CELLERS AVGVSTVS FORVM (Penedés)

This small, unassuming Catalan winery tucked away in a tranquil corner of Penedés just happens to produce one of the world’s best vinegars. Born of local farmer Joan Roca’s dream to make his own wine, Cellers Avgvstvs Forvm began operations in the late 1980s.

Joan took the name from the Vía Augusta, the mighty Roman road built to connect Iberia’s major cities directly with Rome, which runs across the property. To consolidate the theme, the family began naming their plots of vines after Roman Emperors. First was the venerable Marcus Aurelius, followed by the less-worthy Nero, Julius Caesar, and Tiberius.

Although it was only planned to be a side project, Joan’s vinegar was a surprise hit in culinary circles. Forvm vinegar has been served in Michelin-starred restaurants all over the world including the legendary El Bulli. It’s even graced the table of the Queen of England and found its way into the stomachs of the great and good at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm.

About an hour by car from Barcelona, the winery makes an easy day-trip out of the city. Having never participated in a formal vinegar tasting before, I think it might be one of my new favourite pastimes. It takes place down in the cellar amongst the barrels of the solera-type system in which the vinegar is aged. Their most prestigious vinegar, the FLAVIUS, contains vinegar which has spent 20 years ageing in those barrels.

After savouring vinegar fit for a Queen, visitors move on to something a little stronger. Joan’s plan from the beginning was to do something a little different to most Catalan wine producers. The first vines planted were Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, making him only the second person to put Chardonnay into Spanish soil and the first to oak ferment the resulting grapes. They seek to make wines with a “French touch” as well as having a Microvinification line for experimenting with local and international grape varieties on a smaller scale.

One of their recent sell-out hits from this line is the Malvasía de Sitges, a local variety picked up in Greece by a Catalan mercenary during the Middle Ages. Usually used to make sweet wines, this version is fermented in 500L French oak barrels giving it warm caramel and creamy notes to complement notes of tinned peaches from the grape. It’s no longer available at the winery, sadly, but you might find it in Barcelona if you look carefully.

#Penedés