wine

More than 300 innovations from the agri-food industry are presented between the 31^st of March and the 3^rd of April in Alimentaria, one of the main trade fairs for this sector in Europe. The 20^th edition of this event, which takes place in the Catalan capital every two years, focuses on innovation and internationalisation. In fact, 40,000 visitors, 30% of the total 140,000 visitors, are foreigners. In addition, as explained by the Director General of Alimentaria, Antoni Valls, this year the organisers have managed to assemble 600 of the world's main international buyers, which is double the number at the previous fair in 2012. These top buyers have already arrived for 8,000 pre-scheduled business meetings with the 3,800 exhibiting companies at the fair, which occupies 94,500 square metres of Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue.

International sales of Catalonia's sparkling wine Cava have amounted to 241.3 million bottles in 2013, 0.77% less than the previous year. The President of the Cava Regulatory Council, Pere Bonet presented such figures in a press conference on Tuesday. Bonet linked this decrease with the current economic context and recalled that other regions producing sparkling wine had registered sharper declines, for instance Champagne with a 2% drop. The Spanish market, accounting for one third of Cava sales, has performed better than in previous years and only fell by 0.47%. On the other hand, sales in the foreign market, which had increased every year since 1980, registered a 0.92% decrease in 2013.

The President of the Regulatory Council of Priorat wine appellation, located in south-western Catalonia, is anticipating an excellent grape harvest this summer as there have been no major setbacks that have affected the evolution of the vineyards. The hot and dry weather during August has led to a process of maturation that is very favourable in terms of colour and there is a good balance between alcohol and acidity. The President of the Regulatory Council of the word-famous wine region, Toni Alcover, expects there to be a high quality harvest with a quantity in excess of 5.5 million kilograms of grapes.

The Empordà wine Appellation located in north-eastern Catalonia has seen a significant increase in its export levels in 2012. With more than 40 small cellars and cooperatives, Empordà has a large assortment of red, white and rosé wines. Garnatxa of Empordà, a sweet dessert wine is also a typical drink from this area of Catalonia located in the Costa Brava. The main destinations of Empordà exports were the United States, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Canada. These exports increased by 13% over last year with more than 750,000 bottles sold abroad from the total 5 million bottles produced.

The ‘Pau Casals VIP lounge’ at Barcelona's Airport Terminal 1 offers the opportunity to taste between three or six Priorat (Tarragona) DO wines. Every Thursday afternoon in May, June and July, VIP travellers who leave or stop over in Barcelona are able to do this tasting for free. In 30 minute sessions, they can taste three different kinds of wine from the wineries ‘Clos Mogador’, ‘Capafons-Ossó’, ‘Mas d’en Gil’, ‘Scala Dei’, ‘Mas Doix’ and ‘Trossos del Priorat’.

The agreement was previously discussed with the Spanish Executive and it respects the Catalan Government’s external action power as described in Catalonia’s main law. The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, signed the agreement with UNESCO’s General Director, Irina Bokova. The new framework allows Catalonia to have its “singularity” represented in the international organisation, although not permanently. Catalan representatives will be present in specific meetings and projects, separate from the Spanish delegation. “It is more than what we already have”, stated Mas. The Catalan President was one of the speakers at the Opening Plenary Session of UNESCO’s Global Conference, which is being held in Paris from the 3rd to the 5th of June.

The exports of this sparkling wine very similar to Champagne reached 161 million bottles sold, representing an historical record. 41 million bottles went to non-European markets, such as China and Brazil. In Japan, the consumption of cava increased by 32%; in China, by 21%; and in the UK, by 12%. However, there is a continued loss in the Spanish market, with a drop in sales of 6.28% because of the crisis and the boycott of Catalan products. The 2012 bad domestic results followed a 8.7% drop in Spain in 2011. According to the Chairman of the Cava Regulatory Board, the global 2012 figures represent an excellent result considering the economic crisis and constitute results, he added, that unfortunately “many sectors would like to have.”

More than 8,000 bottles from the cellar of elBulli, Ferran Adrià’s renowned restaurant,, in Roses, will be sold in April in two auctions in Hong Kong and New York. The sale, organized by Sotheby’s, has an estimated price of between 1,1 and 1,6 million euros, and comes after Adrià decided to close the restaurant last year to focus on his foundation. The three-Michelin-star elBulli was considered to be the best restaurant in the world for five years in a row and was one of the most iconic places in the Catalan Costa Brava for almost three decades.

Located in the centre of Catalonia, the area of Penedès is known for its high quality wine and cava. Due to the long tradition in this region of the production of these drinks and the growing presence of wine tourism, it was decided to strengthen the offers of this sector. On this occasion, after two and a half years of building work, the old Vinseum - Wine Culture Museum of Catalonia - has been reopened with new exhibits in a new location: the Royal Palace of Vilafranca del Penedès. However, this is not just a museum of the production of wine; it is based on wine as a cultural, social, historical and scientific phenomenon.

150 million bottles of Catalan Cava were exported last year. It is a historic record for Cava producers with Germany and the United Kingdom being the main importers. The Catalan sparkling wine has the perception of being inexpensive in these countries, which has worked to the Cava producers’ advantage at a time of economic crisis as demand for alternatives increases. Wine connoisseurs put high quality Cava on the same level as Champagne, yet many consumers still associate the Catalan drink with a cheap product. High quality Cava is starting to be discovered and has strong potential to grow in these markets.

The creators of Garnatxa Beer, a unique beer made using of Grenache grapes in the Priorat wine region, are seeking to expand their range of products. They are experimenting with other grape varieties to develop new flavours of beer. The Priorat Beer Company’s aims to link its products with artistic and musical activities and maintain connected with their clients who want an “artisan beer”.

The Penedès wine appellation is expecting “excellent” wines from this year’s harvest. Catalonia’s most important viticultural area has already started harvesting its chardonnay grapes and is expecting to harvest the other varieties in the next few days. The weather this year has been favourable for the appellation, with a “very healthy” crop that despite a reduction in volume, will be sufficient to fulfil the 22 million bottles normally produced by the wineries.

Alella wineries, in Greater Barcelona, have started this summer’s harvest, with predictions that this year’s vintage may be better than 2005 thanks to the absence of plant disease and favourable weather conditions throughout the year. For now, the only concern for winemakers is this August’s amount of heat, which could cause a drop in acidity.

Catalonia’s most known wine and cava appellation is Penedès and now it is possible to ride through its vineyards. This is a new activity to experience wine tourism called ‘burricleta’. The ‘burricleta’ is a rental service of electric bicycles with GPS to explore the vineyards in a sustainable way. Moreover, it allows visitors to discover the landscape of Penedès without too much physical effort. The ‘burricleta’ can be rented to do one of the determined routes or even a customised journey. The entrepreneurs who have brought the ‘burricleta’ to the area are working hard on a joint offer with restaurants and wineries to give visitors more information about the Penedès area, apart from the territory itself.

34% of the bottles have been sold in the Girona region, but Barcelona is still “the pending market”. Sales have been 5% higher in comparison to 2010 and 18% higher compared to the last four years. The president of the wine designation, Josep Blanch, said that this “achievement” proves that Empordà DO has consolidated because since its beginnings, it has been growing year by year in a “consistent” way.