This event, organised by Bodegas Familiares Matarromera, took place for the third time and was held this year at the Carlos Moro Winery in La Rioja.
On the 15th of June, the “Conversation around wine and literature” event took place for the third time at Bodega Carlos Moro in the Riojan town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, where the writers Mercedes Monmany and César Antonio Molina presented and talked about their works “Por las fronteras de Europa” and “Todo se arregla caminando”,respectively.
The day began with a visit to the winery, walking through the underground corridorsand passing by each of the different floors in a panoramic elevator, from which the visitors could witness the wine production process.
Carlos Aganzo, CEO of El Norte de Castilla, moderated the literary conversation in which the audience could learn secrets about both novels and exchange opinions with the authors.
It is the third time that this event has taken place. The first gathering involved Carmen Posadas and Juan Manuel de Prada,and the second was led by Rosa Villacastín and Lorenzo Silva.
Authors
Mercedes Monmany
A graduate of Information Science, specialising in contemporary literature, particularly European, she has been a poetry publisher, an editorial advisor, a literary critic for key supplements in Spanish newspapers, a contributor to various cultural institutions anda director for courses dedicated to European literature at the UIMP (Menéndez Pelayo International University in Madrid) and other universities.
She is currently directing the collection of literary essays“La Rama Dorada”,for the Huerga & Fierro publishing house, and“Los Papeles de Sefarad” (for the Sefarad-Israel Centre, edited by Errata Naturae).
She has published the books: “Una infancia de escritor” (Xordica Editorial), “Don Quijote en los Cárpatos” (Huerga& Fierro Editoriales), “Vidas de mujer” (Alianza Editorial); “De lo maravilloso y lo real. Antología de Joan Perucho” (ColecciónObra Fundamental. Banco de Santander. 2014); “Everyday Heroes” (text for the Both Light and Shadow volume (The Work of Adam Zagajewski), and a 1500-page volume about European literature and 320 different authors, under the title“Por las fronteras de Europa. Un viaje por la narrativa de los siglos XX y XXI”, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2015), with a prologue by the writer Claudio Magris.
She collaborates with various Spanish news publications (La Vanguardia, El País, Diario 16, Revista de Occidente, Revista de Libros, Vanguardia Dossier, and the French journal Cahiers de l’Herne), and since the year 2000 she has written about foreign literature for the ABC Cultural supplement.
César Antonio Molina
A law graduate with a doctorate in Information Science. He was a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and is currently a professor atthe Carlos III University of Madrid. He directed the literary supplement Culturas, for Diario 16, and also headed institutions such as the Círculo de Bellas Artes and the Cervantes Institute. He was the Minister for Culture.
He is a renowned poet whose work has beenanthologised and translated, and is also an excellent narrator, critic and essayist, with a copious amount of published work. “Todo se arregla caminando” is the sixth volume of his “Memorias de ficción” series, following in the wake of “Vivir sin ser visto” (2000), “Regresar a donde no estuvimos” (2003), “Esperando a los años que no vuelven” (Destino, 2007), “Lugares donde se calma el dolor” (Destino, 2009), and“Donde la eternidad envejece” (Destino, 2012). This same publishing house published his book of short stories “Fuga del amor” (2005), which was translated into several languages,as well as his essay “La caza de los intelectuales”.
He has received numerous national and international literary and journalistic awardsand, in addition, the highest honours fromFrance, Italy, Portugal, Chile, Serbia, as well as the Castelao medal from Galicia. He also holds an honorary doctorate from Naples Eastern University.
Bodega Carlos Moro
In 2015 Bodega Carlos Moro celebrated its firstharvestwith a yield of over 400,000kg and in 2016 they opened their doors to wine tourism,offering different experiences to touristswho visit this prestigious region with a grand tradition of winemaking.During their stay visitors can pass through the impressive underground corridors, which are 300m in length and more than 1200m2,and can also witness the wine production process on the various floors of the winery from a panoramic elevator.
Since the winery was established, Carlos Moro has invested in order to improve the facilities and processes, providing it with the latest technology and acquiring new American and French casks from the best cask producers. The winery currently possesses 1,300 French and American oak barrels, 33 stainless steel tanks, 25 special concrete tanksand three wooden vats. It has also expanded its infrastructure to facilitate wine production and adapt the facilities to its needs.
It currently owns more than 20 hectaresof vineyard distributed amongst 23 plotslocated in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja and Labastida,inÁlava,as well as75 hectarescontrolled locallyin these same localitiesandÁbalos, a municipality annexed to San Vicente de la Sonsierra. Gallomate, San Martín, La Rad, Las Ginebras, El Acueducto, Cuba Negra, AltazabaandLarrazuriare some of its vineyards which were specially chosen and located.
