Júlia Riera: "I always tell my friends: «Catalan wine, eh, don't buy me a Rioja or a Ribera»"

Júlia Riera (Alt Empordà, 1999) is the creator of Daily Catalan, the largest online Catalan learning channel for foreigners. She has just published her first book, Let's Speak Català! (Penguin), which mixes history, language, culture and, as it could not be otherwise, gastronomy.

In the Daily Catalan courses there is a module about wine and cava. What does she explain in it?

— Catalan wine and cava are an element of our culture that we should be proud of. I like to explain what the designations of origin are and part of the vocabulary: that it is called "vi negre" (red wine) and not "vi vermell" —a calque of the red wine in English—, what a wine barrel is, what a winery is like... And in the end, I ask the students if they have ever tasted Catalan wine or cava.

And what do they say?

— They know the Penedès, and the most knowledgeable ones, the Priorat, which I confess is my favorite.

Why?

— I went there last year for the first time. I was very surprised by the orography: you were driving and thinking, how can there be vineyards on such a slope? And the wines surprised me a lot. I found them very different from those of the Penedès, which seem softer and sweeter, especially the whites, and from those of the Empordà, which have a reputation for being harsher.

Do you have any benchmark winery in the Empordà?

— The La Vinyeta winery. We have been there many times since I was a little girl. The treatment always makes me return.

Is wine part of your day-to-day life?

— I save it for special occasions. And it still happens that if you say you don't want to drink at a meal, it seems like you don't want to have a good time. I have a friend who doesn't drink at all, and the first time I saw it I asked her why. But why do we have to ask people that question? They must have their reasons. Nobody asks "why don't you smoke?"

They say that young people don't drink much wine.

— It depends on each person and it depends a lot on the occasion. On a birthday or a special date, I do drink it. And I always tell my friends: "Catalan wine, eh, don't buy me a Rioja or a Ribera." They are good wines, but I like to support my country.

And do friends understand it?

— Having an account called Daily Catalan, they have been used to the nagging for a while now [laughs].

And between black and white?

— Since I've been drinking less wine and selecting more of what I like, I've become more of a red wine person. Perhaps I've also gotten older [laughs]. I always used to say that I didn't understand how anyone could like red wine, and now, with a steak, I find it delicious.

Their partner is from California. What do they say about Catalan wines?

— In fact, he always asks me for one very specific thing: that I bring him one or two bottles of Gessamí from Gramona. It is very easy: aromatic, fresh. I have a pending trip to the Napa Valley; they say it is beautiful.

On their website, they explain that they really enjoyed cooking with their grandmothers.

— Their passion for gastronomy caught on with me and now it is one of my hobbies. One grandmother taught me how to make cannelloni; the other, casserole rice, crema catalana...

Now it seems there is a revival of traditional cuisine.

— When I was studying in Barcelona, eating capipota or fricandó was almost strange. Now I see it a lot among content creators: they reclaim our cuisine instead of always looking for sushi. I think it happens because, as a society, once we have everything within reach, we want to return to the origin.

Their video with the family's ratafia recipe went viral.

— I uploaded it to document how we make ratafia every year for Saint John's Eve. Everyone commented that they didn't know so many herbs went into it. It is knowledge that I hope is not lost.

It is easy to grab the bottle without thinking about what is behind it.

— It is important that the process is seen, to show the beauty of the effort that is put into creating a product.

In addition to ratafia, was wine made at your home?

— When I was very little, we actually made some. It was a small production, very amateur. I have the memory of going to harvest the grapes, of being many hours under the sun, and then crushing them with my cousins at grandma's house. It made my feet itch!

And was it good, the result?

— Well... Like everything, you learn with experience. I also remember going down to the cellar—small, it was very cold there—to fill the bottle. They always told us cousins that we had to be quiet and not shout, because otherwise the wine would spoil: the wine was "sleeping" and had to rest.