AN INTERVIEW WITH ENTREVISTA A XAVIER GRAMONA
“We are working for our children. We invest in the future”
“Estamos trabajando para nuestros hijos. Invertimos en el futuro”
Together with a friend of mine, La Vanguardia journalist, Rafa Lozano, I recently visited Cavas Gramona (my first actual visit to the winery), where we heard all about the work in the vineyards and cellars that goes into the creation of their excellent cavas. We were also fortunate to be able to meet and talk to one of the owners of the winery, Xavier Gramona.
It was an informal chat, from which we have transcribed the most interesting comments. I did have a small questionnaire prepared, but soon came to the conclusion, once the conversation had started, that it was best to let things flow naturally and, above all, to let Xavier talk...
XG: “London was the capital of wine, the wine stock exchange, and that was the home to “wine opinion”. In the United States, wine opinion is concentrated in Chicago or New York, not in California where they drink mainly Californian wines. In Catalonia, we drink local wines, apart from Rioja, of which we are one of the main consumers due to our proximity. Wine from all over used to arrive in Madrid. Wine opinion and the important wine influencers “grew up” in the big capital cities where wine was not produced. In regions where wine was made, they understood their wine.
When I returned home, after having been away for a few years, I found that the winemakers in the area knew the local wines very well, but knew precious little about wines from elsewhere. All this just to say that, at the time, if you wanted to be recognized, even in your home region (a prophet is never recognized in his own land!), you had to first be recognized in these capitals.
Aprovechando una visita a Cavas Gramona (de hecho mi primera visita física
