The Vinari Wine Tourism Awards, organized by Vadevi, were announced last Thursday, June 9, at an event held in the gardens of the El Celleret de Familia Torres Restaurant, in Parcs del Penedès. The Wine Tourism Awards, last year directly linked to the wine competition, have taken on their own entity and in 2022 have become an independent project that has recognized those projects, experiences or activities linked to wine tourism throughout Catalonia.

The Vinari Wine Tourism Awards for this 2022 have been opened not only to wineries and wine cooperatives, but also to accommodation, restaurants and private companies and entities that have their headquarters in Catalonia. The applications have been evaluated by a jury specialized in wine tourism.

The Vinari Wine Tourism Award for the Best Wine Tourism Visit and Tasting Experience was awarded to the Mas Blanch i Jové winery. The winery, located in the picturesque town of La Pobla de Cérvoles, has a unique wine tourism project that links art, wine and territory. This award is added to the numerous recognitions previously received, such as the Catalonia Wine Tourism Award in the Art and Culture category in 2015, the GAC Award for Collecting in 2018 or the Bonart Award in 2019.

Mas Blanch i Jové, through its THE ARTISTS’ VINEYARD, has articulated an itinerary between vineyards and ecological olive trees with sculptures and artistic installations by renowned creators such as Carlos Santos, Eva Lootz, Evru/Zush, Frederic Amat, Carlos Pazos, Susana Solano , Joan Brossa, and Josep Guinovart, among others. In fact, the winery itself was designed by the painter Josep Guinovart and in the tasting room you can see the In Vino Veritas, the last great work of this artist. In addition to the works that are permanently exhibited both in the Viña de los Artistas and inside the winery, temporary exhibitions are scheduled.

The award-winning experience completes this artistic itinerary with a breakfast of country bread and artisan products from the area, paired with organic and mountain wines produced in the same winery.

The full list of awardees is as follows:

Award for the Best Environmental Activity: Course on edible plants and wine pairing at Bodega Can Roda

Award for the Best Cultural and Social Activity: Malvasia, between the sea and the sky, Sitges Malvasia Interpretation Center

Award for the Best Solidarity Activity: Cep Solidarity Raises, from Vinos el Cep

Award for the Best Innovative Activity: Night of Glamping and Stargazing among vineyards, by Llopart

Best Entrepreneurial Initiative Award: The Wine Truck, wine bar

Award for the Best Food and Wine Experience: CORPINNAT Gastronomic Festival

Award for the Best Wine Tourism Visit and Wine Tasting Experience: Breakfast at the Winery, Mas Blanch i Jové

Special Mention in the category for Casa Vermouth Padrón, by Padrón and Family

Award for Best Wine Tourism Accommodation: Cal Puig By Can Marlès, Winery and Wine Tourism.

The Vinari Wine Tourism Awards aim to promote and enhance quality wine tourism in Catalonia, promote its knowledge and dissemination as a local activity and stimulate its practice, as well as encourage wineries, companies and/or private entities, based in Catalonia, to the continuous improvement of its offers and to innovate when proposing new wine tourism proposals.

In addition, they intend to spread the culture, territory and characteristics of Catalan wines among consumers through the activity of wine tourism.

MAS BLANCH I JOVÉ ON THE LLEIDA WINE ROUTE

Tourist proposals

When you travel to Lleida, do not miss the opportunity to do wine tourism in its lands. The wine they produce is part of the Costers del Segre denomination of origin.

Oenological trip through the lands of Lleida

They are wines that grow in calcareous soils, under a Mediterranean climate with continental air, with cold winters and hot summers. But in La Pobla de Cérvoles, in Les Garrigues, there is a microclimate that favors ripening with summers of warm days and cool nights.

Check the website of the Lleida Wine Route Association. There you will find all the news from the wineries, as well as a careful selection of restaurants and accommodation in the area.

A visit to a winery can be the perfect excuse to visit some of the seven production sub-areas of the DO: Segrià, Raimat, Artesa de Segre, Urgell, Pallars Jussà, Valls de Riucorb and Garrigues.

For example, you can see how organic farming is practiced to offer quality wine. They will show you how they carefully harvest their own grapes to make the wine, and how they are self-sufficient thanks to their own sustainable farm (wheat, barley, alfalfa…) that feed their pigs, cows, etc. Oh, and don’t forget to try their oil, which is pressed right there. In the case of Mas Blanch i Jové they produce an extra virgin oil, with low acidity, cold pressed, from their own dry land olive trees, many of them centuries old.

Many wineries in this area, like others, open their doors to you after the summer so you can participate in the harvest, an event with a long tradition that is combined with celebrations in surrounding municipalities. As the vineyards are at different altitudes, and depending on the weather in summer, the harvest can start in August and end in October-November. At Mas Blanch i Jové, the harvest normally begins at the end of September and ends at the end of October or beginning of November.

And did you know that there are wineries that produce wine from among the stones? The vineyards are planted in an old gravel pit and produce quality organic wine.

These are some recommendations, but the Lleida Wine Route Association will give you many more. Do you want to try a Costers del Segre wine?