Coinciding with the fourth edition of the Barcelona Wine Week (BWW), tribute will be paid to three very prominent figures in Penedès wine who died last year. High-end Catalan wine lost on Saturday, April 8, at the age of 72, Carlos Esteva, the founder of the Can Ràfols dels Caus winery in 1979. The vice president and co-owner of Gramona, Xavier Gramona, died on August 4 at the age of 64 after suffering an accident. And cancer took the president of Recaredo, Antoni Mata, on November 16, at the age of 81.
On February 4, Carlos Esteva will be remembered by reissuing his memorable showroom ’12 authors’. At this meeting with about 250 guests, you will be able to taste the wines of the producers Telmo Rodríguez, Thibaut-Liger Belair, Dirk Niepoort, Juan Carlos and Carlos López de Lacalle, Álvaro Palacios, Enric Soler, Roc and Leo Gramona, Ramon Parera, Juan François Clouet, Juan Manuel Hidalgo, Pedro Ruiz and Fabio Algueira.
The ’12 authors’ will be held again in this Avinyonet del Penedès winery, from where it is stated that Carlos Esteva’s ambition with these events “was always to share the vision and wines of great producers, and to share this diversity with all the people who attended.” And on February 6, at Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuïc venue, Júlia Esteva and Jordi Esteve from Can Ràfols dels Caus will also pay tribute to Carlos Esteva.
On the other hand, the Catalan Association of Sommeliers will pay tribute on February 5 to the producers Xavier Gramona and Antoni Mata. It will also be within the framework of the BWW and will consist of a special tasting with sparkling wines. The posthumous tribute will be directed by Toni Albiol, the best sommelier in Catalonia in 2023, and will feature two of the sons of the deceased winemakers: the general director of Recaredo, Ton Mata, and the commercial director of Gramona, Leo Gramona.
