Osborne Is My Happy Place Too...

Oh Osborne (pronounced Oz-bore-nay in Spain), how I love you so!  I was counting up how many times I've visited, and I think this was my 7th or 8th time for a Tasting and my 4th time on the tour. Tiff and I came a couple of times this past Spring just to do research and take pictures for the cookbook, which Osborne is  selling in their gift shop. The people at Osborne are so nice to us and really treat us like friends!  

Carolina, pictured with me above, is the Public Relations Director at Bodega Osborne, but she's never to busy to schedule a tour take us around.  I have wanted to do a blog entry about the Osborne Winery Tour before, but I was too busy having fun to take pictures, or the ones I took didn't come out with the lighting, or I was entertaining my out-of-town guests, or I couldn't remember enough of the information.  This time I was going  with a group from my husband's work, and I made a point to take advantage of this being my fourth time on the tour and really pay attention so I could finally blog about my other happy place...Osborne!

Here I am with my friend, Leonor

The tour begins with a ride aboard the Osborne "train" which takes you by the vineyards.  Carolina tells you about the history of the winery, a little about the grape varieties they are growing and experimenting with in the vineyards.  Osborne, a family-owned business in operation since 1772, is always paying attention to trends and has a desire to mix tradition with what is current and modern.

Below is a look out over the vineyard.  Osborne has vineyards all over Spain and here in Malpica, they have over 1000 hectares planted with over eight different varieties of grapes. One hectare is 100 meters x 100 meters squared, or 10,000 sq. meters.  That's a lot of grapes.  These vines were picked clean just a few weeks ago.  It takes about four to six weeks for all the grapes to be picked by hand.  They use a lot of technology to be sure they are at the peak of maturation.  In November, all the vines will start being pruned by hand by about 200 workers and it will take them all winter long to get through the 1000 hectares.

This area of the winery is where all the grapes are initially brought once they are harvested.  This area gets used for only one month out of the year, then it's time to wash it all down and close it up for next year.  That is what's happening here.

Below, Carolina is teaching us about the vines and soil, and how they are managed. In Greece, the vines grow naturally in clumps on the ground, due in part to the scarcity of rain and the harshness of the wind and sun.  Malpica has strong sun and wind as well, but it also does have a rainy season, and their set up helps them maximize the effects of the moisture on the soil and the shading needs of different grape varieties.  Some grapes, like Cabernet Sauvignon, like a lot of sun, while others need more shade throughout the growing season.  Osborne uses a system of wires, to move the vines up and down to make a wall, as in the case of the "cab" grapes, where they can benefit from full sun exposure, or to make an umbrella type canopy which shades the more delicate bunches from the sun.  Once again, all of these adjustments must be done by hand.

The winter is the rainy season in Spain.  The soil in Malpica has a high clay content, and can hold too much water around the trunks of the vines.  So in the winter, Osborne plants oats between the rows of vines, to draw up some of that water and keep the wines from becoming waterlogged.  In the pictures below, you can see the rows of green oats and how the vines look after pruning.

Come spring, the leaves begin to grow on the vines again and they start to flower. Not wanting any more competition for water, the oats are cut down and laid upon the ground next to the vines.  This will help keep the dwindling rain in the ground for the thirsty growing vines.

Once the heat of summer arrives, the grapes will start to turn from green to that gorgeous purple.

You might think that over the summer, all there is to do is wait...go on holiday and let the sun do it's work.  Maybe in the olden days, but now, with all the available technology, viticulture is a very precise science.  Osborne is constantly monitoring the weather conditions with data from their very own weather station.  They have a reservoir of water stored from the winter rains which they use to irrigate when necessary.  Some varieties need more water; some need less.  How do they know which fields need watering and which to leave alone?  More technology, of course.   They have humidity sensors in the soil and monitor the sizes of the trunks to make sure that the grapes stay the proper size for wine making and don't turn into something you'd liken to a state farm gargantuan exhibit.

Here is an aerial view of the finca (farm).  The different varieties are represented by the different colors. The dark purple region to the left is Osborne's organic fields. They have been growing grapes there, without producing wine for over 6 years now. It takes eight years of growing grapes without pesticides for them to be certified organic. In 2012, Osborne will roll out their first bottles of organic wine.

I love the Osborne displays on the tour.  It makes it hard to take good pictures, but in person, all the back lit picutres of the process are really stunning and the visual display are is opposite windows that overlook the wine making area.

Osborne grows Spanish varieties of grapes, as well and French and Italian varieties. Carolina explains the differences between the varieties, both visually and otherwise. Below, you can see that the Spanish Mencia grape is much more tightly bunched than the French Petit Verdot.

And here the leaves of the famous Tempranillo grape are much more lush than the Italian Graciano. Why??  If she said, I don't remember...too much wine at the tasting, and since I wasn't driving, I drank it all.  Hahaha...but I'm sure it has to do with Mother Nature knowing what she's doing based on the climate and geography of the area of origin of the grape variety. Now that we grow different grapes all over the world, we, humans, have to make the adjustments.

Carolina quickly walked us through the wine making process, but it is highly technical as well. The one thing I did learn, is that yeast must be present to turn the grape juice into wine. Without it, there is no fermentation  processing of the natural sugars. And where does the yeast come from?? From a Fleischmann's yeast packet, perhaps?? Heaven's no...It's from the grapes themselves...all that white powder on the grapes is actually yeast!  Now did you know that??  I certainly didn't... 

Here is a look at some of the storage tanks.  Depending on the time of year it can get very chilly in there.

Here is the aroma wheel.  It is amazing the influences that you find in different wines, some from the soil, some from the air, and some from the chemical process of making wine...

You get to take a little aroma quiz while on the tour.  Carolina said I wasn't allowed to participate as I've attending the tour too many times for it to be fair...Hahaha

Here are some of the old oak barrels used to age the wines.  They use French and/or American oak barrels depending on the affect they want to achieve in the aromas and flavors of the wine. American oak tends to give sweet vanilla and coconut flavors, while French oak tends to give spicy aromas, and the wine evolution is faster in French barrels than in American barrels.

The word "ulitmo" has been scratched into the barrel top below, which I believe indicated to someone that this was the last time the barrel was to be used.  The barrels are only used for about five or six years.  After that, the pores close up on the wood and they can no longer do their job of aging wine.  So what happens to them?  Some are sold off to distilleries who can still use them, and some are sold off to people like you and me who can use them for decoration as is, or take them to their Spanish friend's furniture making cousin, to be cleaned, stained, and turned into amazing furniture, like bars, tables and cabinets...but I digress...that is for another post.

The display below shows how the slats of the barrel change in shape and color over time. 

There is a bit of a corking controversy taking place in the wine world...screw tops are not just for Boone's Farms anymore, plastic corks are also preferable to natural corks in some cases, but your higher quality wines will always be "stopped" with real corks that are actually made of cork.  Corks are called corks because they are made from the bark of the cork tree.  Apparently there are all different qualities of cork, but we didn't really learn much about that.

What I did find fascinating though, is how cork is harvested...

...and what it looks like in its natural form...so cool, I think!

"I'll take this one!"  Not really, but I am going back later this year to buy a barrel and have it turned into a little cabinet bar and a coffee table...

Osborne has displays of their wines and spirits sold in Spain and abroad.  TempraTantrum, a play on the Tempranillo grape from which it's made, is sold in the US, as is Seven...one of their blends...

Osborne is more than just a wine and spirit maker, they produce high quality Iberian ham products, are restauratuers (with a Cinco Jotas in Harrod's in London), and sell bottled water producers.

The "Osborne Bull" is all over Spain.  It used to serve as a billboard for Veterano Brandy (an Osborne brand).  Much like tobacco advertising in the US, Spain decided that the "road-side" advertising of  alcohol would be prohibited, and the Osborne Bulls, beloved by the Spanish public, remained along the sides of the roads, painted solid black.  Osborne calls it their gift to the Spanish people.  You see this symbol all over Spain, on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and mugs...

Osborne even sponsored "The Art of the Bull" project, where silhouettes of the bull were painted by famous people and auctioned off for charity.  You can see a few examples below, and there as a map of where Osborne is distributed internationally.

I loved this shot of a crate of wine bottles from the warehouse.

Lots and lots of wines that needs to get out to the wine drinking public!

Here's a look at the labeling process.  Once the labels get put on,

 they set them all at once into those big crates.

Here's a short video...

Time to head to the Tasting Room...

Normally, we do our tastings in their bar area, but this space was nice and intimate. They were all ready for us with three of their sherries, made down south in Puerto de Santa Maria, and with three wines that are produced right there in Malpica. If you visit with a small group on a private tour (the cost of group or private tours is 12€ per person), ask your guide to share with you something they consider special or whichever their favorite wine is. With this little tip from our friend, Paul, we were able to sample a Monticello Gran Reserva from the Rioja region, as well as a wine from their Artista label that is bottled exclusively for sale in Central Europe.  These are wines you don't normal sample on the tours.

Here's my friend, Jen, with all her empty glasses...not really, but at least six of them are. They always serve some nice manchego cheese and some of their pork pate...with crackers, of course...

With our wine purchased, it was time for the long ride home...an hour and a half is plenty of time to sleep off your wine buzz!  For more info about Spanish wines and how to pair them with food or use them in cooking, buy a copy of our cookbook, The Drinking Girls' Guide to Spanish Food.  It's available for purchase at the top right of this page.   Hasta luego....