Pau Pinós: "I was the honorary godfather of a wine in solidarity with Núria Feliu"

What is the first image you remember where there was wine?

— Yes, I suppose it would be a family lunch or dinner, because in this country and throughout the Mediterranean, celebrations are accompanied by wine. And if not, then for dessert, champagne. I've always said champagne, but I guess I should say diggingWhatever it is, my memories are of the phrase "give the kid some champagne," and back then it was normal to dip the wafer in cava. When you're little, sips of cava always end with a sour face because you don't like it, but over time you get used to it.

When did you go from frowning to drinking regularly?

— Around twenty-five, I did start drinking a little more wine, and I started to like it more, but up until then, I didn't like it much. But we still have the, let's say, bad habit of not ordering wine when we're drinking for leisure or going out at night, but rather a rum and coke or spirits. Perhaps the key would be for clubs to offer wine. But until someone does, the floodgates won't be lifted. Cava, on the other hand, is becoming more common, perhaps. What they do in the private room is the phantasm of ordering a bottle of cava.

Have you ever done this?

— No, I... Maybe the opposite, but I haven't done the ghost much. Besides, I know the cava is expensive in these places. I did go to a party on the Costa Brava, in Roses, called the Champagne Party. They hold it on Sundays in the summer at a place called El Pirata. And if you're a somewhat decent person, you won't go back there, because there are only foreigners who buy bottles of Moët Chandon and basically pour them. They pour it all over themselves, and it even hurts your eyes.

Puentes used to be a wine-producing region. What's the landscape like today?

— Not anymore... Ponts, on the river side, is orchards, mostly corn, and the other side is wheat. But there are some vineyards there in the more mountainous area. We are a Mediterranean country and a big wine producer; we make very good wines!

What wines would you recommend?

— I'd say those from Castillo de Encús, by Raül Bobet. It's very daring, what he's done in Pallars. He's made progress in addressing climate change and is one of the first to make high-altitude wines. And I don't know if it's the special soil there, very stony, but his wines are very good. Ramon Tremosa explained all this to me when he was a business advisor and traveled extensively throughout the country, and I remember him telling me, "In this area of yours, there are very good things that are yet to be discovered." For example, there's another very good wine called Lo Purgatorio. But the truth is, I would recommend any wine from Costers del Segre, because it's my homeland.

How did you meet Ramon Tremosa?

— Ramon Tremosa and I have a very good relationship, but that's because his mother is from Pla d'Urgell and his father is also from Ponent. We had met at some event, and he mentioned it to me, and from then on, we became close. Whenever we see each other, he tells me things, and I do too. I really like Tremosa.

You've toured all over Catalonia, performing in villages. Have you ever been offered a bottle of wine afterward?

— Of course, so often. Because many of these towns give me a gift afterward, and often it's a bottle of wine. And I was even the honorary sponsor, along with Núria Feliu, at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital's charity wine fair. That is, the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital was running a campaign against childhood cancer, and to raise funds, they created a charity wine and held a fair at Mas Roig, in Priorat. But I'll also tell you that the connection with music and wine isn't just the bottles they can give you, but also the entire popular songbook linked to the world of wine.

Like which ones?

— Wine is deeply embedded in our culture. That's why we hear songs, sayings, and proverbs... "A sip of red wine is better than all the water in the Segre River."", for example. There is another song called The wine rounds, or also the habanera Lola the tavern keeper, which at one point says "Run, Lola, and I'll sing you a song," and many more like these.

If they tell you that you can have a drink with whoever you want, who would you like to have it with?

— With Núria Feliu. Because she was a woman with whom I had a very good relationship and, moreover, I greatly admired her; she never said no to anyone.