Awards season

The month of May is awards season par excellence. Several important competitions are held and many Spanish wines have received several awards and recognition. One of the most anticipated awards at this time of year, directly or indirectly linked, depending on your point of view, to the world of wine, is the world’s best restaurant competition. The Roca brothers have been waiting for this moment for a long time, the culmination of many years of long, hard work. And at last it happened.

The Celler de Can Roca has been named the world’s best restaurant 2013, and with this award, their long, very successful trajectory has been recognized. How proud their parents must be! And what modesty they show. The oldest brother, Joan, commented after receiving the award: “We don’t know if we’re the best restaurant in the world, but you can be sure that we’ll continue working with authenticity, generosity and hospitality.” Well we can tell you that these qualities are exactly what we found when we went to interview Josep, the sommelier.

He received us, curiously, in his parents, Josep and Montserrat’s, restaurant which is where it all began. Later, in the Celler de Can Roca, we were met with kindness, friendliness, sincerity and simplicity, and were made to feel right at home. Congratulations from Selectus Wines to the Roca brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi, on their success. Now they have to work to maintain the level achieved.

In addition to the interview with Josep “Pitu” Roca, you will find the regular reports from our contributors. Of particular note: in this issue, we have started a series of features on very old bodegas. The first to be covered in our publication is the CVNE. Sit back and enjoy.