For four generations, the Sanromà family cultivated grapes in Vila-rodona, Tarragona, and sold them in bulk to the local cooperative. Eduard Sanromà, 34, chose to take a different path without abandoning that agricultural tradition. After studying winemaking, he began using part of the family’s harvest to produce his own wines, founding Celler Sanromà in 2013.
The family owned 30 hectares of vineyards, but Sanromà reserved roughly a third for the winery while continuing to send the rest of the grapes to the cooperative. During the first years, from 2013 to 2015, he worked in space provided by the cooperative and started with a 200-litre tank. In 2018, he bought the building that now houses the winery with the help of a €30,000 grant for young farmers from the Generalitat.
Celler Sanromà now produces about 25,000 bottles a year and around ten single-variety wines. Sanromà harvests the winery’s grapes by hand and leaves grass in the vineyards as part of his low-intervention approach. His first wine was called 125 because he produced just that many litres. The project initially surprised people in the village, particularly when he dropped half of the grapes during veraison, the stage when they begin changing colour and ripening.
Sanromà says his family did not immediately understand the change. His grandfather, a former cooperative president, was reportedly uneasy that some of the family’s grapes were no longer going to the cooperative. His parents also wondered why he was making the business more complicated. Despite occasional disagreements with his father, Sanromà believes he has earned respect by introducing a different perspective on viticulture.
A central part of that approach is the recovery of native grape varieties. He says that many local varieties, including sumoll and cartuja, disappeared as cooperatives replaced them with grapes such as tempranillo and chardonnay. After initially inheriting vineyards planted with macabeo and parellada, he proposed reintroducing varieties such as xarel·lo and sumoll. He now uses them for single-variety wines intended to express the character of the territory.
The winery began exporting from its earliest days, helping it reinvest while production remained limited. Its current export markets include New York, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Puerto Rico and Portugal. Sanromà also continues to operate the family’s grape-selling business, allowing the two activities to support each other during difficult periods.
The project has faced the pandemic, market disruption, drought, the closure of important markets in Canada and Singapore, falling alcohol consumption and pressure on prices. Sanromà says he has learned to focus on matters within his control rather than on external events that can affect international trade.
His plans are to continue cultivating more local varieties, produce more wine and expand exports while retaining control of the business. He also sees the winery as part of a wider effort to keep rural communities active: vineyards support restaurants, livestock and land management, while viable farming can help prevent the disappearance of agricultural activity.
Looking back, Sanromà believes his grandfather would be proud that the business continues through the vineyards he planted and cared for. What began as a departure from the family’s established route has become a way of extending it, with the same land supporting a new generation of wines.
Sources: La Vanguardia.