Josep Bordes: "Now I love the wine that I could not stand when I was a kid"

Josep Bordes (Ulldecona, 1978) is the singer of La Colla Pirata and Pepet i Marieta, a group that is performing its final tour closing concert this Friday. From the Terres de l'Ebre, Bordes took with him a vermouth recipe in five steps and the memory of a bottle of white wine from Batea that he hated as a child and now adores. ARA has interrupted —a mortal sin— his Monopoly game with his son.

He published a video making a vermouth in the "little square of the grandmothers". Where does the recipe come from?

— From a mix of things. I start with the Rapitenc vermouth, the one traditionally made in the Terres de l'Ebre. And I apply to it what I learned in a gin and tonic course: that the citrus aroma is not in the pulp, but in the peel. I cut the orange peel, I aromatize the edges of the glass by tapping it against them, I put in a piece of ice and the vermouth, and I let it dilute a little so it isn't so strong.

And why the "grandmas' little square"?

— It is an image that I like: a place where grandmothers gather, who for me personify wisdom. I made the song thinking about all the life lessons I have had, and these lessons, often, you come to understand in moments of calm. Having a few beers with friends, for example.

Is the Rapitenc vermouth your favorite?

— I love it, but I dare say the best I've ever tasted is the one from Casa Miss, in Sa Pobla. They make it with an orange emulsion. Last year it won the award for the best vermouth in the world. And they even have a spicy version.

They say that in Sa Pobla there is a great fondness for spicy food.

— A lot. Every year they hold the Sa Pobla Coenta fair, which ends with a hot pepper eating championship in rounds that get stronger each time. People are crazy! They eat a whole pepper every round…

Have you ever participated?

— That is for kamikazes! I watch it from the outside.

Do you have marked tastes for wines?

— I like young ones; I am not into reserves or grand reserves. Tempranillo, especially, I don't quite know why. And from our home, those from Terra Alta. And also the white wine from Batea.

Why specifically from Batea?

— Because my father used to drink it. In the summer he always had a bottle in the fridge to refresh himself, and as a child, if I made a mistake and grabbed that bottle instead of the water one, I found it horrible. Now I love the wine that I couldn't stand when I was a kid.

And in black?

— I really like the Priorat. But I strongly champion the Montsant, which has nothing to envy it for and lacks recognition.

Do you consider yourself a demanding drinker?

— Not much, to be honest. And now, with children, I drink even less. But I must say that I really like French wine, perhaps because the sun there is less aggressive and the wines turn out softer. And I like to drink it chilled, even the red.

How is the end of Pepet i Marieta's tour going?

— Well, albeit with nostalgia. Each of the last concerts has had a special meaning: for example, the one at Plaça del Sol, in Gràcia, a place where I started playing, in small bars, without amplification, for thirty or forty people. While I was playing, all the images of that youth came to me.

Both Pepet i Marieta and La Colla Pirata have protest lyrics. Do you miss this tone in the musical world?

— We have always tried to raise awareness through music, and we have made songs about all the demands of recent years: from the 'Procés' to anti-racism and mass tourism. But I find that this component has been losing itself in the mainstream music scene. Ten years ago there were groups like Zoo or La Raíz that reached many people with very direct messages; now society has become more radicalized than ever, but music no longer accompanies this demand as much, at least not in the same way. I celebrate that we haven't stopped doing it.