Pere Rovira i Rovira: in love with wine and the vineyard

One of the great figures of Catalan and Spanish wine of the last 60 years, Pere Rovira i Rovira, has passed away at the age of 84. From the age of 17, he continued his family's business, his craft, and his passion for the wine trade. From the great Mas Pujó winery in Santa Margarida i els Monjos (Alt Penedès), he became one of the brokers who moved the most wine in Spain. At 18, he attended his first wine auction. He set out to be an entrepreneur who wanted to break new ground and broaden his horizons to "change things." He stated that he had "learned that, in life, you have to work." He was always very grateful for the efforts of his ancestors. He leaves behind a wife, four daughters (whom he numbered according to their ages), and five grandchildren. He lost two newborn twins.

This wine entrepreneur from the Penedès region has long been a lover of wine, and above all, of the land and the vineyard. He arrived in Priorat in 1998 with the clear goal of "playing in the Wine Champions League" with Mas d'en Gil (formerly Masia Barril), alongside the leading Priorat wineries. His wife Pilar, his traveling companion for the past 65 years, recommended that he not let this opportunity slip away. In addition to wine, he produced top-quality oil and vinegar, and even the Aromes de Montserrat herbal liqueur for several years.

In addition to wine, he produced high-quality oil and vinegar, and even the Aromes de Montserrat liqueur.

Born in 1940 to a farming family in the village of Moja, he continued from a very young age the work of his grandfather, Francisco Rovira Parellada, who was a farmer at La Montanyeta like his great-grandfather, and his father. Determined, enthusiastic, and affable, over the years he embarked on new paths, guided by, according to his family, "the quality and appreciation of the land."

From a humble family, he was a hard worker and a tireless conversationalist. He was an intelligent and astute businessman and a very family-oriented person. There's no corner of Spain's winemaking landscape that he didn't know.

Pere Rovira, the third generation of the family, soon focused on the commercial world, but always eager to explore new paths, which led him to other businesses. In 1963, he married Pilar Carbonell Fàbregas, daughter of Joan Carbonell and Pilar Fàbregas. They were the tenant farmers of one of the oldest farmhouses in the Penedès region, Mas Pujó, and looked after the crops, poultry, and wine production for local consumption. In 1967, Pere Rovira professionalized Mas Pujó, where wine has been produced since the 16th century, and created a company producing white and red wines with the Penedès DO. In 1972, he and two partners purchased the Caves Hill winery, located in Moja, and in 1980, he finally acquired the 30-hectare Mas Pujó estate, adding it to the land purchased decades earlier by his grandfather and father. From then on, he founded the agricultural company that bears both families' names: Agrícola Rovira Carbonell. Over the years, Pere Rovira expanded his business. He began purchasing wine throughout Spain and by 1988 was exporting to Portugal, France, and, since his eldest daughter, Pilar, joined the company, to other countries such as Germany and Italy.

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Pere Rovira was a member of the Regulatory Council of the Penedès DO from 1997 to 2011, and also a member of the Regulatory Council of the Cava DO as a base wine producer. In 2008, his youngest daughter, Marta, joined the family business to manage the Mas d'en Gil winery in Bellmunt del Priorat. During the Nit de l'Enologia (Night of Enology) on April 17, 2015, the Catalan Association of Winemakers recognized him with the Senior Winemaker award for his career spanning more than 50 years as a winemaker. In his memoir, entitled "Enamorat de la terra" (In Love with the Land ), Pere Rovira stated that he is proud of his life: "I look back and am moved remembering how, as a young man, I began to move in the world of wine. Today, 60 years later and with eight decades under my belt, I still don't understand how I have managed to achieve so many things in life."