a Catalonian town known as the capital of cava had established Freixenet 11 years earlier He was just 10 years old when the Spanish Civil War erupted and his father and older brother were sadly killed during the conflict Carmen and Dolores Ferrer – managed to relaunch the company after the war ended and he quickly became integral to its operations Ferrer took over as general manager of Freixenet He oversaw a golden period for the company as sales soared in the Spanish market and across the globe Ferrer eventually turned Freixenet into the world’s bestselling cava brand He expanded capacity at the Sant Sadurní winery modernised the production facilities and spearheaded the launch of the iconic Cordón Negro label His trailblazing approach to advertising underpinned the brand’s success as Freixenet brought in all manner of renowned celebrities to feature in its ‘Freixenet Bubbles’ ads Freixenet also opened wineries in France, California, Mexico, Argentina and Australia during Ferrer’s tenure, along with commercial subsidiaries around the world. He retired from the day-to-day running of the company in 1999, but he was named honorary co-chairman. Ferrer also formed Freixenet’s ‘Board of Wisdom’ along with his sisters. He served as a trusted advisor to his nephew, José Luis Bonet, who took over as CEO, and he was also a celebrated ambassador for the firm and the wider cava industry. In 2018, German drinks giant Henkell & Co. purchased a 50.67% stake in Freixenet for €220m, and Ferrer played an important role in their alliance. The company was renamed Henkell Freixenet, and it became the world’s largest sparkling wine producer. Ferrer was also a great patron of the arts and sports, sponsoring various theatres and museums, an orchestra, a music school and the CE Noia Freixenet hockey club. Freixenet said it ‘deeply regrets his loss and, out of affection and admiration, conveys its deepest condolences to the family. All of us who have had the good fortune to work with him mourn his absence today, but we are very proud of the legacy he has left us.’ as it’s called in Catalan — is laying off 80% of its workforce There’s plenty of demand for Spanish-German Freixenet’s bottled beverage just not enough water to get the grapes to grow They have shriveled on the vine as the lack of rain and restrictions on water use combine The World’s Gerry Hadden reports from Sant Sadurní d’Ainoa To produce cava — a unique sparkling wine similar to France’s champagne — Sant Sadurní d’Ainoa vineyard worker Antonio Dominguez said that irrigating is forbidden We’d be making just another sparkling wine.” Denomination of Origin is one of Spain’s regulatory systems It guarantees that a wine is produced entirely in a designated region and follows local regulations Dominguez said it has rained some in recent weeks but not nearly enough to water the cava grapevines “The oldest grape vines here are 30 or 40 years old “The bit of rain that’s fallen isn’t reaching and replenishing the subsoil Catalonia’s cava vineyards cover about a hundred thousand acres and one out of three grapevines in the northeast region have perished since a drought started in 2020 It’s been especially devastating for cava vintners because they’re not allowed to water their grapes Dominguez has been working in the cava vineyards for 40 years He said he’s never seen a crisis like this Nor such desperate measures to salvage the vines Of the two branches that each grapevine has they have to amputate one so that the other can survive and produce grapes Dominguez works for cava-producer Freixenet Freixenet exports its sparkling beverage worldwide But with production off by around 40% this year the firm has furloughed some 600 employees The knock-on effects of the crisis are rippling across the cava villages of this region owner Guillem Tena said fewer grapes have created a cava shortage People in nearby villages are distraught because cava there’s an interactive museum dedicated to the drink One fun fact you learn at the museum is that when cava was invented in the late 19th century that was the recommended daily allowance for wine — about six glasses per person yellow sap-sucking insect called the phylloxera The pest inadvertently arrived in Europe in the 1850s by boat in a shipment of plants from the US the phylloxera wiped out 90% of our vineyards,” Altisén said And the fact that we can still make a living off of cava.” townsfolk dress up as the yellow invader and swarm American grapevines were mostly resistant to phylloxera Europe saved its remaining grapevines by grafting them onto imported Yankee rootstocks Dominguez says he and hundreds of furloughed Freixenet employees have had their hours slashed and are living off partial salaries and government support But that’s only until the end of the year when the furlough deal expires it’ll be at least a couple of harvests before the ground is saturated enough for the vineyards to bounce back delivered to your inbox every weekday morning Thanks to our sponsor PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402 .css-es4rml{top:0px;}Sections My reluctance to commit was slowly hardening into regret when someone finally intervened. A former teacher knew someone who knew someone who owned a vineyard in Spain. I spoke Spanish and was clearly miserable. Did I want to go and work the harvest? I said yes and bought a plane ticket with only a hazy idea of what I had signed up for. I soon found myself under the late August sun in rural Catalonia, dirty beyond the help of a shower, wielding dull shears to wrestle bunches of grapes from thick, endless vines. By the time an at-large terrorist was found hiding in Sant Sadurní, it felt like I had been there for months. A fact check reveals the actual time elapsed: one week. I read about the attack in the New York Times. On August 17, at least 13 people were killed and 80 gravely injured when a white van drove through Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s busy tourist thoroughfare. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility. It was the deadliest act of terrorism in Spain since the Madrid train bombings in 2004. It wasn’t fear that rippled through Sant Sadurní; instead, it was sadness. We were only an hour outside Barcelona, but this slice of the Catalonian countryside wasn’t like Westchester, where everyone knew someone who lived in the city that they needed to call. This was a rural agricultural town in an archipelago of similar ones. I explained this fact to the number of concerned people back home who saw the news and emailed me. Yes, I was in Catalonia, but I heard about it the same way you did. Yes, I am sure the country is in mourning, but the town, not quite. Or maybe I don’t know enough people yet to be able to tell. Regardless, my new daily rhythm carried on. Four days later, my supervisor texted me: Go home and stay inside. I was headed back already; I had walked down into the town square to buy some eggs and jamón for dinner, but I found police vans and yellow ropes blocking the streets. Officers were unloading on the corner as I approached my first-floor flat. I turned on the local news. It was in Catalán, a language I did not speak but was starting to understand. Van driver found in Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, Subirats district, the banner said. Police in pursuit. Suspect thought to be carrying explosives. The man had been identified on the street by a local resident of Sant Sadurní, the reporter said. He looked suspicious, the witness told police, because he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt on a hot day. After the police shot and killed the man, there was talk that he had been living in our town the whole time. I remembered that the lock to my apartment sometimes stuck and put a kitchen chair in front of my door. With the perimeter secured, I sat cross-legged on the floor and waited, slowly learning the facts through the local news. No one from home was emailing me this time. Later coverage would mention that he was found in the Catalonian countryside, but failed to mention that he might have been down the street from my flat. I could hear the police swarming the whole town outside. I heard a few gunshots, though they might have been in my head. Given the circumstances, I’d like to think I was relatively calm. When I was little, my dad always reassured me that our best insurance against death by terrorism was the statistical unlikelihood that we would ever find ourselves anywhere remotely near a terrorist attack. The odds were indescribably infinitesimal, he would say, even living in New York City, in a post-9/11 world, where we’ve resigned ourselves to the easy mortality of crowded streets. That was his argument — something like a twisted but legitimate safety in numbers — and he stuck by it. But of all the tiny towns in all the world, here I was, and so was the Barcelona van driver, both of us all alone. What was the statistical unlikelihood of that? They picked up the phone wearing eclipse glasses, which were all the rage in 2017 leading up to the so-called “the Great American Eclipse.” The premise of the cheap square plastic lenses was that you could look directly at the momentous event without being blinded. My parents had donned them because the eclipse was about to happen. It was very windy on their end. I explained that the van driver from the Barcelona terrorist attack was on the run in my 7.3 square mile town. They couldn’t hear me. They in turn explained that they were waiting for the eclipse, which I had deduced. I explained again. I could tell they heard me this time because my mom took her eclipse glasses off. They told me not to panic and I said that I was not panicking and that I would keep them updated but that they should go watch the eclipse. I don’t remember how our conversation resolved itself. The eclipse happened; the shelter-in-place lifted. One of the other pickers WhatsApped me asking if I wanted to come over to play cards. The mayor of Sant Sadurní issued a statement thanking the Catalán police force for their swift response and noted that her town had always been “a safe and peaceful place.” It had been seven days in Spain. Another week passed; I started sleeping. The harvest season continued and I turned 18. I stayed in Sant Sadurní another month before coming home, once again without a plan. Optimizing the gap year no longer felt totally within my control. On Aug. 22, I wrote (verbosely) in my journal: “It’s been a strange few days, what with there being a terrorist on the loose and all and my missing of [unintelligible] coming in at an all time high. I am quite tired. Perhaps tomorrow I will write more, but I suppose we’ll see. The days are, thankfully, starting to blur together.” — Staff writer Amelia F. Roth-Dishy can be reached at amelia.roth-dishy@thecrimson.com. © José HeviaThe existing unevenness in the site allows to create an independent entrance to the archive through the semi-ground floor. The library occupies the two upper floors and integrates a series of spaces (a multi-purpose room, the courtyard, study-support rooms, etc.) that, by means of a system of doors, can be used autonomously outside library opening hours. © José HeviaThe refurbishment bets on  traditional construction systems (ventilated Catalan roof extending the life cycle of the existing solutions and materials taking advantage of their features and completing them to respond to the new use and to safety features The new bodies are conceived with pre-industrialised systems with the same objective of minimising the energy and environmental impact of the intervention are designed with this necessary objective You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email The Industry's Leading Publication for Wineries and Growers The implementation of a series of sustainable measures at Vilarnau has been decisive in obtaining the Wineries for Climate Protection certificate especially the results achieved in mapping and reducing the winery’s carbon footprint In order to gain a certificate for Wineries for Climate Protection Vilarnau had to go through an external audit process carried out by Lloyd's Register one of the certification bodies authorized by the FEV the winery’s performance in sustainable development In keeping with Vilarnau’s philosophy environmentally friendly practices have been applied in the cellars since its foundation in order to ensure the least possible impact on nature which is in line with the 5 + 5 Caring for the Planet the sustainable commitment by González Byass; one of Spain’s leading Spanish producers with wineries and distilleries in Spain Each property within the González Byass Family of Wine is committed to caring for the environment via the responsible use of natural resources and promoting balanced growth at a local and global level Wineries for Climate Protection (WfCP)* is the first specific certification for environmental sustainability created for the wine sector It aims to become the international benchmark in winemaking and the environment seeking out solutions and best practices for wineries Wineries for Climate Protection (WfCP) is the first and only specific certification of environmental sustainability for the wine sector and aims to become the international benchmark in winemaking and the environment Developed by the Spanish Wine Federation (Federación Española del Vino - FEV) the WtCP certification system establishes the environmental criteria sustainable wineries must meet Wineries that meet said criteria may request certification from authorized bodies and if they receive a favorable evaluation based on the established criteria they will get the 'Wineries for Climate Protection' certificate accrediting them as an environmentally sustainable winery settled in this special place that is Penedés in the 12th century the Arnau family’s “country house The first cava labeled Vilarnau was created in1949 when the owners first sold a cava made from grapes that had been grown on the “Can Petit i Les Planes de Vilarnau” estate Since then Vilarnau has been associated with excellent cavas made to exacting quality standards with impeccable attention to detail In 1982 Vilarnau became part of the González Byass family of wineries The new winery was sited right at the center of the estate The winery’s modern design is by architect Luis González Straight lines are a dominant feature of the building which blends in to with the beautiful Mediterranean surroundings in a most stunning way Three main elements help the building integrate into this environment: water which runs around the outside of the building and is in fact collected rainwater the glass used for the windows and the oak used on the external walls The interior has been designed largely by the eminent artist Antonio Miró collection of wineries founded in 1835 which spans across Spain’s most important wine producing regions the González family have been dedicated to making fine Sherries and brandies in Jerez creating such well-known brands as Tío Pepe Fino Sherry and Lepanto Brandy de Jerez Today the fifth generation of the family are the custodians of these exceptional brands having built the company into a family of wineries which produces wine in some of Spain’s most famous regions; Bodegas Beronia (Rioja and Rueda) Finca Constancia (Vino de la Tierra de Castilla) Finca Moncloa (Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz) Viñas del Vero (Somontano) and Pazo de Lusco (Rías Baixas) the family strives to make the best possible quality wines respecting the local terroir and the environment the company has also expanded its interests further in the premium spirits business and has created pioneering brands such as The London No.1 González Byass is now one of Spain’s most well-recognized brand owners worldwide Their passion for quality wine production and respect for long-standing traditions -whilst at the same time innovating- have been the guiding principles that have led to the company’s global success Learn more at www.gonzalezbyass.com\r\n  Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker the town of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is an unlikely tourist destination lies a national artistic monument that attracts over thousands of visitors annually But most of them aren’t coming to gaze at this masterpiece of Catalan modernism or wander the 30-kilometer maze of subterranean tunnels that lie beneath Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is the birthplace of Cava and headquarters of Codorníu Spain’s oldest winery and the original inventor of the country’s flagship sparkling wine who blended traditional Penedès grape varieties Xarel·lo the invention of Cava was the first of many innovations in Codorníu’s flavorful legacy the 18th generation of the Raventós family continues to uphold Codorníu’s status as a global standard-bearer for sparkling wine all Cava undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle to achieve its bubbles naturally delivering an elaborate blend of flavors including citrus The inherent sophistication in Cava makes it ideal for those who prefer a more nuanced and multi-dimensional sparkling wine Codorníu wines don’t stop at delivering the status quo The indescribable subtleties within Codorníu Cavas are the direct result of the region’s continental and Mediterranean terroirs which yield grapes ideally suited for expressive wines highlights Cava’s potential: Made primarily from Chardonnay the wine is blended with Xarel·lo and Parellada from Mediterranean vineyards resulting in an age-worthy and well-balanced Cava with a dizzying array of aromatics The bottles themselves are designed in the same modernist fashion as Codorníu headquarters evoking a sense of artistry and elegance before the cork is even popped With over 470 years of collective experience among these vines Codorníu’s latest innovations are focused on ensuring future centuries will be equally prosperous The estate plans to convert their entire operation to organic practices by 2024 and is already Europe’s largest organic vineyard owner with 3,500 acres under organic cultivation The family also developed industry-leading lightweight glass which cuts 125 grams of weight from each bottle significantly reducing the estate’s carbon footprint From inventing an entire wine category to redefining the possibilities of carbon emissions reduction Codorníu continues to reset expectations for excellence in sparkling wine in Spain and around the world one celebratory bottle at a time LEARN MORE by RENATA BRITO and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press Emma Gaya thought the worst of the pandemic was behind her Spain’s government had ended a three-month lockdown after an COVID-19 onslaught that claimed at least 28,400 lives in the European Union nation Spaniards were encouraged to cautiously resume their lives under a “new normality” based on wearing face masks Outbreaks among farm workers and young people desperate to resume socializing after being cooped up have spread across northern Spain spawning what some health officials fear could be the start of a dreaded “second wave" of infections “It pains me to think that we could be right back where we were,” Gaya said after getting tested for coronavirus at her local health clinic in Sant Sadurni D’Anoia, a village near Barcelona. She came in because she had a fever, one of the typical symptoms of COVID-19 along with a dry cough and the loss of a sense of smell the day after Spain ended a national state of emergency and restored free movement around the country the health ministry registered 125 new cases in 24 hours In contrast to the darkest weeks of March and April, when the virus ripped through Spain's elderly in nursing homes and pushed the country's hospitals to the breaking point, the pressure is now on Spain’s neighborhood health clinics. They are trying to screen and isolate the new infections, which are taking place mostly among the young, who in Spain and countries across the world are ignoring social distancing, and the middle-aged. The average age of a virus patient in Spain has fallen from 63 in the spring to 45 now and “the pressure on the health system is low,” said Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa. Since the virus takes a heavier toll on the elderly, younger coronavirus patients means more who have milder symptoms. Spain's improved testing capacity makes a comparison to the start of the pandemic difficult. In February, March and April, a shortage of tests meant that only the very sick who were admitted to hospitals were tested and that a significant number of coronavirus cases went undetected. Now, local clinics are discovering many more infections among those who don’t show symptoms. “We are in a different situation (than the spring) because right now we have tests available,” said Dr. Miriam Ceña, director of the health clinics in Sant Sadurni D’Anoia, which is seeing a jump in cases like the area around Barcelona, Catalonia’s largest city. The surge in new infections is sure to add to the drastic contraction of Spain's economy by slamming hopes of reactivating the country's critical tourism sector. The economy has already dropped 18% in the second quarter — its biggest dip since Spain's 1936-39 Civil War. Britain has placed a 14-day quarantine on travelers returning from Spain, while France, Germany, and Belgium have all issued travel warnings or discouraged trips to northeast Spain. Authorities have for several weeks warned about the danger of new outbreaks, but experts predicted they would likely occur in the colder months. Instead, the surge has come in mid-summer, when Spaniards are eager to reconnect with family and friends, and hotels, restaurants and shops are counting on both domestic and foreign tourists to cushion the pandemic's blow to their balance sheets. Spain must now pull off the delicate balancing act of managing the health crisis while reactivating its economy. Officials desperately hope they can avoid another full lockdown that would be catastrophic to businesses and jobs despite the expected injection of massive aid from the European Union. Catalonia and many other regions have reintroduced restrictions, making masks obligatory at all times outside the home and reclosing nightclubs due to their links to outbreaks. Catalonia, however, is only now deploying 600 workers to its clinics to help nurses and doctors handle the demands of contact tracing, which has been insufficient so far. That lack of urgency has drawn strong criticism from health workers and mayors. Spain’s government is rolling out a phone app to help contract tracers find and stamp out new infections, while making a renewed appeal for individuals to act responsibly. “There are many citizens who feel anguish upon seeing the outbreaks that are happening in different parts of our country,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Friday. “Because we have all had to make an enormous effort to be disciplined, show resistance and muster the will to defeat the virus.” The Catalan Cava producer Freixenet is considering a massive layoff scheme, known as an Employment Regulation File (ERO), citing “challenges” related to climate change. This would affect 180 workers or around 25% of the company’s workforce. In a statement, Freixenet announces that it has had to take “urgent" measures “to ensure the company’s long-term sustainability, following the period of drought that has caused “severe disruptions” and an “unprecedented crisis” in the sparkling wine sector.   The ongoing water shortage has also driven up costs and reduced wine production.   CCOO labor unions completely opposed the layoff scheme as it is "unjustified and unacceptable." Workers urge the company's board management to start negotiating and to look for alternatives to face the impact of climate change in the Cava sparkling wine production. The union represents over 87% of the company's workforce and warns that they will set in motion a "unionized offensive" to protect all work places. The first action will be to join the May 1 demonstration in Barcelona. Staff say that they have been warning about the effects of the climate emergency in the Cava industry and call for the regulator body to start planning solutions to the climate issue. Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Venturing beyond the tourist centers of Barcelona is the key to some incredible eating and a more blissful trip but travelers are now making up for lost time narrow streets are transformed with decorations for the week-long Festa Major de Gràcia which are made mostly from recycled materials: Papier-mache dinosaurs loom two stories tall and plastic-bottle jellyfish wiggle overhead How to get there: 10 minutes from Plaça de Catalunya on the L3 line to the Fontana stop Take a trip to the countryside without leaving the city at Can Cortada for a traditional Catalan meal of pa amb tomàquet (pan con tomate) “Can” roughly translates to farmhouse in Catalan is indeed a farmhouse in the urban bustle of Horta a neighborhood on the fringes of Barcelona there’s a special menu dedicated to these seasonal spring onions which look like skinny leeks and are dragged through smoky romesco sauce it’s a 15-minute walk to Parc del Laberint d’Horta How to get there: 20 minutes from Plaça de Catalunya on the L3 line to the Valldaura metro whose calming interior calls to mind the cool island breezes of the Balearics Plaça de Sant Vicenç is a good place to rest your feet or wander the nearly hidden ivy-laden Passatge de Mallofré How to get there: 20 minutes on the L6 train from Plaça de Catalunya to the Sarrià or Reina Elisenda stop whose pretty stained glass windows beckon passersby in for a cozy tapas menu 150 bus from Plaça de Espanya or by funicular from metro Paral·lel; a cable car from Barceloneta takes under 10 minutes and offers great views but be prepared to wait to board in summer How to get there: About 30 minutes by train from Barcelona Sants station to El Masnou A short walk south (keeping the water on your left) will bring you to the bus stop and from there Connections to the wineries can be made by taxi or another 10-to-20-minute walk from the town center There are two direct buses (e19 or 644) that run from Plaça d’Urquinaona in Barcelona to the center of Alella the wineries are a 20-minute drive from Barcelona which features dishes like duck confit with apple chutney and port wine sauce It’s essential to book wine tours ahead of time; restaurant reservations are generally good to have How to get there: 1 hour by R4 Rodalies train from Plaça de Catalunya station to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (direction Vilafranca del Penedès) From the station it’s a short walk into the center How to get there: 45 minutes from Barcelona Sants station on the R2S Rodalies train to Garraf station Florida native Melissa Leighty is a freelance writer and photographer currently based in Barcelona, Spain, as well as the owner of Barcelona’s Salut Wine Studio. Gerard Moral is a Barcelona born and based photographer specializing in portrait, travel and lifestyle photography. The freshest news from the food world every day Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again. The Catalan government has rejected the temporary layoff scheme of sparkling wine maker Freixenet that would have affected 615 workers The company presented the furlough plan to authorities arguing that the force majeure of the drought situation has severely affected their business, but the Catalan administration has rejected the appeal.  The government informed the cava producer on Monday that it does not see the "unforeseeable and unavoidable" elements to justify force majeure. These types of temporary furloughs to stop or reduce production can only be approved by the department of labor. This is not the case for temporary layoff schemes justified by economic, technical, organizational, or production reasons. The Freixenet Group announced a week ago that it intended to start furlough in May, although the exact degree to which it would apply it would vary depending on the period of the year and the evolution of the drought. According to the cava makers, the proposition was an "exercise of responsibility" that had the aim of "guaranteeing the operation of the business and preserving employability." Henkell Freixenet released their 2023 financial results two weeks ago, showing turnover of €1.23 billion, an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous year. The wine company highlighted a growth of 6% in the sale of sparkling wines, a segment in which the company is an international leader, and an increase of 11% in spirits. Conversely, popularity in still wines have fallen by 8%. The trade union CCOO agrees with the decision of the Catalan government to reject the furlough scheme. The union has urged the management of the winemakers to sit "immediately" with workers' representatives "to negotiate the appropriate measures to deal with the situation, safeguarding employment and the future of the activity." CCOO wants the Department of Agriculture and Climate Action to urge the Cava Regulatory Council to take the necessary measures to make cava production more flexible. perhaps because most consumers expect a wine of middling quality given its modest price Over the years some top producers have attempted more serious and ageworthy bottlings but it was Turó d’en Mota in 1999 that broke through the barrier when released in October 2008 and some maintain it is the region’s finest Cava Recaredo was founded in 1924 by Josep Mata Capellades and specialises in single-vintage Its 65ha of vineyards are 40km from Barcelona in the Bitlles Valley Southerly breezes from the coast also help to moderate temperatures More than half the vines are of the Xarel-lo variety Some still wines are also produced separately under the Celler Credo label so as to maintain the individuality of the Recaredo cavas who is responsible for the innovations of recent years 1999 was marginally cooler than average but This single vineyard of just under 1ha was planted in 1940 on limestone soils near the village of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia as well as others in the Recaredo portfolio has been ploughed by horse to reduce compaction All were converted to biodynamic farming in 2006 but the 1999 was made from an organically cultivated vineyard This sparkling wine spends almost 10 years on its lees (some subsequent vintages have spent 130 months on the lees) and is closed with cork after the freezing of the neck of the bottle The prestigious Spanish wine guide edited by José Peñin gave this debut vintage a cautious welcome with 90 points but more recent vintages (produced biodynamically and made in a less oxidative style) have scored far higher; Peñin himself rates this wine as one of the two top Cavas ever produced rated it more highly on debut: noting: ‘A new dimension in the world of Cava Shows complexity and elegance with pronounced mineral nuances Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca (three Michelin stars; Restaurant magazine World’s Best Restaurant 2013 and 2015) in Girona stated: ‘It is the first grand-cru Cava in history the intensity and the freshness of a great Cava.’ said: ‘Ton Mata was 28 when this wine was made with fennel and grapefruit on the nose and honey on the palate This article first appeared in Decanter magazine’s March 2018 issue. Subscribe here to the magazine, or to Decanter Premium, which gives you full access to articles online plus extra tastings.  The Freixenet group has reached an agreement with unions over conditions for a partial furlough.  The announcement from the Catalan cava and wine producer on Saturday comes less than a week after the government rejected their application to implement temporary layoffs which cited the ongoing drought as a force majeure event.  The 615 workers affected at Freixenet and Segura Viudas will see their working hours reduced by between 20% and 50% from May 13 until the end of the year to counter "the lack of grapes and base wine caused by the extreme drought that has been increasing since 2021," a statement said.  Negotiations with the workers' representatives had been "quick and constructive," the company said.  "The intensity of the measure will be adapted according to the time of year and the effects resulting from the drought," the group said Freixenet also said that it will compensate the affected staff with "additional supplementary aid" on top of the public-funded subsidy they will receive.  The USOC said in a statement on Thursday that the agreement was "very positive."  except those who are partially retired or work reduced hours Workers will earn around 95% of their salary including the company's top up to unemployment benefit.  The government informed Freixenet on Monday that it did not see the "unforeseeable and unavoidable" elements to justify force majeure in the company's original plan for temporary layoffs.  The Department of Business and Labor will not have to authorize the new partial furlough plan.  Penedès is the home of cava and Catalonia's most famous wine region.  Many winegrowers in the region have voiced fears for this year's crop due to the drought To learn more about history of cava production in Catalonia, and the challenges faced in recent years by producer, listen to the podcast below.  Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush) Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. Barcelona and Foix Natural Park fill this 48-hour trip Fittingly for a landscape dominated by vines there are plenty of wine-related activities on offer here We're not trying to avoid that side of the region as our recommended visit to the Cava Museum shows but we would like to get you to take advantage of this getaway to Alt Pendès to explore the other attractions of the area You can also enter the castle, if you've booked a place on the Air Raid Shelter and Aircraft Route As well as visiting the old Republican prison you'll be able to explore air-raid shelters in Serral and uses the latest technology to allow visitors to experience the Philoxera Festival in large-format images and explore the cava-making process you'll learn a lot about cava at the centre but you can also find out a lot about other aspects of the town One hundred percent Penedès: that’s how the restaurant Cal Padrí pitches itself, and we can tell you that they're completely justified in that claim. Both the views and the food, the ingredients for which come from their own vegetable patch, have the special aroma of this land of vines. From the Catalan cuisine dishes on offer we recommend a local speciality: the stewed duck dishes. Surrounded by vineyards, this typical Catalan country house is nowadays a hotel with a very recommendable restaurant serving signature surf-and-turf–style cuisine. Try the soupy rice with lobster if you prefer maritime flavours, or the mute duck cooked Catalan style with prunes if you’re more partial to meat and fancy trying a regional speciality. There is also a wide variety of fixed-price menus that are suitable for all budgets. Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! facebooktwitterspotifytiktokAbout us Contact us Time Out Worldwide AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSlide 1 of 10,One way to take a break from Barcelona’s frenetic pace is to venture out to the wineries in the Penedès region The winery buildings at Codorníu in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia are gorgeous examples of turn-of-the-century Catalan modernism designed by the Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch Stefano Buonamici for The New York TimesShare full articleSpain's Wine CountryOne way to take a break from Barcelona’s frenetic pace is to venture into Penedès region.