Human beings owe it to wine that we are the only animals that drink without thirst. It is a pleasure that is always different. Rough, hard, nervous, fine, frank, thick, heavy, delicate, rounded, balanced, velvety, silky, greedy... In Provence they say that “a day without wine is like a day without sunshine.” Further south, in Catalonia, there exists the saying “with bread and wine a journey can be made.”

It is to one of the most well known fictional Catalan characters, the imperishable Pepe Carvalho created by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, that we owe the observation that “it does not take a post-Hegelian philosopher to conclude that we can only know a country well if we drink its wine and eat its bread.” In this sense, Catalonia is a unique land, and few countries can boast that their wines enjoy the wealth of colours, flavours and textures as the Catalans can.

The Greeks were the first to introduce vines and wine to Catalonia, specifically in l’Empordà, where they developed an important colony. But it was the Romans who really exploited the art. The particular geographical and climatic conditions of the territory made it seem blessed by the god Bacchus, and the region quickly became the favourite wine producing area of the empire, with permission from the vineyards of Falerno, in the Italian Campania, from where the most renowned liquor of antiquity was extracted. Since then, Catalan wine has enjoyed great prestige and, on the strength of its vines, an important indigenous wine industry has been built up through the centuries, generating many jobs and large revenues for the region.
The wine industry and its derivatives currently rank third in the Catalan food sector and represent 25% of Spain’s total production, with more than 380 million bottles, of which about two-thirds are exported. About half of that production is wine, the other half being cava.

The prestigious magazine The Wine Advocate, headed by the well-known American critic and wine expert Robert Parker, has just published an online list of Spain’s Top 100 Wine Values. Appearing in the list are the Spanish wines that were awarded over 90 points, and of the 113 published, 28 are Catalan, with D.O. Montsant winning the most awards with 10 wines, followed by the Q.D.O. Priorat with 7, the D.O. Terra Alta with 5, the D.O. Cava with 4 and the D.O. Empordà and the D.O. Costers del Segre with 1 each.

Q.D.O. Priorat and D.O. Terra Alta are two of the most renowned Catalan designations on the list. Sal·lustià Álvarez and Jaume Descarrega are the respective heads of these D.O.’s, which are located in the province of Tarragona. While the Priorat wines are dominated by reds from cariñena grapes, which is the key to their current wines: maroon coloured, with an intense aroma, with high alcohol degree and a dense, rich, meaty, rounded flavour, in Terra Alta there is more white wine made from white and macabeo.
Priorat is the only Q.D.O. in Catalonia, that is, Qualified Designation of Origin. A D.O. is a specific product that comes from a particular vineyard. “The requirement”, says Álvarez, “is that 50% of all production is regulated by the D.O., there may be between 30 and 50% that is uncontrolled.” A Q.D.O. “is a step further”, he explains, “in the international recognition of the wines from a particular area and in the commitment that the area undertakes through its tradition practices, into which technological advances are incorporated.” In addition, “90% of its entire production, bottling and recognition must be regulated by the D.O. And we meet those standards,” concludes Álvarez.

The D.O. Terra Alta hosts about 1,800 growers, 6,200 acres of vineyards and 42 wineries. Jaume Descarrega, its President, explains that while there have been vines and wines in the area for almost a millennium, the D.O. was “created in 1982 and is hence still a young seal of quality.” Elaborating on the theme of the D.O., Descarrega indicates that “to be part of a D.O. you have to belong to a limited geographical area and meet quality requirements and working conditions. Although the Terra Alta had been producing wine for centuries, it was relatively recently that we began work on our D.O. Until now we were helping other areas and D.O.’s to make high alcohol wines whose production process we knew very well and made for bulk sale. But, in the last 15 years, there has been a generational change of development and production, and we are now dedicated to making bottled wines focusing on quality.” The results, covered in the conclusions of The Wine Advocate, are visible to everyone. Although, as Descarrega points out, we should “not forget the country as a whole, because, along with other D.O.’s from Tarragona, we have launched the País del Vi (“Wine country”) consortium to attract wine tourism and help smaller local wineries with less means.”

Alcohol-free wine

The Torres Group, one of the most famous in the Catalan wine industry, has decided to move forward recently by presenting what it billed as the first alcohol-free wine (or almost, at 0.5%) developed in Spain, it has been called Natureo.

The “wine-based alcohol-free drink” (legally, it cannot be considered a wine due to its low alcohol content) is a white made from the Muscat grape variety (Alexandria muscatel) that comes mainly from the Can Goma estate’s vineyard. Made from grapes of the Muscat variety, it follows a classic white wine production process. The grapes are harvested in August and the must is fermented in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature to obtain an aromatic wine. Then, through a technique called “Spinning Cone Column”, the alcohol is removed. Initiatives such as this reflect the perception that wine consumption is falling markedly in bars and restaurants due to fear of alcohol breath tests and driving license points. It remains to be seen whether this new type of alcoholic wine is attractive enough to succeed in the market.

Did you know…?

The Old Testament says that the mythical Noah was the first mortal to have the pleasure of tasting the fabulous fermented grape juice we call wine. Genesis 9:20 states that “after the Flood, Noah began to till the soil, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank wine.” Noah lived for 950 years. Even as optimists, the rest of us who drink wine will have to make do with prolonging our existence for only 5 years. A meticulous study over almost half a century long by the prestigious Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health claims that drinking half a glass of wine every day appears to help increase life expectancy by an average of five years. The bad news? It only seems to have a verifiable effect in men.

Jean Leon, life and wines in cinema

The Jean Leon winery, now owned by the Torres Group, is the personal project of Ceferino Carrión, better known as Jean Leon. Born in Santander in 1928, Carrión founded a successful restaurant, La Scala, in the golden Hollywood of the 60s. It was aimed at those that wanted the best cuisine – it attracted legends of the big screen such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. The winery came out of Carrión’s desire to find the perfect wine to offer his guests, something he had not found in California. The vineyards on the land he bought in 1963 were torn down to grow – for almost the first time in Spain – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay from renowned wineries in Bordeaux and Burgundy. The idea was to offer his customers in Hollywood wines similar to those they already knew. As a result, the first Cabernet Sauvignon was produced in Spain in 1969. In 1993 the Wines magazine chose his Cabernet as one of the 10 best wines in the world.
Ángel Germade, Director of Jean Leon, sums up the prestige and success of the brand with a figure. “Within Torres, our parent company, Jean Leon represents 21% of sales.” The group makes some 200 million euros per year. Moreover, “our wine is aimed mainly at restaurants, that is, it is very difficult to find our wines elsewhere.” It is a mark of the exclusivity that Jean Leon seeks. And, as Germade says, prestige is linked to quality.

Catalonia, home of cava

Whites, reds and rosés. Catalonia stands out for producing a wide variety of wines, most notably whites, thanks to the individual properties conferred on them by grapes like macabeo, xarel·lo, and picapoll. Today, the majority of white wine production takes place in Alella, Penedès and Tarragona, with red wine in the other regions. But much of the international fame of Catalonia as a producer of wine is due to its sparkling wine: the famous cava. There are many theories of how champagne came to Catalonia. Obviously, it was brought by the French, its inventors, although it is not known for certain when and how. What we do know is that Josep Raventós Fatjó produced, in 1872, the first bottles of cava in the farmhouse of Codorniu in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia emphasizing the intrinsic qualities of the indigenous grapes and moving away from the commonly used champagne method (méthode Champenoise). After a bitter dispute with the French, he agreed to change the name “champagne” for “cava”. In recent decades, cava has greatly improved thanks to the introduction of new grape varieties and modern winemaking techniques. Spain currently produces more than 130 million bottles of cava, of which 99% come from Catalonia, and its export numbers compete confidently with the most upscale French champagnes.


A combination of talent and a lot of tradition

The Penedès region of Catalonia covers 95% of the national production of cava, with its centre in the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. Small and medium-sized cultivations predominate in Penedès, highlighting yet another identifying feature of the D.O. Penedès: most wineries produce wines from their own vineyards, being responsible for the product from start to finish. This personalised care and follow-up on the part of the winemakers is noted in the final result. They are well worked wines, with class and their own style.
Freixenet, one of the flagships of the Catalan cava industry, is headquartered in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. The company, presided over by Josep Lluís Bonet, makes more than 500 million euros a year. It was formed in the early 20th century after the union of two families specialising in the wine market: the Ferrers, owners of Freixeneda since the 12th century, and the Salas, founders of Casa Sala, the first wine exporting brand in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. It is indisputable that the cavas that comprise the Freixenet catalogue have a great reputation: the XXI, made in Freixenet’s vineyards, the Reserva Real, a cava for the connoisseur, the Cuvée DS, the Ferrer family reserve, and the Brut Barroco, reflecting the spirit of a bygone era. In addition, Freixenet is also one of the most studied companies in many advertising schools. Since 1977 the company has made glamorous Christmas adverts to boost sales. They are world famous and have won, like the products, many prestigious awards. The likes of Martin Scorsese, Liza Minnelli, Gene Kelly, Paul Newman and Victoria Principal have featured in them, and each year the excitement grows over who will be the new face of Christmas campaign. However, this year the company surprised everyone with a 2008 remake. “Decisions like this can only be taken by family businesses,” says Bonet adding that “it was motivated by the fact that we had to somehow reflect the difficult times that the country’s economy and society are passing through.” But to what extent has the economic crisis affected a company of the scale of Freixenet? For Bonet the key is that companies with higher international status have had “a significant competitive advantage in overcoming the crisis.” Specifically, “the Catalan wine industry can be said to have the benefit of being primarily an exporter, which is an advantage.”

The company, while retaining its family character, has become a multinational group that consists of cava production and worldwide distribution companies. The Freixenet group currently exports to more than 120 countries and is the world’s largest quality sparkling wine brand. Although, as Bonet explains, “champagne is currently ahead of cava in terms of volume, owing to the fact that its home market has much higher levels of consumption than the Spanish market, and that it still has the advantage of its 300 years of glamorous history.” Today, champagne exports exceed those of cava by about 1 million bottles: 141 compared with 140 million of cava. Not for long, says Bonet, “since cava has better value for money; the method of preparation is the same and the result as a standard product is similar, but there is a very significant price difference.” Freixenet is one of those companies, as its President points out, that sums up a perfect combination of talent and tradition. Although it is not the only one.

Cava as wine: Raventós i Blanc

The Raventós family understands cava in a different way. Twenty years after it was founded, Raventós i Blanc has managed to break into the field of both wine and cava. The company was founded by Josep Raventós, one of the heirs of Codorniu who, in 1982, decided to sell the shares he owned of the family firm and start alone his own project. But in 1986, just 20 days after setting up his winery, Josep Raventós passed away, leaving the reins of the project in the hands of his son, Manuel Raventós. Today, Raventós maintains the spirit with which the winery was founded, the “priority of quality over volume,” he says. The company, which makes 5 million euros per year with a cultivated area of about 90 hectares, annually produces between 400,000 and 450,000 bottles of cava and between 275,000 to 300,000 of wine. Raventós acknowledges that his father founded the company mainly thinking about developing a quality cava by introducing innovative techniques to the country such as fermentation in barrels, a technique common in the French region of Champagne. “For us, cava is a wine in its full sense, though it is generally understood that cava is for celebrations, used mainly for toasts.” Manuel Raventós believes that 95% of consumers associate cava with such consumption. However, “we work for the remaining 5%, that small segment that drinks it for the gastronomy, as an aperitif, at moments other than celebrations, and we believe that cava, being much more than a sparkling wine for celebrations, deserves to be enjoyed in other environments.”

Gramona, in search of perfection

The Gramona family winery, located in the Barcelona region, lies at the foot of the mountain of Montserrat. Also in Penedès, it is another brand with its own name in the region. “For over 125 years we have made cava – a very unique and appreciated sparkling wine – and wines of character that express both the original personality and features of the particular terroirs that nurture our wines”, explains Xavier Gramona. As well as being widely noted for its award-winning wines, Gramona excels for its innovation. “There are only three companies in the cava sector that have signed up to a climate change project with European support.” More and more companies are beginning to realise the crucial importance of sustainability. However, Gramona stands out mainly for its relentless pursuit of perfection. As Jaume Gramona states, “we are the only cava producers to have a team of 8 wine experts on our staff developing 500,000 bottles of wine and 500,000 bottles of cava. Moreover, everyone in our sales team is a sommelier, and if they don’t have the certificate, we cover the investment. This training of the sales team on the part of the technical department is important and we think it’s a different way of forming an elite team in the world of wine.” At the moment, the awards they have received speak for themselves.