Thatcher's Imports Spain Trip: Live Blogging Day 1, part III - Joan d'Anguera
Day One, Part III: Cellars Joan d'Anguera
Finishing our first day of visits in and around Catalunya, we met with Josep & Joan d’Anguera of Cellars Joan d’Anguera at their winery in the village of Darmos. The brothers represent the 7th generation to grow grapes within the family vineyards, but stand as a change of guard, in a way. Their father passed more than a quarter century ago, during an era in which the style of many top-rated European wines tended to be heavier, more robust, aiming to please the critics’ palates. Josep admitted that the winery had drifted into this fashion, but within time his palate and that of his brother had started to change. Visiting producers outside of their own region - then part of the Montsant DO - inspired them further, perhaps none more than meeting one Emmanuel Reynaud. Seeing what Garnacha grown in sandy soils had the potential to become, a heavy dose of self-reflection followed, and before long the Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon vines were grafted over to Garnacha, which already had made up a large part of the vineyards. They were all-in on their own personal potential.
Here we are, two decades later, and Josep and Joan’s eyes are aflame with passion and humility. Even today, as we tasted wines dating back to 2020, a continual development pulses through the wines. “We have kept the lees more and more,” Josep admits, “And now the aging in barrel is shorter; we still keep the wines here [at the winery] until they are ready to drink, but the wines are so good, you see.”
Josep would instruct us further about the grape that makes up most of their production, and how it must be treated, obeyed, and respected. “There’s such a level of ripeness in good Garnacha,” he said, “That we can’t ferment whole berries, they have to all be crushed otherwise it can be too candied.” There are no new barrels, save for the one barrel each year for the one white wine of the estate, but the barrels are kept for 10, 20 even 30 years. For fermentations, the stems are retained with the crushed berries - ripe stems - as they are key to keeping the pH balanced for Garnacha.
What seems wild in a region that vaguely resembles desert-like, there are no signs of any historic irrigation. Everything is dry-farmed, and what surprised me was how low-trained the vines were. They prune them all back to 3 canes per year, and they stay low to maintain the heat; why? The thermal inversion that happens here, Josep explains, causes a wild chill in the vineyards at times during the growing season, and is key to maintaining acidity and humidity in the soils.
“The wine is a signature of the terroir,” Joan said, with a big smile on his face. They’re so proud of what they made, what their wines continue to be that they try to maintain a consistency at every step; even the barrels are not power-washed or chemically cleaned as we see in so many wineries closer to home. All they do? “We light a sulfur candle, burn it before we put the wine in.” All right!
The first ribbons of scarlet wine falling into the glass is the 2023 Planella (plah-NAY-ya), a blend of Garnacha and Carignan (65/35%) which are fermented separately, the Carignan harvested slightly later. Ripe, red fruits with a very pretty tang to them were complemented by plenty of savory touches like licorice, leather and woody hints.
Altaroses 2022 showed a nice example of what a little bottle age can do for these wines, 100% Garnacha with tart red fruits and still some pleasant tactile grip. The most surprising part was that the brothers had opened this - and many of the other bottles - 24 hours ahead of our visit! You’d expect some oxidation, given the grape, but it was truly only in the natural orange peel, almond-y essence that I get from many wines of this area. For one of what you could call a “village” wine - using younger vines, only 13 months in barrel - this is tops.
Introducing the first Finca L’Argata wine, the 2022 Tinto (red) had spent 2 years in barrel, and did show a bit more breadth and developed red fruits, but complementing that were darker fruits and a brilliant structure for Garnacha.
Vinya de la Gloria is a bottling that the brothers introduced to the family estate after witnessing granddad save this small plot for his own personal consumption. “The barrel just felt different,” Josep remarked. 40-year old vines within L’Argata, the terraced vineyard gives a more intensely-flavored, structured wine. The power felt like it was brimming, but not alcoholic, and retronasally gave off a lilac-violet sort of aromatic. Josep called out incense for this aroma, and we all sensed some sweet mushrooms and dried fruits. Gloria-ous!
We got to taste a wine the brothers had started to make from the younger vines that they planted after frost in the region had killed some of the “old boys”, called Les Maiols: a 50/50 blend of Carignane and Garnacha. “This is still the style of the house,” Joan proudly proclaimed, and the spiced red fruits and texture rang true indeed. This will eventually be released a an “entry” level, in the way that Pialade is an entry level for their idols.
Josep produced several of the 2024 wines, where the elevage had taken the biggest turn. This owes largely to the drought vintages they had faced, but in truth they seemed to like the slight change in the wines’’ early development. 2024 Planella bore darker, almost purple fruits, and will continue to bring a bit darker fruits while remaining bright in 2025 as the cuvee shifts to a 50/50 blend of Carignane & Garnacha. ’24 Altaroses brought out my style of writing when I truly enjoy a wine: just writing, “That’s nice!!” There was even less opacity, and the scarlet fruits danced.
2024 L’Argata had been bottled just a month earlier after a year in barrel, but the full 24 hours of being open did nothing to hide the freshness of the ’24. IT was incredibly clear in its red-ness, with sweet tannins and a wild, spiced edge on the finish. Delicious. The 2024 Gloria was the further step up in intensity, but again showed that power in reserve that says these are going to be wines for the cellar!
Finally, we got to taste the single-barrel L’Argata Blanc, an old-vine Macabeu from extremely low-yielding vines that is made in the only new oak brought to the cellar each year. After 8-10 months in the French oak barrel, they keep the bottles in house as long as is necessary. The Macaque showed off a nice synthesis of candied citrus zest, ripe yellow fruits and the oak spices, and a honey-nut sort of finish brought out a smile.
Ultimately, I felt I knew more about the people behind the project than the wines, but we as a group were very taken with the experience and the wines. It’s wildly important to us that the people who care for the wines you drink are good people. The d’Anguera family is this feeling, embodied. Yet the wines are just as important, obviously; looks cast around the tables and mumbles at some of the cuvees’ character and class proved we did something right here.
My joke to many is that you can sense what Thatcher’s palate is, often - he drifts towards wines of an ethereal nature, sandy-soiled, and that’s not a knock one bit. This was Garnacha bridging the gap of what we know from other top producers and on the other side that more lifted, mountainous style. The future is bright not only for the bottles we have - highly recommend plenty of air on these bottles!! - but for the future as their trials over the warmer & drier vintages added an extra lift.
Funnily enough, Carlos of Artadi was telling us that he had participated in a blind-tasting contest in Spain, and had multiple times reached the finals. Contrary to our Master Sommelier exam in the US, afterwards these contestants got to see the wines unmasked after a winner is established. Carlos immediately had recognized a Garnacha in the competition, and claimed, “Only two in the world make a wine in this way: Emmanuel [Reynaud] and Joan d’Anguera.” And? He went with Rayas.
It was d’Anguera.
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