Toni Gerez speaks with the passion of someone who deeply loves what he does and transmits his enthusiasm to those who listen to him sitting around a table at the Castell de Peralada restaurant, a 14th century castle located in the heart of Alt Empordà. This head waiter, the first Spaniard to receive recognition from Michelin for his work, is a true wizard when it comes to cheese: he manages a cart of eighty references, of the more than three hundred national and international that make up the restaurant's menu. establishment.
Among its extensive offering -possibly one of the best in the country, with unique local specimens that rub shoulders with famous international references-, a 12-year-old Parmigiano Reggiano stands out. This makes the presence of the cheese cart and the possibility of enjoying a tasting led by Gerez one of the most anticipated moments of the evening for many diners. It is, in short, the icing on the cake of a star meal led by Javi Martínez, who has also included the cheese on the winter menu and in this season's tasting menu.
It is present in small bites in the creamy scallops, 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano, caviar and spongy seaweed, or in the pumpkin with frozen sheep cheese soil, black shallot and wild watercress. All of this paired with international wines or, as it could not be otherwise, from the Perelada winery itself.
Cheese offers a symphony of sensations, an experience that attracts the most demanding palates to this corner just a few kilometers from the Mediterranean, in an experience that can last beyond a table. And the restaurant is part of the prestigious complex around wine, culture and leisure of the Suqué Mateu family and which has as its flagship an exceptional winery designed by the RCR studio, Pritzker Architecture 2017, an authentic temple of wine sustainable completely integrated into the Empordà landscape.
Visiting this winery is an intimate and emotional immersion in the process of making wines with the great variety of nuances given by the characteristics of each of the five vineyards on the property.
Beyond the winery, the Peralada Resort is considered one of the best wine tourism complexes on the planet. Its careful offering includes a five-star hotel with 54 rooms and 10 suites, a wellness center featuring its wine spa, a space designed for holistic care that recovers the ancestral legacy of wine therapy, and two more restaurants - one of them with the signature of Paco Pérez-.
In addition, an 18-hole golf course; a library inside the castle with authentic pearls among its more than one hundred thousand volumes, with incunabula, parchments and more than a thousand different editions of Don Quixote; a museum with glass and ceramic collections, and a dazzling exhibition that traces the history of Hispano Switzerland, the emblematic automobile company founded by Damián Mateu and Marc Birkigt that next year celebrates its 120th anniversary more alive than ever, complement a wine tourism proposal integral between vineyards.
