“Mireia Torres is experimenting with new varietals, or more precisely, largely forgotten indigenous grapes that are coming into their own – unfamiliar names such as Forcada, Moneu and Querol,” writes Smart from the Jean Leon tasting.
The tasting began with a film about the life of Jean Leon in Shoreditch’s Mondrian Hotel
As a company, Jean Leon has two distinct stories. The first is about its founder. Jean Leon left his native Spain in 1948 as a stowaway and washed up in Hollywood. He invented himself first as an (unsuccessful) actor. He then re-invented himself in the ‘fifties and early ‘sixties as a Beverly Hill restaurateur to the stars, schmoozing Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and JFK. Finally, wanting a wine of his own to proffer to his glamorous, racy clientele, he re-invented himself again as a wine producer.
Napa Valley missed out on a chance here. A visit convinced Leon that even back then Californian land prices were unaffordable. So, he returned to his home in Spain in the Penedès Denominación de Origin (DO) in Catalonia and the firm Jean Leon wines was born in 1963.
Inviting some consternation, Leon insisted he wanted French-style wines. Vines of local varietals were uprooted, and cuttings from Bordeaux were surreptitiously acquired and planted. Cabinet Sauvignon, for example, followed eventually by Pinot Noir, Chardonnay etc.
After his death a second story starts. The company is bought by a well-regarded local producer Familia Torres in 1994 and the diligent work of modern viticulture begins. Jean Leon wines will celebrate its 60th anniversary in a quite different world.
The tasting kicks off with a quaffable rosé
The tasting begins
Our tasting in the screening room at Shoreditch’s Mondrian hotel begins with a film. It’s a documentary of Leon’s life. It’s impossible not to be beguiled by the imagery with grainy, shaky footage from the ‘sixties of glamourous people, big cars, Californian sun and glitz.
Yet even today when a backstory is so important, nostalgia only gets you so far as a wine producer. And the real business here is the wine of today.
Our aperitif is a rosé. The Jean Leon 3055 Rosé 2022 (abv 12.5%, £17 a bottle retail in the UK) is a Pinot Noir, bright, and rounded with hint of peach and red fruit. Not stellar, but very quaffable.
We get a bit more serious with the Vinya Gigi 2020 (abv 13.5%, £21.50 a bottle). This is 100% Chardonnay, aged on lees for approximately six months in 225-litre French-oak barrels.There are aromas of tropical fruits and hints of toast and spices. This has a good acidity and freshness, and the moderate oak is nicely done. It is paired with a well-salted tartare of scallops and saffron ice cream.
Then on to the Palau 2018 (abv 14.5%, £21.25 a bottle). This is pure Merlot and spends 12 months in French oak. With aromas of Mediterranean herbs and a complex nose this has quite soft tannins and a good acidity to complement a main course of roasted pork.
Mireia Torres and that Methuselah of 1988 Cabernet Sauvignon
Nurturing nature
I have been seated next to the charming Mireia Torres, the director of Jean Leon. She is also Familia Torres’s director of knowledge and innovation with a degree in chemical engineering and diplomas in oenology and viticulture. She played a big role in the family firm’s projects in Ribera del Duero, Priorat, Rioja, and Rueda.
Tastes and attitudes have changed and “live-fast” has had to give way to nurturing nature in the face of worsening climate change. Hence Torres charts a very different course for the firm with technical finesse now supreme. The winery has embarked on a project to embrace not just organic but regenerative viticulture, pretty much akin to going biodynamic.
As temperatures rise, producers are struggling to keep wines down to their chosen alcohol levels. Torres, for example, would ideally like ABVs of no more than 13.5% for reds and 12.5% for whites. Mireia Torres is experimenting with new varietals, or more precisely, largely forgotten indigenous grapes that are coming into their own – unfamiliar names such as Forcada, Moneu and Querol.
We conclude with two final wines. First is Le Havre 2013 (abv 13.5%, £30 a bottle). This is a Bordeaux blend par excellence with 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. It is aged for 12 months minimum in barrels of French and American oak. This offering has more depth, a more complex nose and a longer finish with distinctive notes of pepper, red fruit, and notes of toast and spices. All very accomplished.
The finale is a 1988 Cabernet Sauvignon available only in library quantities, served for us in a Methuselah. This venerable wine, still with some nice notes of liquorice and pepper and a soft elegance, crosses the frontier between the firm’s two stories. Leon would still have been alive when this was harvested and this pre-climate change red has a modest ABV of just 12.5%. Much as you may wish, in history there is no turning back the clock.
