Letter from Haro 6: Under the Calvary Cross
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Moving southwest from San Vicente de la Sonsierra, just across the Ebro River, you will soon come across another mid-valley hilltop village, Briones. (On a clear day, from the balcón in the Sierra de Cantabria above Sanmaniego, you can make out all four hilltop villages of winemaking Rioja in one east to west sweep: Laguardia, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Briones, and Haro.)
Yesterday, I asked Ivan Alberdi, enologist at Bodgeas Benjamin Romeo, about the two towns when were standing in a vineyard equidistant from both. Thinking I was onto something, I said, “Would you consider Briones and San Vicente sister villages?”
“On the contrary,” he replied. “They are former enemies. The river lies between them, which means that, centuries ago, Briones [pointing left] was part of the Kingdom of Castilla, whereas San Vicente de la Sonsierra [pointing right] was part of the Kingdom of Navarra. These towns were at war for many, many years. You can still see that both towns were once fortified.”
From Benjamin Romeo’s underground cellar beneath the church in San Vicente, El Contador, (which very sadly we did not have time to visit, owing to the bulls), we moved across the valley to San Vicente´s former enemy, Briones, where Miguel Angel de Gregorio has very nearly completed the seven-year renovation of his 17th century redoubt, complete with a glass tower with 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside.
Sr. de Gregorio has a reputation in Rioja for two things. One is making supremely modern, site-specific wines of great personality and international reknown. The other is saying exactly what´s on his mind. I was half-prepared to be on the defenisve when we met. What I found was an extremely charming man who, while unquestionably in control of every aspect of his operation and everyone on his payroll, looks like he´s having the time of his life. He speaks of his vines and terroir with absolute authority in measured language, and yet there is still a glint in his eye that says, “Dude! Check this shit out, yo. This is my job!”
I knew we had found a great subject when, standing across from him in his Calvario vineyard, I asked him about generational continuity in Rioja, how it was that so many great winemakers in Rioja came from winemaking families who worked the same land. He told us that not long ago, he brought his five-day-old son to the same vineyard where we were standing, “Direct from the hospital, so that I could introduce him to the vines.”
September 24th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Great articles Adrian!! Will you be writtng more about the whole trip in general in this blog or are you saving that for your book?
October 9th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
[…] Our post-interview tasting with Miguel Angel de Gregorio of Finca Allende in Briones was all too truncated. “It’s a shame you can’t stay,” De Gregorio told us as we said our goodbyes in the tower after having only tasted the Allende Blanco, “Because the wines will only keep getting better.” I believe him. […]
October 19th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
[…] Even if I could afford to, I am not sure I would want to drink this wine every day. It’s a bruiser, high in alcohol, atypically Riojano. (It’s also made in limited quantities, 3,000 bottles a year). But I am somewhat obsessed with it nevertheless, for its story, origins, and odd ball status: century-old vines along a medieval pilgrimage route in Rioja Alta employed in the service of a highly extracted wine aged in French oak, using a single grape variety rarely bottled on its own and more often associated with Rioja Baja. (It’s also interesting to note its first vintage was released while Miguel Angel de Gregorio was winemaker here, before he went on to found Allende). […]