Actualidad

Article posted at the The Jerusalem Post Newspaper

Wine Talk: Jewish gain in Spain
By ADAM MONTEFIORE

Choosing the finest kosher wineries in the world is a common preoccupation of collectors of fine kosher wine. Those from Israel might nominate Domaine du Castel or the Yatir Winery. Those with a bias toward French wines may choose one of the French wineries that make occasional kosher cuvées, such as Château Valandraud or Château Léoville Poyferre. Americans may choose Covenant.

However, there is one candidate that will be on anyone’s shortlist of the finest kosher producers in the world. The Capcanes Winery (pronounced Cap–sar-ness) in Spain produces not only wonderful non-kosher wines but also kosher wines that have won acclaim in the non-kosher wine world!

Capcanes is a village in the Montsant region, near Priorat. In 1933 five families started a cooperative called Celler de Capcanes that would handle their grapes. They were able to offer large amounts of bulk wine for sale and even sold grapes without processing them. One of the prime buyers for many years was the world-famous Torres Winery. This was the quality, pioneering winery of the whole region. Owner Miguel Torres was keen to source the finest grapes for his own wines and was among those who recognized the quality of the Capcanes fruit.

The Capcanes Winery continued in its undistinguished way until, in 1995, the small Jewish community of Barcelona asked if it was prepared to produce a kosher wine. As a result of this request, Capcanes decided to buy equipment to allow it to handcraft a special wine from the best plots of its vineyards.

The kosher wine produced, Peraj Ha’abib (“Spring Flower”), was a revelation, and it was not only Jewish customers who raved about the wine. On the strength of this success, the winery was overhauled with a major investment, and the company strategy was completely changed from mass to quality. Despite the fact that kosher wine was only 2 percent of their total production, the winery transformed itself because of a Jewish request and the success of a kosher wine.

So in this very Catholic area, it was a kosher wine that encouraged Capcanes to commit to quality!

In the wine world, cooperatives tend not to have the best image or the best wines.
Therefore, it was a very impressive turnaround, in my view replicated by the Carmel Winery here in Israel. Capcanes now makes estate, boutique-style wines of the very highest level of quality from within a cooperative structure.

Capcanes today has 250 hectares of vineyards, which rise from an altitude of 150 meters to 550 meters above sea level. Soils are a mixture of slate and granite with some clay and sand. Most of the wines are made from Garnacha (a.k.a. Grenache), Carinena (a.k.a. Carignan) grapes, the Spanish variety Tempranillo and the international varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Today there are 170 members of the cooperative and 80 growers. The winery produces one million bottles a year. Capcanes is putting Montsant on the wine map.

In a continuation of the Jewish connection, the Capcanes wines that have received the best third-party recommendations are those that are kosher. In the Wine Advocate, the Peraj Ha’abib 2009 scored 95 points, and the Flor de Flor del Primavera 2007 scored 94 points. The Wine Advocate is the newsletter published by Robert Parker, the world’s most influential wine critic. Ninety-five is the highest score ever awarded to a kosher wine by the Wine Advocate. It is also the highest score for any Capcanes wine.

This runs against the norm. There are other famous non-kosher wineries that also make kosher wines. However, it is my personal view that wineries that specialize in kosher wines make better wines than, say, the famous name from France that occasionally makes a kosher wine, in addition to its regular non-kosher portfolio. It is a question of focus and priorities. However, Capcanes is obviously the exception to the rule.

Finest Kosher wines from Spain:

Capcanes produces three kosher wines, which are listed below. If ever there was an opportunity to say these are great world-class wines that just happen to be kosher, this is it.

Peraj Petita 2009
This wine is made from Grenache, Tempranillo and Carignan. It is part aged for 10 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels and in stainless steel tanks. It is a bright, fruity easy-drinking wine with a nose of strawberries and cherries and a soft backdrop of vanilla.

Peraj Ha’abib Flor de Primavera 2009
Peraj Ha’abib is made up of equal percentages of Grenache, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is aged for 14 months in a mixture of new and used French oak barrels. The wine is full bodied, sophisticated with aromas of blackberry and cherry fruit, mouth-filling flavor and a very long, complex finish.

La Flor del Flor de Primavera 2007
This is made from 100% Grenache from 100-year-old vines and aged for 18 months in new and one-year-old oak barrels. It is medium-bodied and elegant, with a delicately floral, almost perfumed nose of red fruit and a hint of wild herbs. The wine has excellent length with a satisfyingly clean finish. Rare, only 2,500 bottles were made

Adam Montefiore works for the Carmel Winery and regularly writes about wine for Israeli and international publications.

Adam@carmelwines.co.il 

El més nou

  • February 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • January 2011
  • April 2010
  • September 2009
  • March 2007