Catalonia

Catalonia’s wine tradition dates back to trade with the Phoenicians in the centuries before the Romans came to the area around 200 BCE. Even in those early days, Catalan wine was being exported across the Mediterranean, reaching markets as far as Egypt. Trade routes and export markets dried up following the fall of Rome and production all but ended in the following centuries under Moorish occupation. Slowly but surely winemaking traditions returned to the area, and by the fourteenth century, Catalonia would become known for the style of heavy, red wines that would gain international recognition for Priorat in the late twentieth century. In the latter half of the 19th century, the Spanish traditional method sparkling wine, cava, was developed in Penedès; vineyards decimated by phylloxera were replanted with white grapes for cava, and the style quickly gained popularity. Change continues to define Catalonia: today, Barcelona is one of the world’s most-visited cities, famous for its food and wine scene, as well as some of the most forward-thinking cocktail bars in the world.

Contemporary Culture

Dining, cocktails, and gin revival

While the Spanish Gin Tonic may have originated in the txokos of the Basque Country, it is Catalonia’s dining scene that turned this now iconically Spanish cocktail into a national institution. Many of Barcelona’s top chefs returned home from these txokos and added the cocktail to their culinary programs. Taking the same care in their mixology as their cooking, they elevated the simple British Gin & Tonic by focusing on the aromatics of the gin, enhancing it through the use of top quality tonics and carefully selected garnishes. Spanish Gin Tonics caught on, becoming a central part of Spanish culture. This growth has inspired the rise of craft gin distillation in Catalonia and throughout Spain, which has now become a leader of gin culture throughout the world.