Barrel fermented wines - ABANDO

Whites and Roses have the possibility to be elaborated in a different and special way. Is the one, that we use for ABANDO white and rose barrel fermented and we are going to explain you the particular method for these wines.

The alcoholic fermentation is produced into the american oak barrels in case of ABANDO. Each winery can use a different kind of oak or from another origen. This make easier a natural temperature control during the fermentation (because there is a large cooling surface to small amount of liquid), an spontaneus clarification and a quick elimination of yeast, having a better assembly with the flavors provided by the oak. The result are wines structured and elegant with soft oak flavours.

For a perfect elaboration we have to do the “Bâtonage”, a french word that means blend or move the wine to mix it very well with the lees (yeast). The sediments will transmit to the wine flavours, texture, complexity and struture.

Finaly, we keep our ABANDO wines during aproximatly 6 months into the barrel. The result and conclusion are yours. An spectacular wine with a rich textura, excellent acidity, persistent tasty finish and with a strong structure. All these qualities will improve with a period of bottle-ageing. 

Flowering in the vineyards

When the warm weather finally arrived in early June, tempranillo vineyards bloomed and this is one of the most important moments during the vine period. Good weather and climate conditions are critical for quality and quantity. The flowering will be decisive to limite the number of grapes per bunch and the production of each vineyard.

Flowers are very small, light and like the other flowers, really weak. This part of the vine is the most delicated part of the plant and that is why we should be alert and following the blooming process.

Vinegrowers also have to prevent the posible diseases and make treatments to prevent bacterias and fungus. There are a lot of different kinds of products to prevent but in each moment we have to choose the best for the vine and in this case, the flower.

Rioja, a Designation with a long history and tradition

Rioja, our region, is a Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.C. Qualified designation of origin) with a huge variety of climates and relief, so that is why it is divided into three different subregions called:

-         Rioja Alta

-         Rioja Baja

-         Rioja Alavesa

Where winelovers will find different varieties and wine styles. Bodegas Santalba is located in Gimileo, heart of Rioja Alta.

Rioja Wine from the D.O.C. is identify because of its special labels which are numbered and each winery will have a limited number of them, depends on the grapes its harvest. Here you have some history about Rioja:

1787: The Real Economic Society of Cosecheros de Rioja is created to increase the wine market and vines cultivation.

1790: The first assembly is celebrated by the Real Economic Society of Cosecheros de Rioja.

1878: The first commission against the phylloxera is celebrated.

1892: The “Estación de Viticultura y Enología” in Haro is founded to control the wine quality.

1902: A new law to define the origin of Rioja wines is created.

1926: The Consejo Regulador is created to control as a supreme organism.

1991: The Designation of Origin starts to be Qualified "Rioja".

The best choice is if you visit us in Rioja and Bodegas Santalba, where we will show you the most beautiful landscapes, curiosities and rules we must follow to elaborate our specials Rioja wines, and you will have the marvelous possibility to taste some wine.

Wine process - Part II

We continue with the wine process and as we told you in our last post, with the FERMENTATION, one of the most important points during the elaboration process.

The grape juice needs to overcome two different fermentations, the alcoholic and the malolactic.

ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION
The alcoholic fermentation is the process when the sugar turns into alcohol.
That is with are needed the yeasts, microorganism that we can find naturally in the grape skin (kind of white dust you can find out side the grape skin).

The oxigen is the responsable to start this fermentation, because of the yeasts need it in their growth period.
However, at the end of the fermentation the quantity of oxigen must be smaller to keep the ethyl alcohol and get the acetic acid. 

From the alcoholic fermentation, we obtain heat energy and we have to control the temperature because if it increase too much,(25-30 ºC) the yeasts could die and the fermentation will be stooped.

Another product from the alcoholic fermentation is the gas, carbon dioxide and it cause the bubbles and the boiling effect, and of course the characteristic aroma from the fermentation. There is a video from our tanks during this period, it is amazing! More than 30.000 litres... 

                       
This boiling effect makes the grape skins go to the top of the tank (solids) and create the "hat". This "hat" protect the grape juice from bacteria and another microorganism from the skin and also is from we get the tanins and the color, aromas and  another susbtances like Resveratrol located in the skin.

TASTING COURSE VI - BODEGAS SANTALBA

SENSE OF TOUCH

With the wine into the mouth you can have two different sensations:

 

Active, which is located in the tongue and pasive, located in the lips and cheeks.

The astringency (dry and rough sensation), the temperature that the alcohol couse into de mouth ot the spicy flavour are touch reactions when we are tasting wine.

The most important is the astringency because it cause a worse result tasting the wines.

SENSE OF EAR

This one is the less important but it can give us lot of information during the tasting, for example the sound when the wine goes into the glass confirm us some other sensations from other senses like the density.

After this, as we explain at the beginning of the course, the most important is to practice and train the senses with easy examples and start getting knoledges, you will see with time your progress.

TASTING COURSE V - BODEGAS SANTALBA

Hi Friends! After some time without posts now we restart full of energy with our tasting course. We are going to explain you two senses today: smell & taste. Both are extremely important in the tasting process and give us information to say i like or i do not like this wine so... LET'S GO :)

SENSE OF SMELL

This sense give us information about the grape variety, winemaking process and ageing, barrels (oak) and evolution. As you know in the smell sense we have two kinds of information gived by the nose and the retronasal the part between the mouth and the nose

We will need two different words aroma if we speak about positive sensations smell for the negative ones.

 

First, through the nose we have the primary aromas and the inhalation is with the still wine or after shake it turning it slightly.

On a second step, we have to shake it more and we will have more aromas, the secundary aromas, from the fermentation.

Primary aromas from the grape and could be:

•  FRUTY:

White wine:: Orange, lemon, moscato

Red wine: Blackberry, cherry, raspery, ...

•  FLORAL:

Violet, rose, pine...

•  VEGETABLES: 

Rosemary, pine, green pepper...

Secundary aromas, will be produced in the fermentation process and they are inhalated when we shake strong the wine and through the retronasal. Some of them are saffron, pineapple, pear, apple, peach, strawberry, honey, ...

 

 

 

 

The terciary aromas, are produced during the ageing time knowed as BOUQUET and we have :

From Oxidation because of the contact between oak during its time into the barrel and the ageing into the bottle because of the NO oxigen in this period. Some of them are vanila, mushroom, toasted bread, nuts, cacao, coffe, caramel...

 

 

TASTING COURSE IV - BODEGAS SANTALBA

 

We continue with our tasting course and we will try to be a professional sommelier.

In this point we will go step by step, sense by sense analyzing the wine

Depends on the experience each one can choose the best order and follow its own routines:

Sight eye, Smell, Taste, Touch and Hearing Senses

Sight eye

It is the first sense, and we look 3 important characteristics: Colour, Intensity and cleanliness.

The wine should be looked in the glass, first settle and through the light trying to appreciate the cleanliness, colour and brightness…

Later round the glass and look the wine, a fluid wine is like water and a dense one like syrup.

After shake it, we will see “tears” on the glass’s wall and this will be more or less alcoholic % and glycerine content, very relevant in this part of the tasting.

The Colour should be analyzed tilting the glass 45º and above a white background to see better the colours. The colour is very close to the age of the wine. If lighter and brown it is older than blues and violet.

Have a look to the different colours depends on the age:

The cleanliness depends on the transparency of a wine and the decants, clarified and filtered.

We will continue soon with another sense and different points to be a professional sommelier and to do a taste with friends!

Cheers!

TASTING COURSE III - BODEGAS SANTALBA

Hello friends, then, we continue with the tasting process and the technique to be a professional somelier /taster.

1. First we open the bottle and fill the glass about 1/3.

2. We look at the wine and use the light or a white background to check the aspect , smell, lightness, …etc.

3. We should shake the glass very slowly and hold the glass by the bottom.

Smell the wine to get the volatile smells.

After that you should shake strong to get the heaviest. You should repeat this a few times to see as much as possible

4. Now you have to introduce a small sip and keep it in your mouth for a few seconds (5-6) to warm the wine and give it a temperature around 35ºC.

Alter this, you have to move the wine around all your mouth to impregnate the taste buds.

5. With the wine in your mouth you have to suck up some air and pass it through it. The air will be expel it through the nose.

This process is called retro-nasal and the wine smell it is similar to the smell that you get in the glass but usually you get some news because of the warming in mouth.

6.After you should drink or expel the wine. The aromatic and mouth sensations do not disappear after it. Some of them keep in because of the persistence. As much time as it keep it, the qualities of the wine be better. In some wines of high quality this is around 10 seconds.

This is also linked with a well-balance wine, when you have a long persistence and this is group and balanced is used by the professional sommeliers and tasters this expression.

During the tasting process we use the 5 senses and each one have to use them as better as possible but my advine is to shake very fase and smell it quickly to get all the aromas and do not lose but we will continue in our next post.

Keep an eye and we will inform you soon about the next step in the wine tasting. We are close to be a professional.

Cheers!

TASTING COURSE - BODEGAS SANTALBA

The more representative picture about our winery is The Taster so we will post a guide about the Wine Tasting Process and we will try to teach how to do a professional tasting with family, friends …

First, we must learn to perceive the difference between taste or drink..

Everybody has ability to taste, however, nobody is born knowing and it is an activity that will be improved when you train, keep the senses and learn the techniques.

The

taster has to be relaxed, calm and focused. The best time to taste is in the morning, one or two hours before lunch. It is better to taste a little hungry and alone, and try to eat  neutral food like bread, crackers, breadsticks etc., Some people with a little bit of water may be enough.

Depends on the knowledge of the taster, tasting should not be in longer than an hour and to taste no more that 6 or 8 wine samples.

The tasting room should be a quiet place with a temperature of 20 ° and a relative humidity between 60 and 70% where the taster can be concentrated without noise if possible. Lighting should be ok too (halogen lamps or candles). It should not be used fluorescent lamps. It should have a white background where you can see different wine shades and brightness.In the beginning, we have to take all the material that we will need, wines, drinks, glasses…

The temperature of the wine must have her around:
White and Rose: 8/10 degrees
White and rose with aging: 10/12 degrees
Young red wines: 14/16 degrees
Aged wines, 16/18 degrees.

The glass is the most important instrument for the taster. Glass should be fine, colorless, transparent and smooth. The glass must be caught by the bottom to avoid getting fingerprints on the glass clouding vision and to warm the wine.

To start is enough, we will teach you more about the taste and the process that you should follow to taste as a professional.

Cheers!!

THE "GUARDAVIÑAS"

Do you know what´s a "guardaviñas" in spanish? We're not talking about a person, but a rural building. Since the late nineteenth century, farmers in La Rioja have raised a kind of huts made with stones and with many utilities in their daily work in the vineyards. It is a circular structure with vertical walls and converging at a central point by a dome. Some, the biggest, have an opening at the top of the dome in order to let out the smoke when they cooked inside.

The "guardaviñas", also called "chozos" in spanish, were used as shelter during the cold winter, shaded in the summer,  as a storehouse for winegrowing tools, and even they were an burglar alarma because if there were a "guardaviñas", could be one person inside. Normally, a tree was planted right next door, to enhance the shadow over the hut during the summer and to tie the animals while the winegrower was resting inside. The "guardaviñas" were built with the stones founded plowing in vineyards, mostly pieces of sandstone, so typical and common in this part of La Rioja.

Anyway, two weekends ago riding our mountain bikes my brother an i were surprised by a rainfall so typical in this season. Fortunately, the stronger it was raining we saw a "guardaviñas" on the vineyard next to the path and we do not hesitate to shelter inside. Then, although we had seen it so many times, we really realized that  when there were no cars, no tractors and when winegrowers spent lot of hours working in the vineyards, these "guardaviñas" offered them an important role: a rudimentary but necessary shelter to adverse situations.

Raining outside, we took our sandwiches and we ate relatively comfortable sitting on some rocks inside. The while we spent in that beautiful hut, we appreciated that the current owner had kept it so clean and well maintained. We want to congratulate to all those winegrowers who have now a "guardaviñas" in their vineyards, preserved and well maintained. After all, the "guardaviñas" or "chozos" are a symbol for Rioja wine.

ART IN THE AGEING ROOM

Today we will show you the Aging Room.

The barrels are French and American oak. This room is underground so that keeps the best temperature for the wine.

They are piled up in the traditional way with wood wedges and as a curiosity, you can see a small hole in the front part of the barrel.

That is to decant (change the wine from one barrel to another) the wine in the traditional way as well. Each 6 months we do this process in Bodegas Santalba and in another post we will explain you these kinds of peculiar methods that we practice in our winery. That is the difference in Bodegas Santalba, the quality is very important for us, so we care all the details that make the wine better.

Also you can show this glass in the aging room,

It has a special meaning, the development that the wine is having during its life.

Firstly you can see a grape, that is the beginning … The Tempranillo grape, the most typical grape variety in our region, D.O.Ca. Rioja.

From that grape we obtain the young wines with its typical colour, violet, purple…

After that, when the time goes by, the wines in the ageing process have a different colour, red and ruby.

Finally, the wines with a long ageing process have a russet colour and you can show it in the outer part.