of us had eaten since 8 in the morning, and I know it was my goal to eat as many of the almonds as possible because never in my life will I ever have almonds as delicious as these again(I was bummed that they didn't sell their almonds, they only grow them for personal use). Stomachs full, we boarded the bus again for the trip back to Alicante. From my perspective it was a successful trip; I learned a lot about the wine making process, got to sample and eat delicious food and wine, and breathed in the fresh mountain air(free of cigarette smoke!) for a couple of hours.
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