Jürgen Wagner, winemaker, sales director and export manager in the Cooperative of Capçanes, a village with 400 inhabitants in the region of Priorat that in the mid 90's looked for the independence by selling bulk wine and grapes, has been invited to the auditorium of Vilafranca in the last session of the conference called Desenvolupa't, organized by the Centre Agora of the City of Vilafranca, which took place last Tuesday 15th January.
Last Tuesday 15th January in Centre Agora (Vilafranca del Penedès) a serie of conferences included in the programme 'desenvolupa't' took place. Mr Jürgen Wagner, winemaker, sales director and export manager of the Cooperative of Capçanes had been invited to the last session. The cooperative is placed in Capçanes, a 400 inhabitants village in the region of Priorat. In the mid 1990's the cooperativists became independent by selling bulk and grapes.
1,200 people took part in the 4 sessions of conferences, being closed by the representative of the government Mr Joan Manel Montfort (Regidor for Economic Development). Montfort highlighted the interest generated by the different proposals and the uniqueness of the project explained: the bet on making wine, following the rules of kashrut, Jewish food law. The export manager of the Cooperative of Capçanes said that 8% of current production is already allocated to the production of kosher wine exported to Jewish communities all around the world.
In the session, Jürgen Wagner demonstrated that to carry out a project of these characteristics requires a deep knowledge of the market which is highly specialized and with strict demands. Wagner is in favour of making unique bets, linked to the territory, allowing wineries to themselves unic in the market, so he opted for the only and great stories which fill the world of wine. Celler de Capçanes had made heavy investments to be adapted in the requirements of kosher winemaking, a process closely linked to the Jewish religion, full of certifications and which has no winemaking tradition and consumption of fine wines . However, the bet has been a success, the Cooperative of Capçanes has started a market which is still being explored.
Besides from the Cooperative they are looking for new markets with the same elaboration, this initiative has generated interest to both professionals and consumers as well as for ecological and biological consumers due to certain similarities in the process. The not allowance of using certain animal fining and jellies, makes this wine suitable for people who have allergies or lactose intolerance. The Cooperative produces Montsant wines from red grape varieties. 85% of the production is exported to 45 countries, mainly to the United States, Germany and Canada. Regarding the national sales, 99% is Catalan market.
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