It all began in 1935, when Lluís Ferré Pascual, son of a line of winegrowers from La Granada (Alt Penedès), secretly married Maria Catasús Domènech. This wedding was not well received by either of the two families, especially by that of Lluís Ferré Pascual, who ended up being disinherited. In the Ferré family it was considered that he married "the wrong heiress." The son of this courageous relationship was born Josep M.ª Ferré i Catasús, who in Barcelona in the 1990s managed to be a prominent businessman in the food world together with his wife, the butcher from the Collblanc de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat Sonia Serrano Quetglas.
Lovers of the most modernist and cultural Barcelona, and of its history, they acquired the emblematic restaurant Els Quatre Gats opened in 1897 (today Els 4Gats), and some wine estates in the Penedès, where their ancestors had already worked the vineyards. The most cosmopolitan and intellectual society of Barcelona captivated them, leaving a great imprint on the philosophy of Ferré i Catasús. His business in the restaurant sector flourished with the economic boom of Olympic Barcelona. Initially they sold their grapes to one of the great producers of the Penedès, but one year they were stuck because they did not want to buy their grapes. This led them to decide to produce their grapes in their own winery.
Currently his children, led by Lluís Ferré, continue their family dream making wine in a farmhouse-bodega in La Granada with modernist airs, a project that they complete with the Sumoll restaurant, where you can not only find their wines. In 1999 they opened their winery and in 2000 they launched their first vintage on the market. Lluís Ferré acknowledges that the beginnings were very difficult. His best year, despite the pandemic, was 2020. The aesthetics of Ferré i Catasús products has always been "a benchmark of modernity, daring, provocation and art". They assure that they like to “get out of the ordinary, be innovative and value creativity”. Its labels, such as its brands Somiatruites, Compta ovelles or Cap de trons, have always been groundbreaking, although now they are not so much. They have just opened a new stage in which they want to add to their offer of wines aimed at large commercial surfaces a firm commitment to the hotel and restaurant channel. And they are doing it with new wines and cavas from “more serious” labels. With this new strategy, they hope to go from the 1.3 million euros billed in 2022 to 1.5 in three years. This year they expect to see their sales increase by 5%. Lluís Ferré runs a winery that has his son Oriac as head of communication and winery sommelier and his son Tomeu as head chef of the Sumoll restaurant.
They seek to produce wines "with an innovative aroma" and that "break standards and open new paths, because we carry it in our blood, like our grandparents". They add that "at Ferré i Catasús we want to bring wine culture beyond the usual horizons, and that is why we take risks to make the world of wine grow." At Ferré i Catasús they believe that "it is essential to treat the land in the least invasive way possible so that the cycle of nature remains intact and, consequently, to be able to provide high-quality wines and cavas". They have 46 hectares of vineyards spread over three farms in the Alt Penedès region, specifically in the municipalities of La Granada (Masia Gustems), Guardiola de Font-rubí (Cal Escudé) and Castellet i la Gornal (Castell del Mirall-Corral d'en Rafeques). They work with both autochthonous and international varieties. They define themselves as “a reflection of tradition and modernity, between pleasure and daring”. And they add that their wines and cavas "are very personal, young and fragrant". The philosophy of this family winery is centered on “a cosmopolitan vision open to the world that maintains traditional wisdom”.
The grapes for Love is Xarel·lo 2022, one of its novelties this year, come from its own vineyards, planted 37 years ago in Castellet i la Gornal. It is a farm located 137 meters above sea level, with calcareous soils with a loamy-sandy texture and a low proportion of silt and clay. They have boulders on the surface and a low organic matter content. The 2022 campaign in Penedès followed the line of 2021, characterized by drought. For this reason, and due to the few temperature variations between day and night that stressed the vines, production decreased, although the grapes obtained were healthy and of high quality. The harvest was done at night with our own harvesting machine. A long pressing was carried out with little pressure "to preserve the primary aromas". The must fermented in a stainless steel tank at a controlled temperature (16º C) with commercial yeast. Clarification and gentle filtration were carried out.
It is a charming and round organic white protected by the DO Penedès, with only 11.5º of alcohol. In Ferré i Catasús they define it as "the girl from home", and add that it combines "landscape, territory and the way of life of the Penedès". It forms part of a collection of wines made from native varieties that also includes a Garnacha Blanca and a Xarel·lo Vermell. Its label is the work of the artist Carolina Adán Caro. Love is Xarel·lo 2022 is a clear, bright straw yellow colour. Already in the olfactory phase this very young 100% xarel·lo is expressive. It exhibits notes of fruit, enhanced by the carbonic maceration to which part of its grapes are subjected. It presents notes of apple, pear and peach with hints of fennel, in a glyceric bed achieved through the work of removing its fine lees. It is a striking white from Penedès, frank and tasty, with good acidity and an interesting final salty note and a touch of slightly bitter raw almonds. Its ideal pairing with braised scallops with citrus muslin or with the fake seafood ravioli with sea urchin and prawn seafood from the Sumoll restaurant. Lluís Ferré especially likes to accompany it with a low-temperature egg with a potato and foie emulsion or with cod with ñoras mousseline.
Ferré i Catasús, who also buys grapes and wine from third parties, adds up to fifteen references between wines, cavas and a vermouth. They make around 410,000 bottles a year (80,000 are cava), of which they export 15% of the total. Belgium, Germany and the United States are its main international markets. They are also committed to the ecotourism business, with an offer that includes tastings and a review of the history of Catalan modernism. Now they rely on the Next Generation European economic reactivation funds to be able to expand their facilities and to increase their production of cavas.
