Celebrating the La Vilella Baixa village cooperative’s centenary in 2019 at Vinícola del Priorat in Gratallops. These two co-ops, along with two others, joined forces in 1991 under the Vinícola del Priorat name (see p52)
COOPERATIVES OF SPAIN
At some point towards the tail end of the 20th century, ‘cooperative’ became a dirty word in progressive Spanish winemaking circles. At their zenith, close to three-quarters of production in the country’s winemaking heartlands was represented by las cooperativas vitivinícolas – wine producers of widely varying sizes, owned and controlled by their grower-members.
But by the end of the 20th century, co-ops were considered an embarrassing anachronism by many in the industry. They were seen as a throwback to the bad old days of Spanish wine, before the post-Franco transition to democracy and Spain’s accession to the EEC (now EU) in 1986.
This political transformation ushered in a bold new era in which ambitious, entrepreneurial, independent producers changed the way Spanish wine was made, sold and discussed. At a time of rapid change, co-ops came to stand for all that was retrogressive – a
