The counties of Girona can boast of being at the heart of the ratafia comeback, thanks to the massive Ratafia Festival in Santa Coloma de Farners and the Besalú Ratafia Fair. This liqueur, made by a hydroalcoholic maceration process based on green walnuts, herbs, fruits and spices, was traditionally made for the festival of Sant Joan (late June) for local or family consumption.
However, the popularisation of ratafia with green walnut as a differentiating element has encouraged some entrepreneurs to specialise in making liqueurs. As well as ratafia, the heading of homemade spirits includes different styles of beer, gins, liqueurs, juices and vermouths, although these drinks were evaluated by sommeliers as part of the wine tasting.
Liqueurs, ratafias and brandies are destined to showcase our landscape and culture. Local products stand out, using local raw materials, some of which are inspired by the PGI Poma de Girona apples: ciders, brandies or apple juices from the different cultivated varieties.
Local drinks also show the expansion of craft beer. Many entrepreneurs have opened microbreweries, breweries or malthouses; others have become hop producers.
Local drinks with the 2023-2024 Girona Excel·lent seal
Cap de Creus Dry Gin
Cap de Creus gin is a 40º proof dry gin, made with junipers harvested by hand in the Pyrenees, spices and herbs grown in the same cloister of the Llançà distillery, at the easternmost tip of the Pyrenees Mountain range on Cap de Creus. The process of making this London Dry Gin begins with a hydroalcoholic maceration of rosemary, thyme, liquorice, bay leaf, marigold and mint, and after 24 hours, a single, slow distillation takes place in a traditional copper still.
Company: Quevall Licors Artesans 2018 SLU
Gin Nut Empordà Poma
At the Nut gin distillery, they have built a bridge between Girona and London. The Nut Empordà apple gin is part of their range of infusions, macerations and mixtures of Nut London dry gin, which they make from 96.3% rectified grain alcohol, osmosis-purified water and 13 botanical ingredients. Once the gin has been distilled and the alcohol content has been adjusted, they add a natural concentrate of Girona apples prepared at a low temperature, using Granny Smith and Golden fruit grown in the Empordà region. This gives the gin a bright and elegant golden tone, and the dry aroma takes on a point of sweetness and acidity typical of the two apple varieties.
Company: Arbenig 2012, SL
Lemon liqueur
Joan Isaac Castelló Batalla succeeds in conveying the perfume of the lemon tree with this 16º proof liqueur, a low alcohol content like that of a fortified wine. Nearly a kilo of lemons are used to make one bottle of this liqueur, harvested in Llançà between January and March, when the fruit is at its most aromatic. Quevall Licors Artesans specialises in the production of distilled liqueurs based on plants, fruits, flowers, roots and spices, with an emphasis on local produce.
Company: Quevall Licors Artesans 2018 SLU
Ratafia L’Empordanesa
Roicom is a family company in Garriguella with a tradition of making spirits since 1875. Located in the middle of the town, the company makes this ratafia from separate hydroalcoholic macerations of green walnuts, aromatic herbs from the Albera mountains and spices. Before filtering and bottling, this 26º proof ratafia is aged for a minimum of three months in wooden casks, which results in a smooth liqueur full of nuances in flavour from the green walnuts and herbs.
Company: Roicom, SA
Fuji apple juice
This delicious apple juice is made only with apples of the Fuji variety, harvested at their optimal ripeness in late October in the apple orchards of Palau-sator, Fontclara and Gualta, part of the Girona Fruits Cooperative. This Mooma single variety juice is 100% natural and free of additives, preservatives, added sugars and water. It is pasteurised at their Mas Saulot facility and is sold in a glass jar.
Company: Agroalimentària Mas Saulot, SL
Minera Gold Rush beer
The mining past of Ripoll is the common thread of the Cerveseria Santjoanina beers, which began as a home brewery in the old Juncadella coal mine, where fermentation and ageing took place. Minera Gold Rush is in the Belgian blond ale style, unfiltered and unpasteurised, pale yellow in colour with a firm thick head. The sweet aroma of very ripe fruit stands out, and it has a sweet flavour with a spicy touch with notes of pepper and a final citric bitterness. The company emphasises that it is a beer suitable for celiacs, as it contains less than 20 mg of gluten per litre.
Company: Cerveseria Santjoanina, SL
Medes Pils – New Zealand Pilsner
This low-fermentation, New Zealand pilsner-style beer is named after the majestic Medes islands close by, which can be seen from Rupià, and encapsulates the project of this Baix Empordà microbrewery. Judit Piñol, from Llofriu, in the county of Baix Empordà, and Michael Jones, from Auckland, New Zealand, opened the DosKiwis microbrewery pub in the heart of the countryside in 2016. Medes Pils is a light, refreshing beer with a balanced but persistent bitter finish.
Company: Doskiwis Brewing, SL
Astroplane – Imperial Stout
Packaged in a can, to preserve its organoleptic characteristics as much as possible, Astroplane is a dense and silky stout. It has been seasoned with toasted sliced coconut, cocoa bean nibs and vanilla. It is dense and sweet, and its flavour highlights the aromas of coffee and chocolate, and notes of liquorice and coconut, which makes it ideal to go with desserts. DosKiwis likes to pair it with chocolate or vanilla ice cream.
Company: Doskiwis Brewing, SL
Sometimes Always – Hazy IPA
Cloudy, full-bodied, with aromas of tropical fruit, the Mediterranean touch of pine resin, and a subtly bitter finish, Sometimes Always is an Indian Pale Ale (IPA) that is refreshing, pleasant and summery, and should be served very, very cold. DosKiwis, who opened their new facility in January 2019, produce 40,000 litres of bottled beer a year with an emphasis on the environment and sustainability. For this reason, they point out that the bagasse (residue from malt maceration) is eaten by the pigs at Llavora, an organic livestock farm in Ventalló, located 21 km from the brewery.
Company: Doskiwis Brewing, SL
Mummum beer
This radical beer made among the volcanoes of the Garrotxa region is the result of a symbiosis with wine. It has been made exclusively with Catalan barley and wheat malts, and fermented with the natural wine that the producers themselves have vinified from the grapes they harvest in Santa Pau. Once fermentation is finished, the beer is aged in oak barrels for between six and twelve months. The result is a light-bodied beer with a fine, non-persistent head, a fairly transparent pink colour, and aromas of wine and red fruits. They recommend pairing it with meat and fish dishes.
Company: Jose Arcas Lobato
