Well welcome everyone, today to Gismondi on Wine. We're really pleased to have with us
from Spain Gloria Collell. I've known Gloria for a while. Gloria how are you today?
Fine so happy to see you again unfortunately via via screen but happy to see you again I was
supposed to see you during Vancouver the the wine show, yeah, but I wasn't able to come this time so
next time for sure. You're an interesting person I want, there's a lot I want to talk to you about
you were a winemaker, now you're an international manager your job has changed a bit but tell us
just a little bit about your day-to-day job. Well my day-to-day job is is is helping the one the
brand to to understand the consumer I'm every day on on consumer tests and consumer research trying
to understand which are the needs in terms of wine from consumer because sometimes we at the winery
we are so close we have a small universe in our vines, grapes times and winemaking that
sometimes we don't listen to consumers. And my job to make sure that the wineries Segura Viudas and
wherever this listens to consumers and and and we translate what the what the
nature uh producers and gifts to what the consumer wants, which is not easy but we manage. Yeah and
you because you have a background as a winemaker you understand why making it must be easier
for you to talk to the winemakers themselves about what's going on out in the real world.
Exactly at least I don't I don't explain them or I don't tell them
with marketing language what the consumer wants so i try to translate it in a down-to-earth
vocabulary in a way. Today you're talking to Canadians and so why don't you tell them
where you are i've been in this building it's a beautiful old structure so you're about to we
say you're about an hour out of Barcelona in Sant Sadurní D'Anoia? Yes we are about
45 minutes from Barcelona so we are in a beautiful location by the Mediterranean Sea uh surrounded
with with vineyards all around this is the area called Penedès and uh Segura Viudas and when
well this is was created this building comes from the 11th century 11th and 12th century
and and and by then this house was already called the "grape house" so behind us we have
hundreds of years of winemaking hundreds of years of parties and celebration so this is a big
responsibility. A lot of history you're surrounded by vineyards tell us a bit about what's happening
today uh everybody's interested in organics and sustainability and that what's going on at
Segura Viudas? Well, Segura Viudas is is a big winery so we who make around six million
bottles of cava every year so for us being a an organic winery it's it's a future target but it's
a challenge so nowadays we work with sustainable uh farming what does it mean sustainable farming
sustainable farming means that we do minimize all our treatments the care to our plan maximizing
it but we do minimize the chemical treatments that we do to our plant in order to just help
her help the plant to to to grow and grow in a healthy way I'm going to give you an example:
around the plant around our vineyards it's full of nature full of butterflies full of natural grass,
fruit, grass, flowers when you have that it means that the vineyard is healthy and
and you we always try to keep our environment and surroundings very very healthy because this
is important for the plants. Yeah okay so I see two cavas in front of you before we
get to that so let's talk about the word cava about the grapes the main grapes and the style
you, ...people always talk about champagne methods tell us about the spanish method,
Cava is is a method traditional which means that the second fermentation when where the bubble is
is produced and and the big personality is created so this second process is done inside the bottle.
In comparison for for consumers i would say compare it with prosecco prosecco
this second fermentation is done in a tank so it is made in a bottle uh the same as in champagne
which is the difference between champagne mainly the climate we do have a
warmer climate by the Mediterranean Sea our our climate every year is quite uh
equal in a way so our quality every year is more or less the same which is
quite high and and the grapes are different so we do work with uh ancestral or indigenous grapes
the the three typical cava grapes are macabeo, xarel-lo and parellada and the magic of the method
traditional is that is the blend the blend of the those grapes and and with the blend of
of the grapes we do make a better wine than if they were single grape uh products.
If you were to just take the three grapes could you just briefly describe what they bring to
the mix then what what the macabeo does what what the parellada how they work in the mix?
Macabeo, macabeo is the column, is the backbone of the product
so it brings uh let's say the personality it brings the all those apple flavors,
good acidity it brings the personality. Stucture. Yes but then you have xarel-lo xarel-lo brings
for me the the the body the strength the alcohol um I always say that xarel-lo brings like the male
character to the to the blend right and and also the the long life so xarel-lo has a long life has
a long aging capacity and then you have parellada another which is more um ethereal in a way
it has more um light flavors light aromas also the acidity and the alcohol capacity is quite low
but but parellada growing in high and high altitude really brings
fantastic flavors and and a very good delicacy so the three together they do make a super good
blend. so you've got a couple wines today that we see uh widely available in Canada and
uh that reached different price points tell us now why we would start with the Segura Viudas Reserve
perhaps and and go from there. Can I pour a glass for me please for you quite early but for me
almost seven in the afternoon so it's time. Only five hours till dinner
yeah. So, exactly so this is the Reserva, Reserva is made with macabeo
xarel-lo and parellada and Brut Reserva means that
the wine has been edged for a minimum of 15 months in the bottle so it's a long aging wine
and what does it mean long aging? So that the yeast has been in contact with that with the wine
giving it complexity giving it uh toasty notes a a ripe character uh compared to a younger one, okay.
And um and then the blend as i said it's macabeo, xarel-lo and parellada. The dosage
the the the sweetness is is quite dry this is a brut which is around nine grams of sugar for us
and and this is almost uh a totally dry cava. Pairing I mean I like it because it is extremely
versatile, you can use it as a welcome glass as an appetizer uh in a terrace,
at the patio but it combines very very well with food also. With salads with with grilled fish
and uh with this kind these beautiful lobsters you have in Vancouver
so I think it combined very well with fish too. Now when you compare that to the other wine
and i do compare it with it Reserva Verdad,
this is the icon of the house I mean one of for me one of the greatest memories I have from Vancouver
is that every time we are pouring these at the Vancouver Wine Festival
all the consumers they come and they point out the bottle and they say I celebrate my
wedding with that bottle or best days of my life have been with that bottle so I know
Canadian consumers and vancouver citizens they love that bottle so
cheers for that so this is our icon and and and it keeps exactly the same presentation the same
package packaging back in 1969 and this is a blend of uh macabeo and parellada there is no xarel-lo
in there because we wanted to have a fresh easy quite easy to drink product but at the same time
having this creaminess and this complexity um well i mean for me it's it's it has more
complexity and also a little bit more sweetness I mean I like it more for special occasions like
when when you have something sweet you have a cake or you have something sweet to celebrate and and
this is a little bit sweeter it has 11 grams which is only only two. Yeah and it spends it spends
quite a bit more time on the lees in the bottle which I think helps to create that complexity and
texture. Correct age it for a longer time and on the nose if you look at the color even it's it's a
little more golden and it has more character than the nose those complexities and the nutty taste
a little bit of sherry-like style it is a little bit richer than the brut. uh before we let you go
Gloria maybe a little bit looking to the future what what's what's happening at Segura and what
are you looking at moving forward? Well as as you you already said we say we are a conscious winery
we look for environmental and and soon we will be releasing uh a have it here to show it to you
we will be releasing an organic grape an organic cava so we will be same style macabeo xarel-lo and
parellada but an organic cava so soon available in Canada. Gloria it's so great to catch up with you
uh you look terrific and you you you have that enthusiasm that you've always had for wine and uh
I think we need it right now in our lives and uh and it was so great to be taken into that old
old Masia to to to feel the history and the depth of uh time that's passed at Segura Viudas us
thanks for joining us on Gismondi on Wine we look forward to being able to visit you soon
and to see you back in canada. Okay hope hopefully to see you soon and see you in Canada and
you are all invited to visit us at Segura Viudas. Thanks so much. Salut for everybody! Salut!
you