Jaume Gramona: In Champagne, they do as many or more dirty things than here, but they all go hand in hand.

Since the death of his cousin Xavier in 2023, Jaume Gramona has been the president of Gramona, one of the most innovative wineries in the Penedès region. A driving force behind the Corpinnat brand, the director has been a leading advocate of biodynamic agriculture and of returning viticulture—especially sparkling wines—to its roots, championing organic production, tradition, and a connection with the region.

A trained winemaker, Gramona is confident that his children’s generation and that of his cousin Xavier’s children—the sixth to be linked to the family business—will be able to continue the project as a company and, more broadly, work to reunite a sector divided into three brands: Cava, Corpinnat, and Clàs. The company is welcomed at the group’s farm on the outskirts of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, where the horses used to till some of the vineyards, along with sheep, chickens, and other livestock, are kept, surrounded by vineyards with stunning views over the Alt Penedès and Montserrat.

Gramona often identifies itself as a unique company. How would you define it?

— Gramona is a family business with six generations. The fifth was Xavier and I, who formed a partnership in which he was, so to speak, the wine merchant, and I was the artistic part, the winemaker. And now we're fortunate that our children continue on. What do I mean by this? I've also inherited a whole series of practices from my father. Before, viticulture at home was conventional, traditional, inherited from our grandparents. This is a land of sparkling wines, and we have the capacity to make the best sparkling wines in the world, without a doubt, unless there are other wine-growing regions that are also more prestigious, such as Champagne. It can be defined as both tradition and innovation.

How did the death of Xavier Gramona two years ago impact you?

— One of the things we've done well is create a family protocol. We were fortunate that both his and my branches of the family showed interest in continuing. We tried to make Xavier his son's mentor, and I my son's. What happens now? Xavier has left us, but I could have died. But I have my son Roc perfectly prepared, because I gave him the technical responsibility two years ago. He's taken my inspiration from viticulture and our way of working. And, above all, we have a fantastic team.

Were you prepared to hand over responsibilities?

— We had it pretty well planned. It hurts, obviously, because it's been so many years. Xavier and I had very different personalities, but we reached a compromise of acceptance and mutual support. I was very happy going through all that, and he was the public face. He had the media, he liked going to all the trade shows... All of this, now, I've found myself facing. I thought I'd have to wait until my father died because he was the patriarch, and now it's my turn to take on this responsibility, because Xavier was also an important businessman. But I feel very supported. Before, it was just a two-person thing, and now it's the whole team that's involved.

What exactly has changed? Is it a climate issue?

— In 40 years, the harvest date has moved forward 40 days. That's a lot. We're now harvesting at the end of July, when we harvest in September, for the fairs and festivals, when the farmers would come down to the village and prepare the grape harvest. To make sparkling wines, you don't need a high alcohol content, not much ripeness, and a base wine with good acidity and good freshness. But later, within the Gramona philosophy, we were pioneers with very long aging processes, of 6, 8, 10, or 12 years. Regardless of whether you have Macabeo, Xarel lo, or Parellada, the local grape varieties, we needed to somehow try to prevent this from going further, because as the harvest progresses, there will eventually come a time when you don't have much ripeness.

How did you plan to deal with these changes?

— I've always had the ability to carry out projects, not just on my own, but more so in a collaborative way. That's why I created Innovi [the Catalan Wine Cluster] and realized we had to get ahead of ourselves and do something. And sometimes, when you say we should do something, it's already too late. In 2001, we created the winery and started a project. And I realized that by looking at the top of the vineyard, the surface, we're deceiving ourselves. Sight is the most deceptive sense of all.

What to look for to avoid being fooled?

— We invested a significant amount, 800,000 euros over four years. These four years allowed us to establish a whole series of technology centers, but in terms of knowledge, we achieved nothing. To have it cost those cents and realize you haven't made any progress is a huge blow. From then on, I trained in Madrid and Burgundy, where the issue terroir It's its foundation, and I returned to Burgundy to train in soils and their microbiology. There may be minerals in the soil, but if these minerals aren't absorbed by the roots, it's of little use. We realized that microorganisms make this possible. The moment I began to understand this, we took the first step from conventional to integrated agriculture, and then to organic.

How did the company apply this new knowledge to wine production?

— Two experts came, did an exploration of the vineyards, and told me, "The soils are dead." Bang! Another blow. It's one thing to lose 800,000 euros. It's another thing to have the wisest people in the world come and say, "I'm sorry." The earth gives, it's Mother Earth, because she's a mother who, when she begins to nurture, gives everything, even life, to her children. She's capable of exhausting everything. And this is where I change my way of seeing things. I breathe in, I breathe. I read, I inform myself, and I surround myself with colleagues who know much more than I do. I went to Switzerland to the Goetheanum, which is the home of Rudolph Steiner [Austrian philosopher, founder of Waldorf education and the concept of biodynamic agriculture], and there I learned that there's not only a practical side, but also a spiritual side. I mean, sometimes not everything is quantifiable and there are things that are qualitative. I saw that I wasn't alone; I began a process.

How were these ideas received in the Penedès and in your family?

— I saw that it was possible, but difficult at the time. My father, who is now 95, had arguments with my son just as I do today. You complain."

How did they convince you?

— I have a whole series of people I rely on. In France, they've also always been very heartbreaking about this. The French National Institute of Agronomic Research is willing to provide €500,000 to analyze what all the preparations we make for the soil do, which isn't just us doing a rain dance, but the stories are credible. The basis of all this is observation: this plot is different from that one; if we follow the lunar cycles, we can prune the vineyards at the best time; we can add compost...

Why do they plow with horses? Isn't a tractor much more efficient?

— Biodynamics doesn't require working with a horse. With a 150-horsepower tractor, you can do it whether the soil is hard or not. On the other hand, if you're following the horse, you see the difficulty. If there's too much grass, you can't get in. The soil tells you when to do the work, even with a tractor. Of the 65 hectares in production, we have six hectares of capacity worked by horse, because of the four horses, only three work. There's always someone with a sore leg, a sore leg, or something else.

Is this biodynamic agriculture perceived by consumers or experts?

— The sommelier sometimes only sees the immediate and says to us: "In 2011 you got 100 points in the Peñil Guide. How many will you get this year?" And I say: "You've got nothing wrong." We've been working in a certain way for 40 years to understand how we should do it. What I want end consumers, sommeliers, and opinion leaders to understand is that I'm giving you a wine that's not only good, but healthy. You have the peace of mind that it won't upset your stomach or your head.

In addition to your own vineyards, you must purchase grapes from local producers. How do you ensure they also maintain this way of working?

— 100% of the grapes we use to make sparkling wines and many of our still wines also have the Demeter biodynamic certification. But the 65 hectares currently in production aren't enough. We created a producer association with the traditional suppliers, which I partly inherited from my father. I asked them who wanted to follow me. We did it through training and more training, taking them to Switzerland so they could see what I saw and that there are many more people involved. At first, there was a lot of fear and caution. There's a lot of information that said "very good," but for many years, farmers have been not only very individualistic but also distrustful, but I managed to get them to follow us. It's not the strength of Gramona, it's the strength of having gathered more than 500 hectares to work biodynamically in the Penedès.

Do you feel followed?

— In 2025, the Penedès region will be the first Designation of Origin to be 100% organic. It's a trend. No one imagined that today, if you're not organic, you're out of the loop. It's no longer a thing of the future; it's here.

Gramona has been promoting Corpinnat since its inception. How do you see the brand?

— I am sure that by 2025, of the 14 wineries we are now in Corpinnat, we will reach 20.sure.

Where should Corpinnat go in the coming years?

— Gramona's commitment to Corpinnat is absolute. There are elections for the new board of directors, and Pere Llopart will take over as president and my son Roc as vice president, and in two years he will take over. Corpinnat is about to grow, to be able to embrace as many people as possible who comply with the most demanding regulations in the world today, even more so than in Champagne. In Champagne, they already have an umbrella. I know them very well, because I'm very involved and have learned, but we think they're doing just as much or more dirty work than here; it's just that they're all in the same boat. The big problem we have in this country is that within Penedès, there are bubbles of Clàssic Penedès, cava, and Corpinnat. I'm sure now is Corpinnat's time.

Can the differences between the Corpinnat wineries and the large DO Cava wineries be bridged?

— Regardless of what the large groups, which are no longer family businesses, do, there's a generation of young people within Corpinnat, Clásico, and even Cava—not my generation, but my son's—who are doing projects together, who are going out, and who no longer have those open scars of having to watch who does what. They will be capable, because they will be convinced they can reunite, I don't know how, within a single bubble. I have no idea how, but when there's a will, formulas are found to bring them together.

Is there a generational, even personal or familial, element to the current differences?

— Yes. Because we've tried: my generation has tried to talk to each other, and when it's not garlic, it's onion. If it's not hand-picking, it's integrated production in a winery, or varieties, or really small things because of the huge change we could achieve. But there are those silly things that sometimes make me think, "It's unbelievable that you're not open-minded enough to be able to fix this."

Could climate change harm wine in the Penedès?

— Climate change is a reality, yes, but it can be survived. What could happen? I don't know, we're not scared, but perhaps half of the vineyards in the Penedès could disappear. Why? Because they've been planted in unsuitable places.Weekend farmers may disappear. Now you need much more serious attention, because you have to consider exactly where and what you plant, and what material you plant them in. It's not just a case of saying, "Come on, let's plant Tempranillo or Parellada," just because it's trendy.

Is it viable for farmers? Corpinnado sets minimum prices.

— It was normal to pay 30 or 40 cents per kilo of grapes, like a few years ago, but this year the price per kilo of Corpinnat grapes will be approximately 92 cents. Farmers who want to be farmers will receive a reasonable price. There will be a change, and this could trigger a change in the landscape of the Penedès. We must be aware of this because, due to our proximity to Barcelona, this could be a field of solar panels or a reason for many industrial parks. But hey, I've visited Champagne and Burgundy, and there's room for industrial parks and vineyards. There's room for everyone if it's done with a bit of common sense, which is what we Catalans have.

Have you noticed that there is more public pressure against alcoholic beverages and less consumption than before?

— I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a concern. The thing is, it should be more of a concern for the big producers. Some companies are already investing in making alcohol-free wines, but I doubt Gramona will choose to do so. It's no longer just that they have less or no alcohol: wine consumption is declining. Sparkling wines used to be the only ones growing exponentially, especially because of Prosecco, but Champagne has declined and is the king of bubbles. It's scary that we have to put a label on it like we do with tobacco. When you export to Ireland, it must be stated that the product may be harmful to health. It's a concern, but people who want a product to enjoy, a great Burgundy, a great Champagne, a great Corpinnato, will do so for specific times, to enjoy a good meal or a good restaurant. We are what we eat. The change in habits is there, but you also choose where you stand.