The process, completely handmade
It is important to keep in mind that the wine is born in the vineyard, for this reason it is necessary to grow good grapes with which we produce a good wine. The sun, the climate and the human intervention in the vineyard's maintenance act decisively in the wine's style and quality. Therefore, bear in mind that, in order to elaborate it, many and diverse factors must be taken into consideration.
GRAPE HARVESTThe beginning of the wine elaboration, leaving aside the process of the grape's growth, is the harvest. It is a very important moment since it must be carried out when the grapes have reached the ideal ripeness, which takes place when a delicate balance between acids and sugars is achieved. At Celler Gurgu, the harvest is made around the month of September, when the grapes have reached the needed maturation level to obtain the wine we produce. The vintage, like the other processes, is performed in a family environment in which we all contribute. Before threshing the grapes, they are placed during three days in a low temperature chamber in order to make the fermentation process slower and give us our wines’ aromas.
THRESH
Once the grape harvest is made, the grape's grains are separated from the stem, since it would give an herbal and rough taste to the wine, due to the tannins that it contains.
SQUEEZE
Once the grapes have been threshed, they are passed between rubber rollers that break them down gently. This process replaces what our ancestors used to do back in their day: stepping on grapes with their bare feet.
This process creates the grape paste, where the grape's juice (the must), the skins and the seeds are. The juice extracted from this paste is the best quality one.
FERMENTATION
La fermentació és un procés biològic que realitzen uns microorganismes del grup dels fons, són llevats que es troben sobre la pell del raïm, com una pel·lícula The fermentation is a biological process carried out by microorganisms from the fungus group. It is, therefore, a yeast found on the skin of the grape, like a whitish layer. When they come into contact with the must, they transform sugars into alcohol, carbon dioxide and heat.
In our winery, fermentation takes place in tanks that are adapted to the needs of the wines we want to obtain, where we can also keep temperatures low, helping us to find the fruity taste of our wines.
PRESS
Before finishing the fermentation, we press the paste in order to finish extracting all the grape's juices. If the pressure of the press is smooth, the must that we will obtain will be of a better quality.
Furthermore, to leave the wine completely clean of impurities, we place it in a tank for a while to favour the process of precipitation, by which solids fall to the bottom of the tank.
WINE AGEING
The process of ageing our wines is done in French and American oak barrels. It is an oxidative ageing process thanks to the pores of the wood, since there is an oxygen exchange from the outside inwards, causing changes in the wine such as the softening of tannins, addition of taste...
Regarding the wines of Celler Gurgu, “Selecció” has an ageing process of 10 to 15 months in barrel, while “Jove de Trellat” has an ageing process of 4 to 6 months in barrels.
A bit of history
Celler Gurgu is located in the Village of Gorga, in Alicante. It is immersed between the Seta and Travadell valleys, although its approximately 250 neighbours occupy the southernmost part of the Seta valley. The municipality of Gorga is surrounded by an absolutely unique lansdscape, comprising the mountain ranges of Benifallim, Carrascar, Mariola, Benicadell, Serra de Almudaina, Alfaro, Aitana and Serrella, and its 545 meters of altitude are softened by its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea.
The winery was born in a family environment, among the wisdom of the elderly and the restlessness of the youngest, to regain the strength of a land with a lot of potential. Recovering the wine-making tradition carried out by our ancestors was the main reason why Celler Gurgu came to life. In the cradle of the family, the love of land, wine and traditions drive the machinery of this great adventure: Gurgu.
Making a clear reference to the town where the winery is located, and to which the great majority of the brave people who have begun to recover the wine tradition belong, Gurgu is the name chosen to create an identity for the project. A word that comes from Arabic and means 'water place', although, apparently, this term could be a corruption from the Latin Gurgu.
The oenological tradition in the village of Gorga is remembered by the many vessels that were on the lower floors of many houses. That crushed wine was transported in leather thanks to the mules’ backs, from Gorga to Villajoyosa, from where it was embarked bound for the great coastal cities. Unfortunately, the phylloxera, a parasite that swallows sap from the grapevines’ roots and consumes quickly the plants, made its presence on these lands by the end of the fourteenth century and, destroying the winegrowing economy. That is the reason why we had to pull up the sick grapevines to opt for other types of trees and new crops.
