The Cooperative Winery, the Spirit of Espolla
In Espolla, winegrowers already associated at the beginning of the twentieth century, first as a Union (1906) and later as a Cooperative. The aim was to improve the sale conditions of their products—wine and olive oil—, and to facilitate the purchase of machinery and agricultural supplies.
The Union does not appear to have been particularly active until the late 1920s, when more available records already refer to the Cooperative. In 1929, plans began to be discussed for building a winery, which would be completed in a remarkably short time. The chosen site was donated by one of Espolla’s major landowners, the Marquès de Camps, and a plaque on the winery’s façade commemorates the Cooperative’s gratitude. The project was entrusted to Pelai Martínez i Paricio of Figueres (1898–1978), a renowned architect in the Empordà region and a friend of Salvador Dalí. Pelai Martínez was inspired by the “wine cathedrals” designed by the architect Cèsar Martinell in the Tarragona area. Accompanied by a delegation from the Cooperative, he also visited two cooperatives in Roussillon. The Cooperative’s members themselves contributed to the construction by providing hours of labour.
Although not all the winegrowers of Espolla joined immediately—as another plaque at the winery entrance recalls—at this time, 80% of the grapes harvested within the municipality came from Cooperative members. By 1952, it was almost 100%. Another interesting fact from the Cooperative’s early years is that the first woman, Francisca Bassegoda, joined the Board of Directors in 1930. In 1931, eight of the Cooperative’s 111 members were women.
The Cooperative building was officially inaugurated in 1931, with La Principal de Peralada Orchestra and with the first grape harvest already received at the winery. Curiously, the Cooperative’s General Assembly refused to allow the Espolla parish priest to bless the new premises.
The present building has changed very little since 1931, after a wing was added to the building for the olive oil section and mill in 1933. Over the years, renovation work has been carried out to modernise the facilities, while always taking care to preserve the original structure.
As for the winemaking, it has also evolved to keep pace with changing times and current demands. At least since the 1980s, when the oenologist Eduard Puig Vayreda—a much-missed historian and renowned expert on Empordà wines—joined the winery, the Cooperative has been committed to qualitative improvement and has diversified the ranges of its wines. Today, we produce everything from bulk wine, also sold in bag-in-box packaging, to single-vineyard and unique, limited-production wines from the Vins de Postal collection. What we have always have maintained is the reputation and quality of our dessert wines: Muscat and Garnatxa wines aged in a variety of ways. These have now been joined by Ranci del Bocoi, the first rancio wine to receive the DO Empordà certification.
Today, as in Europe’s agricultural sector in general, the Cooperative’s membership is declining. And at the same time, it is divided between those who are making efforts to modernise their vineyards and olive groves and those who continue to maintain traditional plots, even if only as a supplementary activity.
As we approach the centenary of the Celler Cooperatiu d’Espolla, we face several challenges: from the climate crisis to changing consumer habits as well as the lack of the incorporation of new members who would ensure generational renewal. Nevertheless, our commitment to continuing the initiative launched by our predecessors remains undiminished. We are fully aware that the quality of our products is the foundation for sustaining a project that has an economic, social and landscape impact in the heart of the Albera.
Sources and further information: Archives of the Cooperative and Espolla Town Council; El Celler Cooperatiu d’Espolla: els inicis d’un projecte (1906-1939), Marciano Cardaba Carrascal i Sílvia Musquera Felip (Figueres: Brau Edicions, 2007).