The Vinari 2021 awards are starting and we will be there!

At 11Onze we like to align ourselves with the good work achieved with effort. This year we are sponsors of the Vinari Awards 2021 edition and we are very proud.

Catalonia is a land of wines. The Romans, the gastronomy, the tourists, the Mediterranean Sea, and the different types of soil and microclimates have made it possible. The excellent appellations of origin scattered throughout the territory to endorse it. But the people who work in the sector, who are many, make it palpable on a daily basis. It is the wineries and the strength of their people who keep the seed alive. 

This is what the Vinari Awards are about, making them more visible and explaining it in the form of awards for all those who like good wine and all that it entails. These have not been easy years. The little care that has been taken of the environment in recent decades and this last year with the pandemic situation, it has been difficult times for the world of wine and, unfortunately, for many people linked to it. The wine world is being hit hard, let’s not fool ourselves. The restoration, exports, tourism, are directly affected by the ravages that Covid-19 is doing.

But Catalonia is also a land of effort and ingenuity. Climate change has already warned us in many ways that we have to work in a sustainable way and Catalan wine has been seeking ways to do so for years: from choosing models of sustainable agriculture, respect for biodiversity, options that improve waste reduction, reduction of water footprint and CO₂ emissions… And more recently, elements such as eco-design or communication have been incorporated to facilitate this task. Research and innovation in this sector never stops, and one of the secrets is to do it together. Wineries have known this for a long time, and they are making every effort to benefit the quality of the wines and the sustainability of the planet.

In fact, during the recent pandemic, the sector has not faltered either. Little by little it has been reinventing itself to be able to respond to the situation. Perhaps a change that would have been slower and more gradual has accelerated. New technologies and new services are here to stay. More direct communication with the customer is a good step. Sales through the web or e-commerce are also a good step. The incorporation of wine tourism within the structure of wineries that did not do it before, or the new formulas for visits in other cases, are a magnificent tool. 

New styles never used before, such as promotion or offering more added value in the world of wine, have also helped. But one of the most beautiful things that have happened this year is the return, never forgotten, of local commerce. There are many who have discovered in the area where they live or work their stores, restaurants, small winemakers, routes and paths rediscovered, and therefore, also their wines. It is for all this that we must thank and show our gratitude to all those wine lovers who bet on our wines. That without hesitation, with the situation experienced, have sought ways to consume Catalan wines. At home, in the neighborhood stores, in the village stores, calling the winery, with the bubble group to the restaurants, or at home, with the little boat along the sea, or having dinner watching a series. In any way you have done it, thank you. 

Vinari, the Catalan wine awards 2021 edition, wants to be a recognition and a loudspeaker for this good work that is being done. The awards are a positive reinforcement, and if we look at what positive reinforcement means, we would see that its definition refers to “a stimulus that increases the probability of repeating something in the future”. This is what we would like. To continue working and to make the wines that are made in Catalonia more and more and everywhere. This year is the ninth edition and here we put in writing the objectives of the awards, which we subscribe to each and every one of them, that are:

• To promote and enhance quality wines in Catalonia, to promote knowledge and dissemination as a product of proximity and to stimulate responsible consumption.
• To offer wine marketing and winemaking companies the opportunity to be evaluated by a panel of professional wine tasters.
• Disseminate among consumers -especially Catalans- the culture, the territory and the characteristics of Catalan wines.

This April the inscriptions are open until the 23rd to bring the samples that want to participate:

Wines with DOQ Priorat, wines with DO Tarragona, wines with DO Terra Alta, wines with DO Pla de Bages, wines with DO Penedes, wines with DO Montsant, wines with DO Empordà, wines with DO Costers de Segre, wines with DO Conca d’Empordà, wines with DO Costers de Segre, wines with DO Conca d’Empordà, wines with DO Conca d’Empordà and wines with DO Costers de Segre will participate.

Good luck to all of you and, as our grandparents used to say: since I don’t want to talk more than wine, I’ll leave it here.