Catalonia

Two of Hand Picked Selections most important suppliers are small cooperatives in Catalonia. Cases de Pene is in the far north of Catalonia, Vilalba in the far south. Cases de Pene is in France. Vilalba is in Spain. Catalonia is best known as the northeast corner of Spain, bordered by the Mediterranean on the east, France to the north and Navarre south and west. However Catalonia is also the southeast of Mediterranean France. People on both sides of the border speak Catalan as their everyday language, not Spanish and French. They consider Barcelona their capital city, not Madrid or Paris and they have more in common with each other than with Spaniards or the French.

With 7 out of Spain’s 40 million people, Catalonia is far more important to Spain than it is to France, with only 1 million Catalans in a population of 60 million. This is reflected in the Coop member’s names: In French Catalonia we have Jean-Christophe, Pierre and Tony as President, manager and winemaker. In Vilalba the names are resolutely Catalan: Josep (ZHO’ sep) Mulet, Jaume (ZHOW’ may) Navarro and Joan (zho-an – said almost as one syllable like Spanish ‘Juan’, a man’s name) Bada.

Catalans are famously said to be among the world’s most creative and destructive people. They have battled long and hard (although peacefully in recent times) for their independence. During the Spanish Civil War no part of Spain resisted the Franco dictatorship as strongly. Much of Catalonia was destroyed in the Civil War, but rebuilt in an astonishingly short period of time.

A good case can be made that the three top painters of the last century were Catalan –Picasso, Dali & Miro, along with one of the two greatest architects (Antoni Gaudi, with Frank Lloyd Wright the other). The energy level of Barcelona, one of the world’s great cities, is truly comparable to New York. Catalan cuisine is both robust and refined with flavors simultaneously intense and subtle.