Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan and Cataluña in Spanish) is an autonomous community in the Northeast of Spain. It extends from the historic county (comarca) of Montsia in the South to the border with France in the north. The Mediterranean Sea forms its eastern border and offers 580 km of coastline. The Catalunya D.
O. C. was the first regional D. O.
C. in Spain. Created in 1999, it covers all the scattered vineyards that were not covered by one of the other 11 DOs in the region. The capital of Catalonia is the bustling Barcelona, Spain's second largest city and one of the largest ports on the Mediterranean.
Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.
pink wines from the region of Catalogne go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or spicy food such as recipes of small stuffed fish from nice, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes stuffed moroccan style with... or californian sushi (reverse maki).
On the nose in the region of Catalogne often reveals types of flavors of red fruit, citrus fruit or earth.
