MEDITERRANEAN WINES AND CAVA SUPPLIED TO UK IMPORTERS DIRECT FROM CATALAN VINEYARDS
S E L E C T E D B Y C ATA L A N A N D E N G L I S H E X P E R T S F O R T H E U K M A R K E T
WHY CATALAN MEDITERRANEAN WINES
When people think of Spanish wine, their thoughts are ‘Rioja’, then perhaps ‘Ribera Del Duero‘. However, Catalonia is an incredible wine region, with very high quality wine coming out of the regions such as Priorat, Emporda and Penedès.
Some wines in our selection come from as high as 800 metres above sea level, where temperatures will normally be a good 3 or 4 degrees cooler or more than down at the coast. Longer ripening times result in wines of greater complexity and freshness, and cold winters help to keep pests and vine diseases at bay.
Some wines instead come from sea level getting the influence from the Mediterranean sea and the tramontane wind.
This pure, fresh style, combined with Catalan hard work and a skill for good, stylish presentation, results in the wines in our selection showing excellent value and purity of flavour.
A lot of the wines we offer are organic and all of them are great examples of the rugged soils and altitudes from which they come.
Our vision is to make high quality Catalan wine and cava more readily available to discerning British wine lovers.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Ed Adams MW
Ed joined the wine trade in 1983 after dabbling with radio journalism in his home city of Bristol, England. He worked for an old Bristol wine firm, Howells, before eventually moving to the bright lights of London. Here he sold wine to the Chelsea set for a company called London Wine Brokers; skills learnt included how to unload a container in less than 2 hours and how to sell wine to difficult as well as pleasant customers.
His first big break was working for Vinos de España in London. Having already lived for a while in Madrid in the early 1980s, this helped rekindle his passion for Spanish wine and all things Spanish - as well as showing him how to fill in the same form 3 times for the Spanish government. It was then 7 years as a buyer for the Co-op in Manchester. This was a fantastic job which involved travel and learning about wine; Ed passed the MW exam in 1991.
Moving from the liveliness of Manchester in 1994 to the sedate, rural idyll of Bridgnorth in the middle of beautiful Shropshire was something of a culture shock. However, the job with Western Wines made up for a lot. Ed was responsible for a lot of the buying, some marketing ideas (basically, anything to do with Spain) and for all quality control. It was also the time that the Kumala South African wine range was created which has since become a multi-million case brand.
He became a director of Western Wines in 1998 and benefited from the Vincor buyout in 2004. The following year he met up with South African winemaker Bruce Jack after a splendid tasting at Bruce’s Flagstone winery in South Africa and the Báscula plan was hatched to make wine in Spain.
Ed left Western Wines in early 2006 and is enjoying life immensely working on the Báscula project, selling the Spanish range in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Hong Kong, France and Spain itself. He firmly believes the best is still yet to come.
For the last 5 years Ed has also been consulting for Lidl UK and Lidl International, working with Caroline Gilby MW and Richard Bampfield MW.
Cristina Vila de Abadal MBA
As part of a well-established farming family, Cristina grew up in Vic, an historic town in the heart of Catalonia, famed for its agricultural produce.
After being awarded an MBA from the prestigious La Salle University in Barcelona, Cristina gained over 10 year's experience in project management, digitalisation and marketing. She lived and worked in Spain, Belgium and Dubai, before settling in the UK and following her passion for wine by establishing Catalan Mountain Wines.
Having passed WSET 2 and the WSET 3 Tasting exam (with distinction) she is currently working towards the WSET Level 3 written exam.
Cristina's vision is to make high quality Catalan wine and cava more readily available to discerning British wine lovers. She has many close personal and professional relationships with Catalan wine producers and is passionate about helping them expand into the UK market. Together with Ed Adams MW, she has sourced and chosen the following wines for you to experience.
She spends her time between Bath and Barcelona.