At the Wine Room of the Savoy Grill – carved out of an old chef’s office and now a polished sanctum of serious wine intent – a small, spirited group gathers around gleaming stemware and foie gras bonbons. It is, ostensibly, a tasting. But from the moment Pere Ventura hands over a business card which reads only ‘I am’, it is clear we are also being asked to bear witness…
Helping to guide the experience: sommelier, Piedad Fernandez and self-titled ‘salesman of pleasure,’ Thierry Tomasin MCA, a former Chairman Sommelier of Great Britain.
Ventura, philosopher-winemaker, patriarch, and self-styled prophet of Spanish sparkling wine is here with his co-founder, and partner in life, Mireia Juvé, and international director, Nicolas Bertino. Together, they represent Pere Ventura Family Wine Estates (PVFWE), a company whose roots run deep into Catalan soil, and whose ambitions now stretch from Sant Sadurní d’Anoia to the steep slate of Priorat.
The Man Who Says ‘I Am’
‘To talk about Cava today is not easy,’ Ventura says. ‘Many reasons not to believe in it.’ He has the air of a man who has had this conversation before – too many times. He is one of eight children, the designated heir after his father suffered two heart attacks. At 30, he took over the business. In 1991, he founded his own winery in honour of Cava consumers and three generations of family – including his great-grandfather, Manuel Montserrat Font, who is credited with making the first bottles of cava using the traditional method in 1872 at Codorníu. ‘I accepted the responsibility because I believe in the spirit of wine, not only the wine itself.’
He prefers Shakespeare to spreadsheets; he read the New Testament as a child, and it shows. At times, he does not speak so much as preach. The line, ‘The best prophet of the future is the past’ is often laid at Byron’s feet, but in Ventura’s mouth, it rings like scripture. He believes in legacy as others believe in liturgy, and in land as others believe in God.
Pere Ventura wines are, at core, wines of place. The company now works across four Catalan appellations, but Cava remains its soul. The brand was among the first to achieve the coveted Paraje Calificado status – a kind of Spanish Grand Cru – and produces only wines from first press juice, harvested by hand from eighty-nine growers.
Those growers matter. ‘Some have 27 generations on their land,’ Ventura says. He calls the approach ‘organic with a small o’ and insists that social sustainability – not just low yield – guides their farming. The result? Wines with tension, structure, and clarity, many of them far better than they have any right to be for the price.
Ventura is also sceptical of the CORPINNAT movement, which broke away from DO Cava to establish stricter production standards and reclaim prestige. ‘Help us with social sustainability,’ he urges instead. ‘I believe sense of place needs to be explicit. Everybody needs to defend sense of place – nothing more.’
A Tasting in Acts
The Tresor Collection opens proceedings. It is, Ventura says, the beginning. Tresor Brut Gran Reserva 2021 – a classic blend of Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada – marks the 30th anniversary. Bright citrus, lemon peel and pith, with exuberance and precision. It is flamboyant yet deft, and deeply impressive.
Tresor Cuvée Gran Reserva Brut 2020 – Xarel·lo and Chardonnay, with a portion of the Chardonnay aged in oak barrels – imparts aromas of vanilla cream, a touch of Picos blue, heady kitchen garden after the rain, and a savoury edge. There’s richness, a long finish, and the oak, while present, does not dominate.
Vintage Gran Reserva Brut 2017 – again Xarel·lo and Chardonnay – has moved into umami territory. There are toasted almonds, laser-like acidity, and a luscious, mouth-watering finish. A precise, gastronomic wine.
Gran Vintage Brut Paraje Calificado Can Bas 2016 – Xarel·lo and Macabeo in equal parts – is more subtle and reserved. A touch of reduction gives way to citrus, bergamot, and a broader palate. It’s vinous and serious, if slightly less multidimensional at this moment. Its oak countenance paired with Ramsay’s take on the Savoy Grill’s iconic, cheese enriched Arnold Bennet soufflé.
Tresor Gran Reserva 2017 (magnum) – a blend of Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada – begins with reductive, almost sappy nose, but opens into a vivacious, budding palate. One of the most rewarding wines once it finds air.
Tresor Gran Reserva 2019 (jeroboam) – same blend – shows bright orange blossom notes at first, but again evolves. It is full of energy, clear in its Cava identity, and built to develop.
Pere Ventura Gran Reserva 2010 – Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada – is the most intellectually challenging of the tasting. Initially bearing notes of washed rind cheese and oxidative depth. Heavy, a little brooding, and not automatically easy drinking, but undeniably intriguing.
Vintage Rosé Gran Reserva 2021 – 100% Pinot Noir from high-altitude vineyards facing the sea – is mineral, restrained, saline and fresh with delicacy of bead. The wine showed beautifully against a single Carlingford oyster touched with kumquat and ginger.
For all the poetics, there is a brutally practical point here. These are wines of terroir, typicity, and real complexity, yet they do not cost champagne prices. With Gran Vintage 2015 pulling in multiple 95-point scores from Decanter and Peñín, and the Vintage Gran Reserva 2014 earning a platinum 97 at DWWA, the pedigree is proven.
These are listings which could reward both intellect and economy. They come with ageing potential, high gastronomic compatibility, and a story which is far better than most. Served in broad bowled glasses – which Ventura has favoured since 1991- the wines revealed their architecture with clarity.
From Sparkle to Slate: Merum Priorati
If Cava is the family faith, Priorat is the pilgrimage. Merum Priorati, Ventura’s still wine estate, came into Pere Ventura’s hands in 2013. The story has the air of parable: an 85-year-old man with a dream of making Priorat wine invests over €10m, goes bankrupt, and begs Ventura to take it on, crying in their meeting. Ventura accepts, on the condition the dream be honoured.
Destí 2018 (magnum) – predominantly Garnacha grown at 400m altitude – is fragrant, fresh, and finely structured. A wine of real presence, lithe tannins, and long-lived depth.
El Cel 2021 (also magnum) – a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from vines as high as 800m – is lighter, silkier, and more ethereal. Ventura notes that three vines are needed to produce a single bottle – the same ratio as his Gran Vintage Cava. The alcohol is woven within like lace. A striking duet for the perfect rare beef wellington with parsley and truffle.
Ventura speaks of succession, of Pere Jr., who joined the company three months ago. The chequered motif on the label represents the game of chequers – a nod, he says, to playing against yourself, legacy as a match you are both destined and doomed to play.
His wines, like the man himself, resist uniformity. ‘If everybody has the same taste, they’ll marry the same lady,’ he says. It is a shrug and a philosophy all at once. ‘I produce in an honest way, and push people to honour the personality of Pere Ventura.’ That personality is not always easy. But it is always true.
At the end of the day, he says something simple, almost too simple: ‘Without consumers, there is no sense to make wine.’
And in that moment, surrounded by bon mots and bonbons, prestige bubbles and the vinous voices of old vines, you almost forget how much he believes it.
