Artisan wine. The traditional way of making wine and how it has changed

It was probably the Greeks of Asia Minor who brought the first vines to the Spanish coasts. Opening the way to the interior of the peninsula was a matter of time. In the year 500 BC, the Nebro Basin already knew the cultivation of the vines, but the Romanization consolidated and spread it as far as possible. The vine does not adapt to any soil. It requires certain sedaphological, climatic and technical conditions for the man to find a satisfactory response to the arduous effort of his cultivation and obtain a good wine. The Aragonese territory, due to its geographical situation, presents a tortuous relief that favors the creation of microclimatic nuclei suitable for cultivating the vine. One of those nuclei is the field of Cariñena. There, the traditional works of both the cultivation of the vine and the vinification have adapted to modern times, applying at every moment the most advanced technology. To be able to know, in part, that traditional process and its technological modernization, we are going to follow the agricultural cycle starting in winter, after the vines have been detached from their fruits. During the winter rest of the vine, that is, from the end of November to the beginning of March, the pruning is carried out. But before starting the pruning itself, some winemakers do the pre-pruning with appropriate blades adapted to the tractor. This work consists of crushing the shoots above the pruning yolks to facilitate the subsequent work. For pruning, winemakers take into account the meteorological conditions and phases of the moon. Pruning in crescent makes the yolks more resistant to oidium. In general, pruning is avoided excessively early, since when it sprouts, the renewals could freeze . The purpose of pruning is to prolong the life of the vines, maintain a suitable type of formation and obtain better harvests, both in quantity and in quality. The pruning is carried out to horcacha, leaving three arms in each vine, each of which contains a couple or fork, made up of two thumbs, which in turn have two yolks. In this work, the scissors have been replaced with the traditional pruners. The cepurros, which are the arms that have grown a lot in the vines, must also be cut to keep the formation of the vine low. To do this, the cepurrar scissors are used. The pruners pull the brush and the arms to the compass, which is the path between the vines, to facilitate their subsequent collection. Then they will be burned to nullify the possible pests that may remain. In the past, the arms were used to light the ovens and other domestic uses. The tractor, with the mechanical drawer, has replaced the manual work of collecting the branches cut in the pruning. The pruners have previously selected the barbs and clean them for their future planting. The planting work of a vine begins with the deep defunding or plowing of the earth, cleaning it of large stones and deep roots. Until the implantation of the tractors, this work was done with large plows pulled by several caballerías. Once the land is prepared, the aligning is carried out, which is carried out with long chains marked at a certain distance. For this work there are specialists called aligners who go to those owners who demand their work. The aligners first pull the main line, or godmother, to serve as a guide in the subsequent strokes. On the ends of the godmother and from the witnesses nailed to the ground, they pull the two perpendicular ones. With the closure of the three main faces, the frame is finished. In the technique of planting the vine called the royal frame, the distances between the steps are adapted to the improvement of the mechanization of the cultivation. At the height of the marks, the aligners nail a signal to the ground, usually a cane or a gynesta branch, indicating the place where the vine will have to be planted. This work is called flowering. In a hole made in the ground with a wooden barrel, the already prepared barbs are inserted, leaving them protruding three or four centimeters. Then they retouch it to press the ground around it and facilitate its rooting. Flowering is the last labor. The winemakers cover the entire barb waiting for the root to take root and sprout in the spring, and then plant it in the summer or in the following winter, depending on the strength it has. Today it is already possible to carry out this operation with modern alignering planting machines by laser and using a plant injected in a nursery. Non-productive vineyards, or those that have a low yield, must be cut down in the winter to allow the earth to rest and clean it of diseases, alternating other crops. The traditional system to cut down vineyards was the wooden lathe. Today, the mechanical attraction has relegated these devices to be a mere memory of the past. After seven or eight years of rest, these same fields will be replanted with new vineyards. This time is also good to make the winter pots, which consist of pulling the dead vines . By leaving the ground loose, the new barb that is planted will be able to root much better. Of the many plagues that vineyards have suffered in the winter, there was that of the pyral insect. This was fought until a few decades ago by pouring boiling water over the vines and gutting them with iron gloves, in order to eliminate the larvae of the insect that pass autumn and winter under the bark. But speaking of plagues, it is very important that we know the phylloxera, an insect that, from America, swept the European vineyards at the end of the 19th century. With its appearance, everything changed in the world of viticulture. The viticulturists of the Campo de Cariñena saved the Spanish vineyard when the phylloxera swept them, thanks to which Alfonso XIII awarded Cariñena the title of city. After many experiences of different types, Jules Lichtenstein observed that this insect did not attack American-origin vineyards for having the bark of the roots thicker than European varieties. But these vineyards, however, were not used to make wine, as they gave fruits of little must and poor taste. The solution was to graft European varieties on American-origin vines. The new plant developed roots resistant to insects and an airy part capable of producing quality fruits. For all this, when the barbs have rooted well in the ground, they become feet or patterns. A year later, they can already be practiced. The viticulturists prefer to make the grafts in winter, because it is faster and easier, and because they have more time to do them. For this work of inserting the patterns, there are specialists who work in squares with guaranteed success. The graft consists of introducing a piece of branch of a plant of the variety selected in the body of another American vine, resistant to phylloxera. After discovering the pattern, the inserters cut it off and make a slit to insert the pua. Then, so that the insert is not damaged, they wrap it with raffia and bury it. This type of insert, which is practiced in the center of the barb in the months of winter, is called a slit. The grafted vines will bear fruit after three years. The inserts, made in the previous summer, must be beheaded to prevent the American beard from sprouting and all the strength of the sap from passing to the inserted yolk. In the second half of February, and until the first of April, the fertilization of the earth is carried out. The manure of the animals has been the best fertilizer used to enrich it. Some traditional winemakers still apply it in the field of Cariñena, spreading it evenly through all the strains. For good, for good, the vines or manure or fimo had to be thrown every three years. Today, the tractor has reduced the work of man. With the strainer machine, it introduces the manure into a deep furrow and puts it at the disposal of the roots of the vineyard. To wrap the fimo and leave the earth fine, you have to work the vineyards. There are still winemakers who continue to take advantage of that traditional driving force of the caballerías in agricultural work. From the end of winter to the first days of summer, there are usually four passes that must be given with the plow to remove the earth and leave it prepared to better absorb the water. Again, the tractors, adapted to the measures of the compass of the vineyards, replace animal traction with greater performance in work. In this time, the trunks of the vines are discovered to remove the roots or veins that have come out new in the upper buried part. The winemakers remove the bad herbs and unclog the trunk of the vine a little so that it does not rot. With the earth, they make a small pile around it, where the rainwater will be better collected. In the youngest vines, in addition to cutting the excess roots that would take away the strength of the plant, it is used to straighten them in their later development. Spring has already arrived with all its splendor in the field of Cariñena and the cuts of the places begin to cry, as the winemakers say. This fact indicates that the vine wakes up from winter rest to begin a new vegetative and productive cycle. The spring rains and the heat facilitate the development of the plant. The flowers of the vine all open together, forming a cluster. At the end of May or early June, the winemakers of Cariñena make the derraille, which consists of removing the stems or pampas and some leaves left over to facilitate flowering. The derraille is also used to control the vigor of the vineyards and improve the curing of the fruit by removing the pampas that steal strength from the vine. Little by little, the pistils of the flowers will begin to grow and develop until they become juicy grape grains. In this time of the end of spring and the beginning of summer, it is precisely when the winemakers of the field of Cariñena must be more aware of the plagues that can harm the vineyard. Vigilance and sanitary control aim to rationalize as much as possible the treatments that are applied to the vines every year. With the traps, the time is detected when the pods of the cluster make the bet. A few days later, the caterpillars will appear and the grape grains will begin to hole, it is time to treat the vineyard. But the prevention of some diseases of the vine has been a common practice that continues to be maintained today. The sulfating backpack serves to apply the appropriate treatment for each case. Mildeu is fought today with modern and very effective methods, but it is not advisable to forget the home remedy that has saved the vineyards since 1880, the Bordelés broth, still used today. Preparing it was simple, you had to grind copper sulfate in mills that the winemakers had in their own houses. Two kilos of the resulting powder were dissolved in 50 liters of water and one kilo of lime or bicarbonate in another 50. Then both dissolutions were mixed to obtain the precious liquid. The lime neutralized the sulfate acids, harmful to the plant. The Bordelés broth was projected on the vines to form a protective film on the leaves and make them more resistant to mildew and drought. This way of applying it gave rise to the appearance of sulfators. To prevent oidio, which is a fungal disease that attacks the vineyard and to which some varieties such as the Cariñena are very sensitive, the vineyards must be sulfated. The simplest application of the sulfur has been done by sprinkling it with a sack of pincer or with a small hand funnel. Then the backpack sulfurators appeared, which, due to their greater capacity, allowed long trips through the field. Today, both the sulfur and the sulfate are made with modern atomizers or mechanical traction sprayers . Summer has arrived in the field of Cariñena. Once the grape is formed, the viticultors, with the help of a scissor or by hand, make the pruning or cut of the longest branches. In this way, by removing vegetation from the vine, the grape will receive more directly the sun's rays and the air so necessary to give a good fruit. In addition, by reducing the volume of the plant, the viticultors facilitate all subsequent tasks with the machines. Summer advances and the clusters of grapes are reaching their final development. In this summer time, some viticultors take advantage of the early hours of the morning to make the summer pots. This work consists of removing those dead and unproductive vines to replace them in the winter with other new barbados. Once the vine has been removed, the viticultor covers the pot and leaves a mark in the center that serves as a guide when the time comes to plant the barbado. Currently, this operation is done in the winter with mechanical barrenas. In this summer time, the barbados planted in the winter have already taken the first shoots. The time has come to discover the vines with the hoe and make the pruning, which consists of removing some shoots to favor the movement of the sap and that the injection grips well. You see, now there are a lot of stems here, because if you leave it, the rightmost one always remains, you cut it like this, and if there is a lot left, you cut it a little like this and then to cover it In the summer, injections are also made. In this time that the vines let their fruits grow, the injectors can select the best strains from each field. They will cut the shoots for the summer injections and also mark them to indicate that they are good. In the winter, when no indicator of their productivity is seen, they will be able to obtain the yolks they need. The summer injection is done by the viticultors according to the vigor of the barbado. If this one is strong and has a trunk thick enough to place the pua, it is injected. But if it is not thick enough, it must be left to fatten until winter to inject it. There are two types of injection practiced in the summer, the side and the goat leg or English, which are made on the side without beheading the barbado. In the middle of summer, the differences between the nine varieties of grapes that are grown in the field of Cariñena are already patented in the eyes of the profane. And it is that the vines must adapt perfectly to the soil, its climate and the cultivation practices of its people. The main variety is the garnacha, also known as Aragonese and originating from the Cariñenese environment . There is another variety of its own, the Cariñena or Mazuela. In France it is highly appreciated and is known as Carignan. Among the natives there is also the Juan Ibáñez, of very old cultivation. The tempranillo is not Aragonese, but it has gained importance over the last few years in this area. And from abroad has come the Cabernet Sauvignon, of French origin and used for certain mixes. As for the white varieties, the most widespread is the Macabeo, of uncertain origin but very well acclimated. In addition, the white garnacha, also Aragonese, and the Roman Moscatel are cultivated, highly appreciated for the wines of liquor. In small proportions, the Aparellada is cultivated. For San Miguel, wine and honey, says the saying. Indeed, from the second half of September and the first of October, when the ripening controls mark the optimal state of the grape, the time of harvest comes. Harvesting means for winemakers the culmination of a year of not few efforts and sufferings. Its arrival has always been celebrated with enthusiasm, but collecting the grape has been, and still is, one of the most demanding human activities. In the past, the harvester began his day at dawn, and that could mean long night walks to be in the vineyard at dawn. The technique was simple, all it took was a plot to cut the grape, a basket to throw the clusters, some baskets to empty the baskets, and the cavalry to transport the baskets full to the lagoons, sometimes in cars, others directly on the back of the animals. It is on these dates that the harvest festival is held. Since 1960, Cariñena's harvest festival comes every year on some of the first Sundays of September. Each vineyard sends its queen, the first grapes are stepped on, the master is offered the most obtained, the train of wine arrives, the source offers a rich red wine to the visitor and the party lasts until dusk. But the harvest season has begun and cannot be stopped. In the field of Cariñena, it has been several decades since the cars were replaced by trailers pulled with tractors, and the wicker containers by others made with derivatives of plastics. But in its essence, the harvest continues to be, today as yesterday, manual. In the 80s, the Cariñan winegrowers were the first in Aragon to introduce the so-called controlled harvest to guarantee the highest quality of the grapes. With the monitoring of maturation, which is periodically carried out in the vineyards, the optimal time of the harvest is determined. Because the favorable time for the harvest is very short and the maturation of the grape requires specific days for its harvest, the winemakers hire temporary workers for this task. In these late summer days, the vineyards are full of activity, workers pulling the fruits of the vines, baskets full of grapes, tractors that go and come loaded with harvest. It is the critical moment of the elaboration of wine, that moment when the winemakers collect the fruit of a whole year of work. But even in this traditional work of harvesting, technology is also being imposed. The harvesting machines have been in existence for a few years. Its appearance has greatly simplified this activity with a simple and effective harvesting system . The mechanical harvesters advance over the vines, shaking them between their two bodies and collecting the grape grains and the clusters that come off. While an internal air current expels the loose leaves, the grape goes to the deposits of the machine, which are later emptied for the transport of the fruit to the winery. These machines need the vineyards to be in parches and for the transport to be done quickly in containers specially prepared for this. The traditional system of winemaking began with the stepping of the grapes on the footpath. In some vineyards in Aragon there are still families that continue to make wine for their own consumption by this traditional method. The grape steppers have always been men, and to be possible by force. And already in 1528, Alonso de Herrera, in his General Agriculture, said, The one who steps is a man and not a woman, mancebo of good strength that extracts the grape well. To make the claret wine, the must obtained on the footpath is separated from the breeze in the press and is passed directly to the buckets and barrels where it will ferment. In the case of making red wine, when stepping on the grapes, the must together with the breeze are collected in the lagar where they will remain 8 or 10 days, fermenting at rest. The skin of the steppers contains the substances that provide the color, aroma and tannin to the wines. The wine is at the bottom of the lagar and the breeze floats on it, forming a protective layer called a hat, which must be submerged every day so that it remains moist and does not This operation is called mejer. During these days of fermentation, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released, called tuffo, which becomes deadly. To enter the lagar, the winegrowers must lower a flame that, in the absence of oxygen, goes out and reveals its deadly presence. As the time of winemaking coincided with that of the cultivation of cereals, small farmers resorted to the practice of emburing. This process consisted of spreading a layer of clay on the breeze to preserve the wine and that it was not vinegar before incubating. In this time, the men of the house could dedicate themselves to other agricultural tasks. From the must of the grape, the mustillo is obtained, a dessert that drove the kids crazy and that has become one of our forgotten traditions. Mrs. Florinda continues to make this exquisite dessert for her family commitments every year. The must, which has been left to rest for a day, is cooked, and when it begins to boil, the foam that it produces is removed, thus leaving it clean of solid and impure materials. After two hours of cooking, the must is added to it with membrillo, apple, orange peel, pear, melon and crushed dry fruits. Then, a cold mixture of flour and must that has been cooked separately. For half an hour, the must is left to boil and thicken. When it has done so, it is poured on trays to cool. The result is a mustillo ready to enjoy. The necessary days have already passed in which the fermentation and maceration of the skin, seeds and pulp of the red grapes with the must have been simultaneous. It is time to puncture the lagar. By removing the sebo cap, the wine comes out with energy, pressed by the weight of the breeze, and is collected in the barrels. Due to this system, the wine is separated from the must and all the solid parts that remain in the lagar. The vats and barrels must be perfectly clean and sulfured to store the wine. There the young wine is thrown in, where the second fermentation will be carried out. In the lagar that had become impure, before puncturing it, they must patiently remove the layer of mud that has protected the wine. The so-called second fermentation is, in reality, the transformation of malic acid into lactic acid, and it is precisely when the quality of the wine improves. The breeze that remains in the lagar after extracting the wine is passed to the presses. There, through pressure, the orujo releases the remaining broth. All these traditional techniques have become part of the memory or are practiced by few families, more for sentimental reasons than for economic performance. In the 80s, the wineries of the Campo de Cariñena began a process of technological modernization of great importance for winemaking. Today, the grape collected in the vineyards is transported in the trawlers to the wineries in optimal hygienic conditions and without damaging the fruit. There begins the process of winemaking itself. The grapes from the vineyard are received in an automated and computerized way in facilities where stainless steel prevails, ideal for controlling the hygiene of the process and the temperature of the fermentations. From the unloading vats, the clusters are transferred to the despalilladoras and estrujadoras, today designed to gently break the grains. Then the must goes to the warehouses or the presses, depending on the type of wine to be made. For white wine, which comes exclusively from white grapes, the must ferments alone. The pink wines are obtained from the red grapes and the must is incubated in a tank for a few hours until the characteristic pink color is extracted from the skin of the grape. The singularity of the vinification of the red wine is in the simultaneity of the fermentation and maceration of the skin, seeds and pulp of the red grapes with the must. This fermentation of the must occurs under the attentive gaze of the enologist, who has to work with cold equipment so as not to allow high temperatures that alter the balance or the later quality of the wine. A process of a few days in which the work of a whole year is at stake. In this first fermentation, the sugar of the must becomes alcohol. When the process is finished, the descube is made and, in the case of red wine, the flower wine is separated from the breeze. This paste is taken to the presses where the wine that still contains is extracted. The squeezed paste will be sent to the alcohol factories and the extracted wine will be collected in different deposits where a series of filtrations will pass and the process will be finished. Normally, in red wines, a second fermentation is made called malolactic, in which the malic acid is transformed into lactic. After this process, the wine improves tastefully and is softer in taste. This is how the young wines of the year were born. Once the fermentation process is finished, the must has already become wine. It is the right time for the qualifying committee of the Regulatory Council to taste the wines and give them a good look so that they can be marketed with the name of Cariñena origin. The temperature, humidity and darkness of the hundred-year-old wineries and the modern installations for the rest and aging of the wine will do everything else. When the wines have been qualified, each winery assigns them to consumption as young people or submits them to an aging process that has always been present in traditional wineries. Meanwhile, in the wineries, the barrels have finished the aging process of the wines of previous years and must be washed with hot water under pressure to start with the new ones. Once clean, the barrels are filled with the new wine and placed in the breeding cabins. The idoneity of the red wines for aging is given by the variety of grapes and by the maceration conditions. The red wine, whose maceration has been short, is intended for consumption as a young person, while the most macerated will be used for breeding. The wine will remain in the oak barrels as long as required according to its quality. Breeding should be six months, reserve one year and large reserve a minimum of two years. This process of breeding in oak barrels will be complemented with another breeding time of the wine in the bottle until the minimum period required according to its label is completed. In the darkness of the wineries, the bottles will be more or less time according to their quality stored in drawers. In the 1960s, the Carignan wineries were the first in Aragon to bottle their wines. The modern bottling plants allow the wines to be packaged by qualities and varieties without altering the final product. But all these processes have two more protagonists, the oenologist and the laboratory. The oenologist continuously analyzes the musts while fermenting to control the pH, degree and acidity. Subsequently, these controls become more intensive at the beginning of bottling, at the beginning, at the middle and at the end, to ensure that it is always the same product and that the analytical parameters are correct. The wines are now ready to go on the market. All this history of wine in Carignana, which is nothing other than the culture of wine, has a place in its own museum today. With the Museum of Wine, the first works of industrial archaeology in Carignana, the historical wealth of the area, has served to bring to light hundreds of objects and documents. From the location of the materials to their subsequent exhibition, a long process of work has elapsed, which began with the cataloging and ended with the restoration of them. This has been done very carefully, respecting the original characteristics of the objects so that their use and functions can be easily interpreted. With the work of winemaking, autumn arrives in Carignana. Another year will be repeated to the cycle of the cultivation of the vine. Meanwhile, the wineries are in full swing. Winemakers and winemakers continue their daily work, maintaining and developing this activity, which is part of the history of the field of Carignana.