Almond blossoms & California dreamin'

Year 15, No. 02

Feb 19, 2025

Highlights: DOQ Priorat under 30 | Napa Valley 2025 | Wine Confident

I come from a land of almonds. I live in a land of almonds.

For anyone the least bit active on Instagram, you will most likely have seen a wealth of almond blossoms plastering your feed. It’s this strange moment, in the depths of February when the trees decide to burnish their flair and light up these wintry days despite the risk of frost just around the corner.

Much like Phil the Groundhog, does the timing of their arrival portend to an early spring or better yet, the potential quality of the grape harvest? I’m sure someone out there has an answer to that, but for me, it harks back to my memories of California, especially as I was recently there to compile the Napa Valley Report.

Almonds are big business in my birth state, so much so that we’re a bit blinded as to how common they are in much of the world. When I started traveling to Europe decades ago, my mother would give me local almonds as gifts to people I stayed with. The recipients would often look at them and go, “oh, almonds…” as the almonds of California are the same as those from Mediterranean countries, most having been brought over by Spanish missionaries 400 years previous.

Ultimately this trans-Atlantic exchange stopped when one recipient in Spain, screamed after nearly choking on the level of spice in some “zesty” wasabi almonds, fresh from The Bear Republic.

But the almond confusion has flowed both ways as in past years I’ve mentioned to people in Spain that the almond growers were really suffering in California due to years of drought. The puzzled look on faces would lead to the question, “Why on earth would you irrigate almond trees?”

It’s a good question and one I often come back to when I look around at the almond trees where I live now in Priorat that, much like the vines grow (or at least grew) without the need for irrigation. It makes for intense nuts with smaller crops as much as it makes for intense grapes with smaller crops.

It’s the lack of volume which contributed to almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts not being profitable as they’re cheaper to grow now in Turkey. But it has done a lot to see the prices of wine in Priorat being a good deal higher than other regions in Spain. They are however not as astronomic as people might think.

As per a subscriber request, I curated a list of over 30 wines from DOQ Priorat that have a local price of under 30€. Some of them are very much less than 30€ and all are delicious so I wish you pleasant drinking from this cadre.

I was also happy to finally get around to posting this review of Wine Confident (*). It’s a new book by Californian transplant, Kelli White who’s become a good friend over the years. Here, she’s written a fine book that opens up a whole new segment in wine education books for the “wine curious”—something taken very seriously in this newsletter and on Hudin.com.

And of course, if you missed it, the latest discharge from Cul de Cuvée (*) has arrived for all your humor needs.

Lastly, on the travel front, I’ll be in Zagreb, Croatia next week to taste the new vintages for my annual report which is always a large and fascinating undertaking. Do reach out if you’d like to meet and/or have new wines that I should taste.

Drink well, be well.

-Miquel

(*) Free to read

The Featured Reports

Special Selection: Priorat under 30€

There are definitely some icon wines in the region with crazy prices, but it’s not all sky high and pocket painful. Have a look at this selection of over 30 wines from DOQ Priorat with a local price of under 30€.

The wines of Napa Valley

A detailed look at the current situation and massive changes happening in this key region of California as well as over 50 benchmark wines tasted.

And now this

Have you had a chance to try the Catalan onion, calçots? If not, you’ve really been missing out as yes, they do pair well with wine.

If you’ve not had the chance to try the wines of Cava Rovellats, then I suggest giving them a look at their sparkling wines have never been better.

When Languedoc gets it right, they really get it right as shown by the very fine wine from Domaine de la Grange des Pères that also happens to be a decade and a half old.

The Navarran winery of Bodegas Ochoa have completely overhauled their image and approach to wines which is paying off exceedingly well in terms of the great quality of the wines which show place over process so much more now.

And, in case you missed it, the best way to have a small investment in enotourism (*) is of course to start out with a large investment in enotourism.