Every year, “la vendimia” is the long-awaited highlight of the year for all wine enthusiasts in Spain. The wine harvest is a symbolic birth of grand wines and cavas, Catalan sparkling wine, but also brings a colorful change of the landscape as it inaugurates the autumn season. In order to pay homage to this highlighted time of the year, Enoteca restaurant has created a special limited-edition gastronomic package which combines a visit to the most selected wine-yards of the local area with a dedicated tasting menu, including personalized wine and cava pairing.
The Vine to Vintage brings you to the Penedès region, a wine-growing area 30km from Barcelona and origin of some of the most prestigious wines and Cavas from Catalan soil. Your experience begins with a guided visit to the vineyards of Mas Comtal, known for their organic viticulture and producer of wines that made it to the wine list of important restaurant such as the Celler de Can Roca in Girona or the two Michelin star Enoteca restaurant in Barcelona. After touring the vineyards, you will be invited to participate in the pressing, trimming and pruning of grapes, to learn the ancient technique of creating cava from start to finish, followed by an exclusive tasting of a selection of cavas from the vineyard where you harvested earlier in the day. To make the experience unforgettable, once the cava you’ve harvested and pressed has aged you will receive six bottles with a custom label, which may include the signature of the winemaker and oenologist, for a lifetime keepsake.
Upon availability, the Cava Circuit includes additional stops at other wine-making properties of the region, such as Llopart Cava vineyards, an estate passed down through the generations from 1385 and producer of cavas of grand prestige which are served in many Michelin starred restaurants all over the world, such as at Enoteca Paco Pérez restaurant in Barcelona.
Once concluded your external circuit, a return to Enoteca restaurant will reveal a special seafood menu by 5 Michelin starred chef Paco Pérez, paired with wine and cava selections from the vineyards visited. Eduard Caldero, from the team of sumillers at Enoteca Paco Pérez, shares his thoughts about some of the references from the harvest-inspired wine and cava pairing:
“One of the products from Llopart Cava we serve with the menu is the ExVite Brut Especial Gran Reserva 2007: a powerful and elegant cava with smoky and toasted aromas, perfect to combine strong flavors like smoked salmon, Spanish Iberico ham, oysters of Foie Gras”.
“From the wine makers of Mas Comtal, the menu includes a pairing with Lyric DO Penedes, a sweet wine elaborated 100% with Merlot grapes and aged for 15 years. This excellent wine reaches the senses first through its elegant scent of dried fruits which is then confirmed by its balanced taste, unfolding an exquisite sweet aroma. It is perfect to pair with desserts based on dried fruits like dried apricots and figs, as well as cheese.”
The Vine to Vintage of Enoteca restaurant is available only in September; rates and availability can be requested via e-mail to Laura.Salles@ritzcarlton.com or by calling +34 93 483 80 67.