rose

Producers of sparkling wine from Catalonia's Penedès region have chosen the brand name 'Clàssic Penedès' to identify their product. This variety is not Cava but rather a sparkling wine produced under stricter regulations to ensure the product is of a higher quality. Wine under the Clàssic Penedès name can only use grapes which are 100% organic and which come from the Penedès wine appellation. Josep Maria Albert, the President of the Penedès appellation, announced that this year the grapes in this region are maturing particularly early and, as of this week, some vineyards are already manufacturing the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties of wine. The winemaker stated that this season, due to weather conditions, "there will be between a 10% to 15% drop in the quantity of wine from last year, but, despite this decrease in production, the wine will be better quality".

Perhaps the most famous holiday in Catalonia, Sant Jordi combines culture with romance as books and roses are exchanged. As we all know by now, the legend of Saint George is a celebration of love epitomized by the brave knight who saved a princess from a terrible dragon thus harvesting a beautiful rose from its blood. So how did that become a day for buying and promoting books? Back in 1928, some Catalan booksellers decided to promote the holiday by setting some bookstalls all over the city to celebrate the anniversary of the death of two of the biggest names in literature, Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Catalan Book Day was born and it would be declared World Book Day by UNESCO in 1995. The day after the Easter break combined with great weather resulted in a 3% increase in book sales. Swedish author Jonas Jonasson, Spanish authors Almudena Grandes and Pilar Urbano and Catalan writer and athlete Kilian Jornet were the bestsellers for 2014.

On the 23^rd of April, Catalans celebrate one of their dearest festivities of the year: Sant Jordi (Saint George). The day is Catalonia's equivalent to Valentine's Day in the Anglo-Saxon world but it also represents a homage to literature and reading. Traditionally men offered red roses to their girlfriends or wives, and women offered a book in return. Nowadays, both men and women offer books and roses to those they love, whether their life partners, relatives, friends or even work colleagues. On almost every corner and on the main streets throughout Catalonia there are stands selling either roses or books. It is the day celebrating love but also the most important day for the publishing industry, selling around 8% of their yearly sales and advertising the latest gimmicks. In a country with 7.5 million people, some 7 million roses are sold and around 1.5 million books on this single day.

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.

A selection of wines and cellars from Catalonia have travelled to New York to find new distributors. The event is being held on Tuesday June 5th at The Carriage House, from the Gabarrón Foundation. After New York, the Catalan red, white and cava wines will be displayed in Seattle (October 2012), Dallas (February 2013), and Los Angeles (June 2013).

There is a special feel to the streets of Catalonia on 23rd April as for one day locals set aside their daily concerns to celebrate a unique tradition: Sant Jordi’s Day. Every 23rd April is awash with the colour of roses and the gleaming jackets of books hot off the presses. Tradition dictates that today is the day men give their loved ones a rose and in return women buy men a book. The results are spectacular as around 7 million roses and 1.7 million books are sold in the space of a single day.

Alella offers a unique opportunity to enjoy a wine culture in vineyards just 15 kilometres from Barcelona. One of the smallest and oldest Spanish wine appellations (DO), it is perfectly situated on the Mediterranean coast, protected by the Litoral mountain range. The cellars organise numerous activities for wine tourists of all ages where you can learn how to taste wine, take part in the harvest, find a connection between chocolate and wine or just stroll through the vineyards.

Catalans traditionally exchange roses and books with their loved ones on 23rd of April. Streets and squares around the country fill with crowds in celebration of the National Day or ‘Diada’.