Cellers d’Or visits Casa Vermouth Padró
Cellers d’Or is a book published this year by the Vinari Awards and featuring a selection of the cavas, wines and vermouths that have been awarded a gold medal – the highest distinction in this benchmark for Catalan vermouth – in the years since the competition started. The book takes us on a nostalgic, photographic and meticulous journey to the origins of these three beverages that so delight our palates, bringing us closer to the vineyards, the wineries and above all the people behind the top quality products that received Vinari Gold recognition.
One of the stops in the Cellers d’Or tour of Catalonia was our own village of Bràfim, located in the Alt Camp region of Tarragona province here in Spain. The book recalls how our Padró & Co. Reserva Especial won the competition’s highest distinction, the Gran Vinari d’Or in 2018, for best Catalan vermouth. The description of each winery is preceded by some notes from Empar Moliner, Spanish writer and journalist, who tells us the thoughts that come to mind whenever she sees the word Bràfim. How one of her favourite drinks, Padró vermouth, was already being made there back in the 19th century.
Cellers d’Or came to see us at our Casa Vermouth Padró, visitors centre where we show some of the Padró family history and how vermouth is made following the traditional process. Eva Vicens, one of the editors of the book and director of the Vinari Awards, chatted with Ernest Padró, one of the four fifth-generation Padro siblings, Mario García, our winemaker and Montse Bové, head of domestic sales.
We explained to Cellers d’Or how we decided to start bottling our vermouths for the very first time in 2014 and so our original vermouth brand was born in the form of Myrrha Rojo red vermouth. It was a success and was soon followed by Myrrha Blanco white and Myrrha Rojo Reserva red. Our team recalled how very shortly afterwards, we got this compelling inner feeling that something was challenging us, pushing us towards creating a new and unique line of vermouths. Our Padró & Co. range was launched in 2016 and was soon to earn national and international recognition.
