In 1850, our great-great-grandfather, Josep Batlle, was working as a winemaker and grower for a family who owned the vineyards in La Plana, in the Anoia River valley. When phylloxera was ravaging the vineyards of France and much of Europe, Josep Batlle’s son, Pau, set about selling wine to the French sparkling wine producers, who knew the Catalonia region well, as it was their main cork supplier at the time. Using the Xarel·lo as a base, Pau learnt how to refine his own wines for this purpose.\n\nThis led to him setting up his own winery, Celler Batlle, in 1881, and enabled him to buy the vineyards that his father used to work.\n\nThe next generation, Pau’s daughter, Pilar, married Bartolome Gramona, the son of Josep Gramona, the then president of the Barcelona Taverners Guild, and founder of La Vid Catalana newspaper of the Catalan Association of Wine Producers, and from San Sadurni.\n\nThis united two old wine families who started producing sparkling wine, already under the Gramona brand name, in the early 20th century.\n\n1945 was the start of a new era for Gramona, under the stewardship of Bartomeu y Josep Lluis, the ‘hard working’ generation. They were the visionaries and pioneers behind long-aged sparkling wines. The first Gramona III Lustros was created in 1951 to begin a new era for long ageing sparkling wines (it was released on the market in 1961). Up until the late 20th century, the two brothers were at the helm of a small winery, highly regarded for the quality of its wines.\n\nThe soul of this generation, Josep Lluis Gramona, has been out in the winery every day, sharing his wisdom and love of winegrowing with his children and grandchildren.
