GUILLEM SILVESTRE

The connection between childhood and the senses. How aromas and sounds stir up memories; a legacy expressed in an eternal amazement at the alchemy of winemaking. Guillem's day-to-day is built on foundations that are inevitably shared by everyone who, like him, has become a keeper and master of Familia Torres wines.

And family, of course. “My family on my mother's side is originally from Vila-Rodona (Alt Camp, Tarragona), and I spent my summers and part of the harvest there when I was little. Not a day went by that I didn't spend three or four hours with my grandfather at the village's wine cooperative, watching them unload one harvest trailer after another. The sound of tractors full of grapes going by our house, and the smell rising up from the hopper at the cooperative after they unloaded a harvest trailer, those are my most vivid memories. They take me back to those days.”

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Guillem Silvestre, head of thePacs del Penedès winery.

During those summer days, young Guillem's desire to one day head such an enterprise, driven by his fascination for how grapes transform into wine, began to take shape.

‘“The transformation of grapes into wine, and everything this involves, has always fascinated me. Being a part of that was always a goal of mine.”

At times, winemaking seems more like a way of life than a line of work. Guillem attributes this to “dynamism and on-going improvement. There are a million things to do and improve at the winery every day, countless details to keep in mind which give a wine that extra level of quality.”

The intensity of the harvest season demands Guillem's undivided attention. “Every harvest is different and comes with different challenges; you always learn something new. We have a great team of people working day and night at the Pacs del Penedès winery during the harvest. It is a non-stop process, and you have to pay attention to every detail.”

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Guillem surrounded by vineyards at the Pacs del Penedès winery, during the pruning season.

Guillem's profile as a wine lover matches the frankness of his personality. No artifice whatsoever. A man who loves his work and family:

“Above all, I ask for frankness in a wine; a clean expression of its variety, winemaking, and place of origin. And, of course, a conversation or a meal to go with it... To turn the everyday into something special.”

Guillem is one of us. Someone real with a deep connection to the land.