Belondrade Lurton: When a French Producer Falls in Love with Spain

作者: Diego Bonnel        来源: 《酒典》www.winemagcn.com|原创作品 谢绝转载

Belondrade Lurton, established in the Rueda appellation since 1994 and probably the most well known winery in the area, is exemplary in many aspects. First aesthetically, you immediately think of an Hermes bottle because of its purity and elegance. Then further on, you realize that two philosophies coexist: a spirit from Bordeaux in the way the wines are vinified and one from Champagne having a direct impact on the way the final product is blended. And last but not least, the way to involve key employees in the business makes all together a unique entrepreneurial and successful venture.

A Little History

All began back in 1993, when Didier Belondrade arrived to Rueda after having discovered the verdejo grape (the local grape variety). Didier used to be a Sales manager for Air France in the Ile de France region, so a new life was about to begin for him. He first rented and equipped a warehouse to make wine in it. The first vintage was made in 1996, based on bought in grapes. Until 1997, he juggled his job at Air France with winemaking. In 1998 and 1999, he lived in Bordeaux and thus travelled back and forth from that city to Rueda. Finally, in 2000, he definitely settled himself in Valladolid. In that same year, he opened his own winery after having bought his first vineyards in 1997. 

Care in the Vineyard

Currently, Didier owns 30 ha, divided into 19 different plots made of different terroirs: sandy, clayey soils combine with moraine rocks with calcareous outcrops. Vineyards are planted at increasing densities, starting at 1100 vines/ha and going up to 3600 vines/ha, the latter giving limited yields. Average harvest goes up to 5000 to 5500 kg/ha, which represents around 35 hl/ha. Exposure varies from North – South and East – West to South West – North East, which give different ripening moments. Vineyards are located at 750 meters altitude in an extreme continental climate with little rain: never more than 350 to 400 mm a year.

Terroir clearly shows in the wines. Sandy and clayey soils give different flavors and structure to the wines. For instance, wines from clayey soils tend to have more structure and depth and those from sandy soils are generally lighter in style.

From the beginning, there was a first wine, Belondrade and a second wine, Quinta Apolonia, like in many Bordeaux chateaux. There is also a rose wine called Quinta Clarissa. Production is limited: 86000 bottles of Belondrade, 40000 of Quinta Apolonia and 8000 of Quinta Clarissa are made. Up to the final wines, all the operations are carefully managed, with an utmost attention given to every detail.

Care in the Winery

Only 60% of the pressed juice ends up in the final wines, which is way below the average. In 2013, harvest started on September the 27th. Generally, in an average year, harvest starts after the 20th of September. However, in some cases harvest has started early September. 150000 kg of grapes are collected in around a month with a daily processing capacity of 10000 kg. One plot a day is harvested. Each plot is vinified separately. Free run juice and press juice are also vinified separately. Grapes are cold macerated before fermentation between one and two days. The free run juice goes to the final wines and the press juices are used according to the harvest conditions and the plots involved. When the wines from every plot are tasted, then the decision is taken to introduce some press wines to the final ones. An Inertis press is the tool that contributes to the end result. 

As a Result: Outstanding Wines with World Class Elegance

Quinta Apolonia is made with grapes less than ten years old, even though there are some exceptions. Besides, wines that are not selected for the final Belondrade blend might as well end up in the Apolonia wine. 30 to 40% of Apolonia wines undergo some ageing in oak barrels. Belondrade wines ferment in barrels and all the wines are aged in wood. 20 to 25% of the barrels are renewed each year. 300 liter oak barrels are the norm at the winery, made by four different coopers. The covers are of acacia wood for certain wines to make trials. 335 oak barrels are needed to craft the wines, all of which are tasted regularly.

In January, the decision is taken and Didier knows which wines go to Belondrade and which ones to Apolonia. At that point, the final Apolonia wine is made, blending press and free run juice wines. Quinta Clarissa is a rose wine staying two months on the lees of the Belondrade.

As far as the Belondrade wine is concerned, batonnage is done once a week, three minutes per barrel per week and then this frequency slowly decreases. End of June beginning of July, batches are defined according to four dimensions: aromatic characteristics, length and acidity, width and expression of terroir and verticality. Based on these four main family groups, up to 14 different sub-groups are defined. This is when the Champagne spirit intervenes. For around two weeks each wines are tasted again and again. This is a period of doubt for Didier and Marta, the manager and wine maker of the firm. They must decide how the final wine will look like, translating both the vintage and the characteristics of their specific terroir. Not an easy task, that is for sure. It is then pretty understandable that some doubt may be part of the equation. However, after now twenty years experience and knowledge of each specific plot, the wines faithfully translate the place and time when they are born.

To make a summary of the history and philosophy of the Belondrade winery, it is a dream come true: a chateau en Espagne, a typical French expression representing most of the time what we might call “wishfull thinking”. But the exception this time is that Belondrade is a reality. And a successful one.

And the way this dream come true is consistency. Packaging is sober and the orange color of the Belondrade label inspires calm, elegance and the sensation you are on top of the world when you taste the wines. You enter a smooth space, made of an affordable luxury. A bottle of Belondrade is a beautiful object per se. Even the Quinta Apolonia and the Quinta Clarissa labels are appealing, blue color for Quinta Apolonia and pink for Quinta Clarissa. In both cases, a bird is represented. The common graphical element is the symbol of the winery, which can be found in all cuvees: a stylized rooster, representing the merger of France (the rooster) and Spain (the design of the rooster reminds the tools used to mark cattle with heat in many Mediterranean countries).

But yet there is another key aspect of the Belondrade culture: it is the way it is managed. Actually, key employees are shareholders, which in a country like Spain where few entrepreneurs have yet had the understanding that an employee who is also a business owner is an valuable asset: he or she will be supporting it with the utmost energy, and that for Spain is a true innovation. And one giving discernable results.

Tasting notes. Style of the wines.

If we should compare the wines of Belondrade to others, the wine popping to mind would be a Pessac Leognan from Bordeaux – with all the usual precautions needed in this case. Aging potential is present and color of the wines is usually golden yellow with medium high intensity. They are full-bodied wines, almost with an oily impression in the palate. The typical expressions of the verdejo grape are present: some vegetal notes along with some bitter almond, both in the nose and palate. All these aromatic notes are completed by a smooth, well-integrated wood, which gives the wines in all vintages an extra depth and power. The wines coming from the clayey soils also contribute to build the final structure of the wines, meanwhile those coming from other soils – mainly sandy soils – contribute to the elegance of the final Belondrade wine. And the lees steering period will bring width and body.

 

作者简介:Diego Bonnel, 为多家酿酒厂担当葡萄酒顾问,在数个 国家的官方机构任职,超过 25 年。每年品尝数千款酒,特 别了解(以西班牙和葡萄牙为主的)伊比利亚半岛和法国 的葡萄酒。

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