"We have to change, because the paradigm changes. If the external changes but you remain the same, we end up dying, and drying up." From this conviction, the Mas Martinet winery has adapted its facilities and its vineyards to the new climatic conditions, as explained by Sara Pérez Ovejero, who is at the helm of what was one of the pioneering wineries in Priorat.
To adapt to these new circumstances, the winery has received a loan of 250,000 euros from the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), resources with which it has promoted measures against drought, such as improvements in the irrigation system and the installation of structures to provide shade to the vines, and has renovated the winery to gain energy efficiency, optimize air conditioning, and acquire new machinery.
Given the drought and changes in the global wine market, the winery chose to face the situation with external advisors: "We had never made such a wise decision as to make investments in one of the most complicated moments in our history," defends Pérez. And all with the aim of evolving to preserve an activity that originated in 1981. It was then that the parents of the current director, Josep Lluís Pérez and Montse Ovejero, launched the project. Both biologists, they arrived in Priorat from Sant Cugat del Vallès, where they settled after having traveled the world and having grown up in agricultural areas. "They decided it was time to change their lives and landed in Priorat," explains the director, who was nine years old at the time.
Pérez and Ovejero, who were familiar with enological trends and practices from other countries, found while residing in Priorat that there was no degree in viticulture or enology in Spain, and decided to open the first school in this field at a national level. "They bought Mas Martinet, all the students planted, and in 1989 they had their first vintage," recalls Sara Pérez.
"They wanted to make a revolution and bet on great wines, and caused a great stir in Europe and the United States. It was a risky bet, and it became the great revolution of Priorat," assures the director. This attitude has been maintained throughout the decades, in which the family has prioritized innovation and research to "be disruptive and adapt to each time." In 2000, the current director took the reins of the winery, and applied agroecological guidelines for its management.
"Each generation has explained the sociocultural and economic context of the moment, and now it's our turn to continue explaining it, at a time when everything was against us because all our strains were dying," emphasizes Pérez. Now, more than four decades after Mas Martinet's impulse, the winery has a staff of 18 employees, who work alongside the four children of the founders, now retired but still residing on the estate.
The winery, which currently produces seven wines, is determinedly focused on the local market. "Priorat gained popularity initially, especially in Germany and the United States, and 80% was exported," explains Pérez. But Mas Martinet decided to change this trend a little over a decade ago, as "it makes no sense to produce organic wines and then transport them to the other side of the world, with the environmental impact that entails."
Now, exports represent 45%, while 25% goes to Barcelona and its surroundings; 10% to the rest of Catalonia, and the other 10% to the rest of Spain. The winery has achieved this "through hard work and attitude," and above all through determination and conviction that the ecological vision must prevail in any activity, including wine production and working the land.