{"id":16419,"date":"2021-09-15T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/?p=16419"},"modified":"2021-09-15T10:08:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T08:08:51","slug":"josep-foraster-winery-trepat-grape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.11onze.cat\/en\/magazine\/josep-foraster-winery-trepat-grape\/","title":{"rendered":"Josep Foraster: the winery’s Trepat grape"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The <\/b>Josep Foraster<\/b><\/a> winery, DO Conca de Barber\u00e0, is located at Mas Foraster, on the outskirts of Montblanc. For 150 years, Ricard Sebasti\u00e0’s family has been producing grapes for family consumption and to sell to the farmers\u2019 co-op. But in 1998, Josep Foraster’s drive led the winery to produce its first two home-grown wines.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

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The history of the Josep Foraster winery did not begin easily. The idea of building a winery and making their own wine was born in 1995, when Josep Foraster, with the help of his father, decided to create a winery to produce wine with the grapes from the family lands. In 1998, the winery was ready and the first two wines were produced: Josep Foraster Cosecha and Josep Foraster Crianza. The following year, after five years of struggle, Josep Foraster died of cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n

This blow of fate forced the family to decide on the future of the winery, which had only just opened. Ricard Sebasti\u00e0, who was 17 years old at the time, explains, admiringly and proudly, that his mother, Julieta Foraster, decided to take over the business: “My mother worked in the tourism sector, and what’s more, she didn’t drink wine. But when my grandfather suggested going ahead, only if one of his two daughters wanted to, because he no longer felt strong enough -he was over 70 years old-, my mother said she wanted to try”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then Ricard Sebasti\u00e0 started to get involved in the world of wine: “At that time I was studying law, but every weekend I went home and helped out as much as I could. I also did a master’s degree in oenology and qualified as a sommelier. In fact, I never finished Law, because I became fully involved in the family business. I couldn’t say the exact day, but the world of viticulture and winemaking got me hooked”. He confesses that his first ten years in front were very hard, but now things are back on track.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Organic and biodynamic<\/b><\/h3>\n

Currently, Josep Foraster produces 170,000 bottles, employs eight people, and exports 40% of the production. The remaining bottles are sold in Catalonia and only 5% in Spain. All the production is made with grapes from their own vineyards, as well as some vineyards rented from local farmers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Production is 100% organic and, for some years now, part of it has been biodynamic. Respect for the land and the plants is important to Sebasti\u00e0 and the work carried out, both in viticulture and vinification, always seeks to reduce the presence of chemical products in the vineyard as much as possible and to be as non-interventionist as possible. He always takes advice and keeps a close eye on market trends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faced with the challenge posed by climate change, Ricard Sebasti\u00e0 acknowledges that it is a reality that worries him: “Despite the fact that in Conca de Barber\u00e0 we have an advantage: our DO has the highest vineyards, with the coldest temperatures. We are planting at a very high altitude, about 600 metres above sea level. Given such irregular climate, we are foresighted, and plan to build a well to irrigate the vines. The idea is to build the well and extract water with energy from solar panels. We also plan to build cisterns to collect rainwater”.<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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