Conflict between generations: this is how the great wine families have resolved it

Wine is such a passion that it inspires generational succession, but making it a reality isn't always easy. Barcelona Wine Week (BWW), the professional trade fair for Spanish wine, which celebrated its sixth edition this week, explored in depth how wineries and winemakers manage to persevere through the decades. Almost everyone wants their wines to have their own character, something that might not be so easy when it comes to a family-owned winery. That's why some have projects outside the family business to make wine with greater freedom.

According to Willy Pérez, a winemaker from Jerez (Bodegas Luis Pérez and De La Riva), sherries from decades past have evolved to such an extent that "you can no longer see the human element," meaning the character imbued by the winemaker. But if the wine exists, it is still thanks to the human hand and those who have survived. Despite having studied philosophy, Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi, known as Daniel Landi, co-founded Comando G. This winery has championed the Garnacha grape from the Gredos mountain range, located between Madrid, Ávila, and Toledo. Landi feels a sense of shame for this land, recalling when this grape was undervalued and many growers had to abandon it because it fetched a mere 20 cents per kilo. Now, it's worth two euros.

Although as a child he skipped school every September to help with the grape harvest in vineyards scattered across the mountains, he admits that at first, when he wanted to dedicate himself to wine, he struggled to know what to do with it, until he discovered that it's a way of expressing oneself. He says it should be done starting from who you are, the place you're in, and the passion you put into it, without being afraid to break with the winemaking conventions taught at university. Drawing a parallel with writing, he maintains that "it's not about writing what others want to read, but what you want to write," and believes that "the more hours you spend at university, the less soulful wine you make."

Without a family legacy, one can likely approach winemaking with a broader perspective, but having one doesn't necessarily have to be a hindrance, although it may require a lot of hard work. Mireia Torres, from the fifth generation of the Familia Torres winery, says that "it's like everything in life; sometimes things are easier, and sometimes they're harder." The fact is that dialogue is necessary with the previous generation, which contributes experience and tradition, while the new generation brings ideas for change that create opportunities. "In the end, we're all looking for the same thing, which is excellence," she affirms.

The push and pull of making wine as a family

The legacy of her generation is regenerative viticulture and dealcoholized wine, a product that is now "growing tremendously" but was nonexistent two decades ago. "It was a crazy idea. Fortunately, I wasn't disinherited," Mireia says ironically. The first time she proposed it to her father, Miguel Torres, "things didn't go very well," but she persisted until she succeeded by taking advantage of a grant. "This world is so exciting that if they tell you no the first time and you're convinced, you have to fight to convince them otherwise," she maintains. Regarding her brother, Miquel Torres, she adds that he is becoming involved in the winery again after having to step down as general manager in 2023. "We're very close," she affirms about her family.

Sometimes you have to look beyond your immediate circle to convince those within. When Valentí Roqueta suggested his son join the family winery, Abadal del Bages, Ramon Roqueta founded LaFou winery in the Terra Alta DO in 2007. He was eager to embark on an exciting project of his own after years traveling the world, and when it came time to taste his first wines, "He told me, 'Let the market judge,'" recalls his son. It wasn't until 2011, when LaFou had already received "very positive feedback from critics and consumers," that the family finally supported Roqueta's son in taking the next step and establishing his own winery. Otherwise, he admits, they might have had to stick with just the vineyard.

Having a prestigious wine name makes it easier to avoid starting from scratch, but it can also be demanding. "It can make things easier at the beginning," acknowledges Roc Gramona, sixth generation of the Gramona winery (Corpinnat and DO Penedès), but he and his cousin Leo admit there's pressure "to live up to something bigger than you" and even surpass it. However, even with the family name, "nobody forces you to be part of the business," Roc continues, "and to dedicate yourself to this world, you have to really love it."

To keep their passion for wine alive, when the two cousins ​​joined the family business, they created a parallel winery, L'Enclòs de Peralba, also in the Penedès region, with the aim of expressing themselves through wines with their own unique style and learning from their mistakes. And what does Roc's father, the winemaker Jaume Gramona (5th generation), think about his son's wines? "He never says very nice things to us, but I think he thinks them," Roc confesses. After all, as other winemakers have said during BWW, parents can end up being their best ambassadors.

Even René Barbier Jr., who was inspired to make wine after seeing how much his parents enjoyed it when the Priorat DOQ became a global benchmark, has ended up having his own projects to make wine with more freedom. He started working with his father 35 years ago and has ensured the continuity of Clos Mogador—where changes are slow—along with his brother, Christian. While he feels the need to "respect" the work his father began, he admits that Clos Mogador is "a very heavy burden" and he needs to do other things, whether with his wife, Sara Pérez, at Venus La Universal (DO Montsant) or on his own with the Puños Fuera wines, which are not DO-certified. Christian Barbier also has his own wines, the Deunidó.

More technical and also challenges

Newer generations often come to the wine industry with training and travel experience. Oriol Lliberia, who has joined the Edetària winery (DO Terra Alta), founded by his father, Joan Àngel Lliberia, emphasizes that today there is a greater emphasis on precise viticulture. "We have the great advantage of cutting-edge technology," he says, and Barbier points out that in Priorat they have even used drones for fertilization. Furthermore, Lliberia Jr. recalls how his father and grandfather didn't give him as much freedom as he will now, illustrating this with the time Joan Àngel wanted to select the grapes, and his father and grandfather put them all in the same tank. Now Oriol Lliberia can breathe easier: "It's nice to work with Dad without him being so strict."

Making wines that are more faithful to the grape varieties and the place where they originate is often a hallmark of the new generations, but they must grapple with new concerns, such as climate change. Carlos López de Lacalle (fifth generation winemakers in the Artadi group) also believes that the segmentation of wine based on origin needs to be more refined: "Our parents championed wine regions like Jumilla, Penedès, Rías Baixas... but I think the international language of wine speaks of villages." As the Priorat DOQ has already done by classifying wines by village, Gramona reveals that Corpinnat has also begun working on this, but fears for the future of the landscape, because it is being "threatened" by 15 hectares of photovoltaic parks next to the estate. The generations of winemakers succeed one another, and so do the challenges.