The wines of the Discalced Carmelite Friars

 

 

 

 

As noted in this blog there are three vineyards in Venice, those on the islands of Sant'Erasmo and Mazzorbo and the third in the cloister of the church of San Francesco della Vigna in the city of Venice itself.

In fact there are at least four and you can visit this latest one behind the Ferrovia with entry by ticket. Mention has been made of vines on Torcello, Lido Alberoni, San Lazzaro degli Armeni and Pellestrina.

It is called the vineyard of the Discalced Carmelite Friars. What is 'Discalced?' It means 'without shoes' or barefoot. In fact the friars are allowed to wear sandals or other lightweight shoes.

We just made it to the vineyard before entry was closed but we hadn't bought  tickets. In true spirit of charity, the lady at the door took pity on us and let us in anyway. 

 The garden is truly paradisical.

 

In the middle is a didactic vineyard with 16 rows of vines, each from a different variety - some rescued, some local and at least one, the 'Terra Promessa' brought by one Padre Graziano between the wars from Palestine and given to the 'Brolo' (walled vineyard) of the Carmelitani Scalzi di Venezia.

Here is the list of grapes in order of appearance (right to left);

Terra Promessa*

Dorona

Marzemino

Vermentino

Verduzzo

Raboso Piave

Grapariol (Raboso Bianco)*

Bianchetta Trevigiana

Incocio Manzoni 13.0.25

Incocio Manzoni 2.1.5 

Malvasia di Sitges

Malvasia Istriana

Malvasia di Asolo

Malvasia Toscana

Malvasia Aromatica

Recantina

Malvasia di Candia

Each of the 16 rows of vines had its own tech sheet provided by the Consorzio Vini Venezia. The whole 'Giardino mistico' is tended by the friars of the Carmelitani Scalzi together with dedicated experts and volunteers. 

*Terra Promessa is of course not mentioned in D'Agata 'Native Wine Grapes of Italy' in 'Wine Grapes.' More surprisingly Grapariol is also not there but gets an interesting entry in 'Wine Grapes' in which we learn that it has no direct relationship with either Raboso Piave or Raboso Veronese. It was rescued by the research centre at Conegliano thanks to the efforts of researchers and advenurous producers.

Terra Promessa tech sheet

 

Terra Promessa vines

 

Grapariol tech sheet

Grapariol vines

 

Poletto Piante Uve de tavola bianca Regina dei Vigneti

 

Poletto Piante Uva da tavola resistente 'Teres'

We wondered where the Frati Carmelitani Scalzi got their grapes from. One or two vines in the pergola covered walkways still had labels where 'POLETTO PIANTE' dal 1957 could be deciphered.

Mention is made of two Armenian grapes also to be found in the collection: Areni and Rushaki. Areni is familiar enough as the main red grape variety there but Rushaki is a rare hybrid obtained in 1932 by the Armenian Institute for Agriculture, Viticulture and Oenology at Yerevan. Researchers were astonished to find Rushaki on monastery land on San Lazzaro degli Armeni. It is a cross between Mskhali and Sultanina.

After marvelling at all these vines and beautiful flowers, trees and vegetables we asked a kindly friar if wine was ever made of the grapes in the garden and he said indeed it was and you could buy it in the shop. Furthermore he said a red wine had just been released so we could have a choice of white or red.

This 'fratello' couldn't have been sweeter. He was adorable even. We discovered he had once spent a month in London ministering to the 'Our Lady of Victories' Filipino Church on Kensington High Street and nine years working in France. 

Our visit had been as good as anything the Biennale could offer. We will report on the wines we bought. Both field blends of all the grapes in the vineyard made for the Frati Carmelitani Scalzi by the Consorzio Vini Venezia and the Provincia Veneta.

Here is a translation of the literature which accompanied our bottles; 

The Wines of the Discalced Carmelite Friars

A unique and special place provides the setting for the birth of the Prandium and Ad Mensam wines. It is the Mystical Garden of the Discalced Carmelite Friars in Venice, which underwent a major restoration project between 2013 and 2016 with the aim of restoring its ancient vineyard to its former splendour.

The project, created through the collaboration between the Venice Wine Consortium and the Venetian Province of the Discalced Carmelite Order, made it possible to establish seventeen rows of vines and two long pergolas, home to twenty-six different grape varieties, most of them native to the Venetian area (the islands, the lagoon coastline, and the historic center).

Among the most interesting and distinctive vines are Terra Promessa (“Promised Land”), which a friar brought from Mount Carmel in Palestine in the 1930s—the birthplace of the Carmelite Order—and two Armenian grape varieties, Areni and Rushaki, found on the island of San Lazzaro and once thought to have disappeared.

In this way, the “reborn” vineyard of the Discalced Carmelite Friars, located in the Cannaregio district, aims to make a meaningful contribution to preserving and enhancing the biodiversity of the Venetian lagoon’s wine-growing heritage, while at the same time keeping alive the ancient monastic tradition of wine production, in which wine, at the Lord’s table, becomes the drink of salvation.

The Prandium and Ad Mensam wines, the result of many years of dedicated work, offer the senses the aromas and emotions of the unique lagoon environment from which they originate, honouring it with distinction, prestige, and richness.

Lagorthi = Verdeca

 

We were introduced to this beauty by Agustina Basilico Miara, Sommeliere at Toklas restaurant, Surrey St., London. Agustina had been on a trip to Greece to find just such wines for the restaurant. This Lagorthi by Rouvalis certainly is a find of the first order. Absolutely toothsome and only 11%.

Looking up Lagorthi in 'Wine Grapes' as often happens we discovered that it has the same DNA as Verdeca, the white grape from Puglia, part of Magna Grecia of course.

How about that? 

 

Malvar = Lairen

 

 

 

Reading about Malvar, of course we wanted to try it. It sounded nice and obscure. The nearest we could come to it was a bottle of wine from the Madrid area with 70% Malvar together with Torrontes (25%) and Muscat a petits grains (5%). 

Our bottle (by a company called Licinia Wine Madrid S.L.) was named MUSS and weighed in at 13.5%. Hopes of something distinctive were not fulfilled.

Looking Malvar up in 'Wine Grapes' you are referred to Lairen. Under that name you discover that Lairen is not L'Airen or Airen (the most widely planted variety in all of Spain) but a separate variety with a much lower acreage which is hard to quantify because of frequent confusion with L'Airen. It is a totally different variety. Its origin and main home is in Southern Spain but it is grown in the Madrid area under the name Malvar. 

So what we were drinking here was Lairen. On this showing, it doesn't seem to have much personality, pleasant enough though it is. Not a 'MUSS.' 

Aperol. Is there no end to it?

 

Wine in Denmark and a little bit of Sweden

 

 

Nobody should be surprised any more. Good wine is being produced in Denmark, Sweden and eve Norway. 

On a trip to the Danish Riviera last year (highly recommended) we looked for local produce of course. Maybe we should have gone further afield, to the Rosnaes Peninsular for example or to Jutland, Funen or Bornholm because like the Netherlands, native bottles aren't finding their way into shops let alone restaurants in any numbers. 

 

Time will tell. The EU officially recognised Denmark as a wine-producing country only in 2000. Despite our efforts, we only found one bottle of Danish wine for sale in Copenhagen.

 

That was in a nice wine shop in the Jagersborggade called Den Sidste Drabe.

  

Opposite by the way is an absolutely lovely natural wine and food shop called  Norrebro Kolonial. 

 

Running it was a very well informed lady called Mirian Jensen who has some winemaking experience herself. There were no Danish wines in stock however. 

So if you want to buy a bottle it sems you have to go to the winery. 

We did just that in Zealand. The Orby Vingaard is one of the nearest to Copenhagen. It was planted in 2007 by Soren Sondergaard and his wife. 

 

They have what is now quite often to be found; a restaurant and venue for parties and weddings. 

 Our phone call to Soren Sondergaard to make an appointment to visit the winery and hopefully buy a bottle or two was tricky in that we didn't have a language in common but we managed and at the appointed time, Soren was there to show us round and sell his wine.

 

 

We bought a 100% Bolero; something we had never tried before, a Rondo/Leon Millot and Bolero blend and a Solaris. 

 

After this, we were allowed to take a look at the vineyard. It is beautifully kept with not a blade of grass out of place.

Souvignier Gris

 

 

  

the ubiquitous Solaris

 

 

 

 

the rare Bolero

 

 

 

Rondo

 

 

The 

 

 

Varieties grown at Orby include Cabernet Cantor, Souvignier Gris and Pinot Noir.

The other Danish vineyard we would have liked to have seen was called Dyrehøj and is the largest in the country. It is on the Rosnaes Peninsula, also known as the Napa of Denmark. Their grape varieties are especially numerous;

Johanniter, Muscaris, Solaris and Souvignier Gris for the whites and Cabernet Cantor, Cabernet Cortis, Monarch, Pinot Noir and Regent for the reds.

Monarch is a true rarity. It is a cross between Merzling and Dornfelder and officially classed as a PIWI variety. Dyrehøj use it only to make a pink sparkling and still wine.

 

In North Zealand the most famous city is Elsinore, or Helsingor to be correct. From there it is only a matter of 20 minutes by ferry to be in Sweden (Helsingborg). We were totally excited to make this simple trip and can't imagine the bridge from Copenhagen to Malmo is any more thrilling. Although so close there is a complete change of atmosphere on landing in Sweden. Amazing really when you consider the shared history and now shared EU membership. On the other hand the money is different as well as the language of course.

 

 

So is the system for the sale of alcohol. In Sweden there is the famous monopoly, Systembolaget who have their own shops throughout the country. This works surprisingly well because Systembolaget is a great organisation and the shops are quite brilliant. 

 

On the search for Swedish wines this time we found more than one Solaris (of course), one of which is called Lotima Bridget, 

 

and a Rose from Cabernet Cortis - Lotima Roselyn. These two are from Lottenlund, a local vineyard but most Swedish wineries are further south. 

 

 

 

 

There were also Wines from the Kullaberg Vineyard described as 'A friendship wine with Austria.' The grapes are grown in Styria and vinified in Sweden. Here was a Souvignier Gris

 

 

and in this case a blend of the Styrian Souvignier Gris with Cabernet Noir grown at Kullabergs Vingard, Cape Kullaberg in southern Sweden. Why not?

At Copenhagen airport we were hoping for some more opportunities to buy Danish wine but as you see the choice was very limited; products from Andersen and Nordlund. Nordlund was Denmark's first commercial vineyard established near Copenhagen between 1999 and 2003. Their red grape is mainly Rondo and the white is Solaris. Andersen make sparkling fruit wines.

On the laft are also mostly fruit wines, one intriguingly from rhubarb.