Wine Portraits

2

3

Wine Portraits

A N N A E S P E LT Josep Pitu Roca [sommelier]:

Whatever the case may be, between Vilajuïga and Cala Montjoi, she has shown talent, ability, sensitivity and capacity to write the best chapter in the history of Empordà wine

cob_anna_angl_SP.indd 1

WINE PORTRAITS / FRANCESC FERRÉ

DO Empordà

WINE PORTRAITS / ANNA ESPELT

Francesc Ferré

DO Terra Alta FRANCESC FERRÉ Jaume Clua [oenologist]:

He has never stopped, because his family has shown him the value of hard work. If you ask me what has most surprised me of all that I have tasted, I would have to say the young Wine white vernatxa. (…) Portraits I think Francesc has worked hard on the vinification, the history and the phonetics of wines. The results are obvious.

Anna Espelt

30/3/16 10:38

cob_francesc_angl_SP.indd 1

#wineportraits April 2016

30/3/16 10:34

Retrats de vi

3

DO Terra Alta FRANCESC FERRÉ

DO Empordà A N N A E S P E LT Josep Pitu Roca [sommelier]:

En el camí des de Vilajuïga fins a prop de Cala Monjoi, demostra talent, capacitat, sensibilitat Retrats de vi i capacitat per escriure les millors pàgines de la història del vi a l’Empordà

R E T R AT S D E V I / AN N A E SPE LT

Jaume Clua [enòleg]:

Ve d’una cultura familiar de treballar dur. Si em preguntes què m’ha sorprès més de tot el que he tastat fins ara et diré que la vernatxa blanca jove (...) Penso que ha treballat molt bé la vinificació, com també la història, la fonètica dels vins... Els resultats són evidents

R E T R AT S D E V I / FRAN C E SC FE RRÉ

Francesc Ferré

Retrats de vi

Anna Espelt URV OENOLOGISTS STAR IN A COLLECTION OF BOOKS ON CATALAN WINE

Toni Sànchez-Ortiz

Toni Sànchez-Ortiz, Francesc Ferré i Anna Espelt describe their professional and life experiencies in Retrats de Vi (Wine Portraits), three volumes published in Catalan, Spanish and English in book and digital formats

Retrats de Vi (Wine Portraits) is a collection of 3 books (soon to be expanded to 6) written by the journalist and sommelier Ruth Troyano with photographs by Maoz Eliakim. The books document the professional and life experiences of oenologists trained by the URV’s Faculty of Oenology and were formally presented by Publicacions URV and Arola Editors on Thursday 17 April. The books went on sale in March and are intimate accounts of the lives of Toni Sànchez-Ortiz, Francesc Ferré and Anna Espelt, three oenologist working in different wine producing regions of Catalonia.

Sànchez-Ortiz is working on projects in the Priorat DOQ, the Tarragona DO and Montsant, Ferré is working in Terra Alta DO and Espelt is working Empordà DO. The books are published in Catalan, Spanish and English and a digital version is also available on the Publicacions URV website. In addition, a total 3000 bottles of wine (1000 from each winery) will feature a QR code that will enable consumers to access the book through a mobile device and learn about the person responsible for the wine that they are tasting.

The books offer in-depth insights based on interviews and visits to vineyards and wineries. The three volumes are the result of many hours shared with each oenologist primarily in an attempt to understand their connection with the earth and their style of making wine, but also to explore how they have matured since they left the URV and how winemaking has made the people they are today.

The texts and the images portray a specific point in their professional careers, but there are also personal reflections on the world of wine and future professional challenges and goals. The project began in January 2015 during the pruning of the vines and concluded with the vines about to come into flower during the same year. The collection therefore follows the annual cycle of the vines and the seasonal changes in the landscape.

Josep Anton Ferré Vidal Rector of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili This new series by the URV’s Publications Unit, Retrats de Vi (Wine Portraits), focuses on several oenologists, all trained at the URV, who use their professional and personal experience to explain what their work consists of, their objectives and the challenges they face. But, above all, they show us their love of a profession that has deep roots in our land.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Faculty of Oenology, this series is also a tribute to the lecturers and the administrative and service staff who have worked there. During this period, the various courses on offer have trained more than a thousand professionals, more than half of whom graduated in Oenology. Particular mention should be made of the staff, who have always responded to the changes introduced and adapted the courses and the research to the new social and economic challenges. The latest example of this is the introduction in the 2015-2016 academic year of the new Erasmus-Mundus Master’s Degree in Wine and Tourism, the first one to be coordinated by our university.

The university in the 21st century has three main missions: the first, to teach top-quality courses that provide people with knowledge, abilities and skills; the second, to carry out cutting-edge research that generates knowledge and is transferred through the first mission – training – and the third, to boost economic, social and regional development and lead the way to the knowledge society.

The URV consciously combines its clear role in the region as the main expression of its commitment to society with the international scope of its research. This connection between top-quality education, cutting-edge research, and the social and economic reality of the southernmost regions of Catalonia has become the driving force behind the development of the University. In particular, oenology has been one of the roots that has linked the URV to the region. The protagonists of Retrats de Vi will certainly provide this joint vision.

From the Priorat to the Empordà The personal impressions of the oenologists’ are constantly reflected throughout each publication in the form of many quotes. In the case of Toni Sànchez Ortiz (El Solà d’Ares), Retrats de Vi reveals the figure of a “flying winemaker”, olive grower and university professor, who was born in the Pyrenees and has a deep connection with the Montsant and Priorat wine regions. He was the first URV oenology student to spend an Erasmus year abroad. Francesc Ferré (Celler Frisach) enthusiastically upholds the range and versatility of the Terra Alta Designation of Origin and the region’s local dialect, and demonstrates that “being a local” is viewed with pride by the youngsters in the area and enriches villages like his own of Corbera d’Ebre. Anna Espelt, is a leading business woman and oenologist working with the Empordà Designation of Origin. She is an ambassador for Tramontana wines and the book praises her role in the revival of the lledoner roig grape variety and her enthusiasm for the plan to create new vineyards in the Cap de Creus Natural Park.

The voices of the three oenologists are clear and sincere. Of their time at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, all of them agree on the important role played by the Mas dels Frares experimental winery, where students gain practical experience under the guidance of a teacher who is active in the sector and have the opportunity to contrast the theory learnt in the classroom with the realities of wine production and marketing. Toni Sànchez, Anna Espelt and Francesc Ferré are united by their youth and a passion to make wine in Catalonia’s various wine regions, wines that are nuanced by geography, climate, grape varieties and human hands.

TONI SÀNCHEZ-ORTIZ: “You express the best of yourself through wine”

FRANCESC FERRÉ: “I have learned that there is no need for secrets, that information and knowledge should be shared: you can follow the advice of others but your grapes belong to you and to no one else”

ANNA ESPELT: “When I create a wine, I want it to have hidden qualities, to be a gift in a bottle. But if someone cannot appreciate these hidden qualities but enjoys the wine just the same, that’s great”

Places of inspiration The three books have the same structure and are intended to form a complete cycle. It is the first collection to be published by Publicacions URV and is a journey through the wealth diversity and quality of Catalan wine. At the beginning of each volume there is a short piece of poetry or prose reflecting the winemaker’s way of thinking and doing. After this there is a summary written in a literary style that reveals the oenologist’s way of approaching and understanding wine. The main body of Retrats de Vi are its chapters, which centre on the oenologist’s first contact with wine, the URV, life and the cultural framework.

Wine Portraits includes a section on one of the oenologist’s most important tools: his hands. The section also features poetry and musical references in praise of wine. The end of each book offers a brief guide to restaurants and wine bars recommended by the oenologists. These are often places that have inspired them and where wine is a central element.

Wine Portraits also has a section where oenologists, sommeliers and others can evaluate and contextualise their professional careers. There are contributions from the sommeliers Josep Pitu Roca (Celler de Can Roca) Ferran Centelles (Bulli) and Cèsar Cànovas (Monvínic) and from graphic designers, actors, artists, professionals from various ambits, fellow students and friends.

JOSEP PITU ROCA, sommelier: “Anna (Espelt) is a genuine Empordà woman. She lives outside the comfort zone and she has been able to revitalize a region, is brave enough to take on an adventure and can make dreams come true”.

FERMÍ FERNÁNDEZ, actor: “Meeting an oenologist (a real one) is something else. They are a storehouse of smells, tastes and textures. They can dissect a wine in a matter of seconds, while all the rest of us mortals – however much we love wine – are left gaping and wondering how they have managed to find so much poetry where we can only see a liquid of some indefinite colour. And the only things we can say about it is whether we like it or not” (About Toni Sànchez- Ortiz) JAUME CLUA, oenologist: “I think Francesc (Ferré) has worked hard on the vinification, the history and the phonetics of wines. The results are obvious”

Each book costs €8.00 in paper format and €3.99 in electronic format. The books can be found in both standard and specialised bookshops, wine museums and other cultural entities related to the sector. The collection will soon be completed with the portraits of three more oenologists who studied at the URV Faculty of Oenology and who lead wine projects in the Penedès DO, the Conca de Barberà DO and the Pla de Bages DO, among others.

They can be bought online at www.publicacions.urv.cat. The activities relating to this collection can be followed at www.retratsdevi.cat and on the social networks Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #retratsdevi.

[You can download the covers and the press kit on the following link: http://publicacions.urv.cat/noticies-sp-742790655/34-noticies/581-enolegs-de-la-urv ]

TONI SÀNCHEZ ORTIZ – EL SOLÀ D’ARES

“You express the best of yourself through wine” Poem_ “(...) More gently than I could ever have thought. You will never return, but in things and in myself you will have left the mark of the life I live, not alone but with the world and you for company (...) -. Miquel Martí i Pol

Written Portrait_ “Toni Sànchez-Ortiz’s roots to the land can be traced back to his birthplace, the small town of Organyà in L’Alt Urgell where the first literary text in Catalan was written more than eight centuries ago. Its close and peaceful rural environment is still important to him and it has been a feature of his professional life ever since he finished his degree in oenology at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona. He was the first oenologist from the URV to complete his training with an Erasmus grant at the Université Victor Segalen in Bordeaux and in just a few years he has developed a wideranging vision of the world of wine without the advantage of being the heir to a company in the sector.

He picked up the idea of ‘no risk, no fun’ from the Americans and it was in this spirit that he created the first beer made from Catalan Grenache, revitalised a one-hectare vineyard that has been growing Carignan grapes for over a hundred years in El Molar, made wine from Sauvignon Blanc just a few kilometres from the sea, and produced a varietal wine from Merlot in Santes Creus and from Syrah in Salamanca.”

What people think_ “He is himself, a solitary tree that extends its branches so that they reach everywhere and everyone, generous, and a good friend. He is in love with life, and he shows this love in the things that he does, in how he talks about them and in his enthusiasm. He is like a small boy who still preserves some of his innocence and this makes him special, like his wines” Natàlia Sanahuges, artist He recommend us_ Enobarberia. Clip your beard and have a glass of wine. An innovative establishment in the Born. www.facebook.com/AndresEnobarberia

FRANCESC FERRÉ – CELLER FRISACH “I have learned that there is no need for secrets, that information and knowledge should be shared: you can follow the advice of others but your grapes belong to you and to no one else” Poem_ “Let us not become insensitive but fight to conserve our history, so that in the future we can be proud of the people of Corbera who one day shook hands and tried to save what their grandfathers’ grandfathers left them” -. Joaquim Clua Julià Written Portrait_ “We should walk through Corbera Old Town in our bare feet. It’s a shrine!” The streets are deserted and the houses lie in ruins in the bright end-of-February sun. The blue sky is webbed with clouds, scattered by the cold, north-westerly wind. We are witnesses to one of the most Dantesque scenes of the Spanish Civil War in the Terra Alta region, which has been living in isolation for a long time now. “We are the fifth province,” sighs Francesc Ferré, the young oenologist at Celler Frisach. Art, in the form of the Alphabet of Freedom, also makes its presence felt in the Old Town. It begins with a huge iron A at the entrance to the village, although the letter Ç (from the Catalan word falç [sickle]) has most significance for him. “Letters make up words, and words give rise to fraternity.” These letters were created by 25 artists committed to constructing a unique and universal monument to peace.

“Villages are short of people, not resources.” Categorical in what he says, Francesc feels that he has a duty to the region where he was born and he always extols his family’s country tradition and the bloody episodes that the people of Corbera had to live through in the 20th century. “All the families in the Old Town used to make their own wine, just as they used to make bread. Among the ruins there are tiled presses and various traditional utensils. Nowadays, the average man needs to consume 3,500 kilocalories but years ago he needed 7,000. He would eat a hunk of bread, a few figs, a couple of almonds and hazelnuts, and a large glass of wine so that he would have enough strength to work the land,” he says. “It wasn’t until two years after the Battle of the Ebro that anyone could go back to making wine. The vines in Corbera had been completely destroyed. The villagers survived by collecting the shrapnel.”

What people think_ “If you ask me what has most surprised me of all that I have tasted, I would have to say the young white vernatxa. Now it’s a well-shaped wine, very varietal, but back then, three or four harvests ago, I was taken by surprise when I tasted it out of the vat. It was out of this world, more tropical than now, but I remember saying that it was pretty good considering it was just starting out. I think Francesc has worked hard on the vinification, the history and the phonetics of wines. The results are obvious” Jaume Clua, oenologist

He recommend us_ Mas d’en Curto (El Perelló). “Their philosophy is like ours. I think it was the first casa rural, a sort of guest

house in the middle of the country, in the Terres de l’Ebre. They have a restaurant, too, and to get there you have to drive for three and a half kilometres along a track through the forest (...) Time comes to a standstill at the Mas d’en Curto among the pines and surrounded by hens, ducks and fruit trees. All the dishes are quite elaborate and Rosa, the owner, always makes sure that they are typical of the Terres de l’Ebre. It’s fantastic to see the carbassera and then how they serve it up in batter. You can arrive at two o’clock in the afternoon and still be there at seven o’clock in the evening. You really get away from it all.

There are views of the Serra de Cardó.”

ANNA ESPELT “When I create a wine, I want it to have hidden qualities, to be a gift in a bottle. But i someone cannot appreciate these hidden qualities but enjoys the wine just the same, that’s great” Poem_ “Marked by the land where I was born, I want to be as clear and open as it is.

I pretend to have no other virtue.

All that I have is enough. Past and present …” -. Montserrat Vayreda Trullol

Written Portrait_ “Paddling in the sea in L’Empordà with her mother. Eating sea urchins with a glass of Terres Negres, a wine that is part of the Espelt Winery’s terroir trilogy. It is made from the fruit of vines planted between 1934 and 1954, some 22 years before Anna was born on the feast of Saint Ferriol in 1976, a Saturday in the middle of the grape harvest. “My father – Damià – should have gone grape picking but he didn’t show up. My grandfather – Lluís – wasn’t at all happy until he realised why,” she revealed.

The initial impression is that she has got everything she could possibly have wished for. She is a biologist and an oenologist who speaks restlessly and expressively. She is easy to talk to but she has depth and a fine irony. A reflective 38-year-old woman who has found peace in the chaos of life, she never stops looking to the future and the past. She has just finished piecing together her family tree and she is as interested in discovering snippets from her past as she is in tackling future projects. Vines require patience and she is aware that she has to go at their pace and not hers. “I tend to have lots of things on the go at once and just at the moment I’ve got two things on my mind although I realise I’ve got to finish off other things first.”

What people think_ “...She was a grateful and nostalgic granddaughter, she felt a sense of loss for the person who may well have aroused her interest in wine. She may be making wine now thanks to him. Whatever the case may be, between Vilajuïga and Cala Montjoi, she has shown talent, ability, sensitivity and capacity to write the best chapter in the history of Empordà wine.” Josep Pitu Roca, sommelier She recommend us_ El Motel (Figueres): “It’s where I learned to eat and they do the best sorbet of thyme flowers and mint that I’ve ever tasted.” She hasn’t a bad word to say about the place which is a delight for all lovers of good cuisine. She also unconditionally recommends El Mirador de l’Almadraba in Roses.

“It’s the best terrace I know by a long chalk. I learned a lot about eating there and when we have to decide what to harvest, that is where we do it. After we take a look at the vines, instead of locking ourselves up in the winery, in the laboratory, we go for a bite to eat at the Almadrava and take our decision.”

3

Natàlia Sanahuges [artist]:

He is like a small boy who still preserves some of his innocence and this makes him special, like his wines

cob_toni_angl_SP.indd 1

A N N A E S P E LT Josep Pitu Roca [sommelier]:

Whatever the case may be, between Vilajuïga and Cala Montjoi, she has shown talent, ability, sensitivityWine and capacity Portraits to write the best chapter in the history of Empordà wine

Toni Sànchez-Ortiz

cob_anna_angl_SP.indd 1

30/3/16 10:37

2

DO Terra Alta FRANCESC FERRÉ Jaume Clua [oenologist]:

He has never stopped, because his family has shown him the value of hard work. If you ask me what has most surprised me of all that I have tasted, I would have to say the young Wine white vernatxa. (…) Portraits I think Francesc has worked hard on the vinification, the history and the phonetics of wines. The results are obvious.

Anna Espelt

cob_francesc_angl_SP.indd 1

#wineportraits April 2016

WINE PORTRAITS / FRANCESC FERRÉ

TONI SÀNCHEZ-ORTIZ

DO Empordà

WINE PORTRAITS / ANNA ESPELT

DO Tarragona / DOQ Priorat / Table wine

WINE PORTRAITS / TONI SÀNCHEZ-ORTIZ

1

30/3/16 10:38