La Despeinada

Catalunya, Spain

While Alex had brought only three cuvées to the recent Brumaire salon in Richmond, California, I was admittedly struck by how completely calm and assured his wines felt, and within the context of the social bustle of the event, La Despeinada’s wines surprisingly stuck with me the most for even weeks after; a feat considering how many little tastes touched my tongue that long weekend that turned into a longer week of even more events and tastings in Los Angeles. I haven’t visited Alex and Petra myself, so here are some words from R. O’Neill Latta about the duo and their refreshing wines:

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Spanish is Petra and Alex’s love language. They met in El Salvador while Alex ran a hostel and, after falling in love, the duo embarked on an esoteric communiIty endeavor: a roving cinema. They beamed from the back of a car, playing independent films from eras past. In the mid 2010s, Petra and Alex decided to start a family together but wanted to be closer to home, an Austrian countryside hamlet and a southern French port town respectively. Following a chance meeting with Laureano Serres, they decided to literally make a home between Bot and Gandesa. Petra, Alex and a few friends framed the house’s structure then made walls from straw bales and clay from the earth below their feet. The house is situated on a terrace amongst the vines, with the most beautiful compost toilet I’ve seen since ZAD. The two have built a life together in Terra Alta and take to heart Laureano’s proclamation: “we are all immigrants on planet earth!”

This past winter, I was able to spend a few days at Despeinada. In the nearby town of Gandesa, the new cellar is a discrete garage with a rusted out two-door Mitsubishi Pajero-type ride out front. After some spotty cell service and miscommunication, we arrive to a smiling Alex and our ex-pat vigneronne friend Kara Kellam Fowler. We taste through some of the new wines: concentrated reds and rich, salty whites. Another year of drought has led them to rip out a plot of dying grapes from one of their terraces, but they have plans to replant with cuttings from Laureano. Alex shows us the newly refinished warehouse space next door to the cellar where he hopes to get the projector running to show movies for the community once again. The ride back to the finca in the back of the rusty Pajero is bumpy yet relaxing, curving around dirt roads and avoiding motocross riders. Petra has made a delicious risotto with squash and a fresh green salad, Cali-natural foods style with nutritional yeast and vinaigrette. The meal reminds me of home and my heart aches for my son as their daughter crawls over my back and beckons me to play with her dolls. Ever-present wind continues to blow through the dormant vines as we all pile into the van and head out.

- Riley O’Neill Latta

El Ciego 2022
Grenache Blanc, Macabeu
$29

Brutal 2022
White blend from abandoned vines
$29

Macabeu Eres Tu 2022
Macabeu
$29

Amforange 2022
Garnatxa Blanca
$29

Simiamor 2022
Garnatxa Negra
$29

Now or Never 2022
Garnatxa Negra, Pelluda
$29

Pieroja 2022
Garnatxa Negra
$29