A spicy wine born in the orchards of Porrera
PorreraA spicy wine made in California awakened her mind and made her dive into her culinary memory linked to the garden since childhood. Back then she lived between Terrassa and Bagà. “It was very chemical, it had spicy sensations, but without a trace of pepper. We planted four varieties of chili pepper and dared to make one.” Isa Serra is the director of Vall Llach, but her connection with Priorat has been forged through l’Horta Colomer, a space for biodynamic crops in the heart of Porrera, where white carignan vines coexist with vegetables, spices, fruit trees, and geese.
“We macerated the chili peppers for ten days with black garnacha from young organic farming vines, in small stainless steel vats. It is curious that they ripen at the same time. The oenologist and the winemaker told me “Take them out now!”, and I replied “One more day”,” she shares, smiling, from her admiration for spiciness and fleeing from the lukewarmness that many palates seek today. El PICA is a different and brave wine and, in a way, provocative, which comes to say that there are many ways of being and existing in a land of welcome. She feels that its gestation has rooted her in Priorat and connected her with the person she is: “Between colors and calm I have found the peace I didn’t know I needed. My love for spiciness has merged with that slow rhythm that asks for nothing more than presence”.
The spicy wine is born from an artisanal oenological process. On the nose and palate, it gently unfolds the mixed aromas of bishop's hat, republic, ball, and long red. It does not need sulfites because the capsaicin from the chili pepper acts as a preservative. Three hundred bottles have been made, and they have all flown, with almost no commercial action. International distributors, winery visits, and Catalan chefs with fine palates have been the first interested parties. “At the Citrus del Tancat restaurant, they have paired it with the eggplant Wellington and the capipota,” she shares, satisfied. And she adds: “It is versatile, it works as an aperitif with an ice cube, but it can also be gastronomic, combining everything from vegetables and salads to stews. I invite you to lose your fear of it, to approach spiciness because it activates the will part of the body and links it with the spiritual aspect of wine”.
This year they will increase production and will also bottle PICA in a 37.5-centiliter format. The pennant on the label initially suggests a red flag, but it specifically means “resistance and perseverance, shared values, action and determination”. Graphic designer Gerard Joan has translated the journey of wine into an image with precise, meticulous, and coherent work, for which he has collaborated with the printing workshop l’Anacrònica. Together, against the current, they reap the fruits of their boldness.
