Last week, I was invited to a reception at the fabulous home of Janet Kafka, who was hosting Gloria Collell, the winemakers’ ambassador for Ferrer Wine Estates and the Heredad Collection. Ferrer was showcasing a small list of limited release premium wines from Spain’s top appellations.
Megan Duran, Gloria Collell and Janet Kafka
Collell was born into a wine family and studied enology in 1990 to carry on the family business. Her training took her to Burgundy and to the Penedès where she lived and worked as an enologist and eventually took a position working with Ferrer Wine Estates, the Ferrer family’s collection of boutique wineries.
Collell arrived in Dallas from Cataluña, Spain and embarked on a whirlwind U.S. tour of the boroughs of New York, New Jersey and Austin to educate people about Spanish wine and turn her contagious passion of wine into sales. She talked about the “brand issue” that Spain has as opposed to a region such as Italy which does a better job in marketing and selling its wines. “In Spain, we need to be more vocal about our wines. Take prosecco vs. cava as a great comparison. If you look at things like packaging, you might have an opinion about which bottle is best. But, when you open the bottle that is the moment when Spanish wine truly speaks for itself.”
Having been a longtime fan of the Segura Vidas Brut Rose Cava for its value and taste, I certainly agree. Collell talked about how cava is such a great lifestyle wine because of its versatility and ability to match with so many different foods. Her enthusiasm for Spanish wine certainly motivated me to spend some more time learning about what the country has to offer.
