Spain, singular mosaic of soils’, thematic axis of the third edition of the trade fair
Barcelona Wine Week tours the best Spanish wine areas led by 80 experts
Barcelona Wine Week 2023, the benchmark trade fair for quality Spanish wine, will bring together nearly 80 Masters of Wine, sommeliers, producers and experts from the world of wine in a complete program of activities with more than fifty presentations and tastings. The objective, to value the great mosaic of soils and wine-producing territories in Spain and analyse the great challenges for the future of the industry.
Under the motto “Spain, singular mosaic of soils”, Barcelona Wine Week, which will take place from February 6 to 8, 2023 at the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc venue, will bring together the best experts to offer industry professionals the opportunity to learn about the great geological and wine diversity of the country, as well as to present the latest trends and discuss the main challenges of the sector through a program of more than 50 activities, tastings and presentations.
In this sense, a prominent space will be the Wine Tasting Journey – Soils of Spain by #alimentosdespaña wine bar, which, hand in hand with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, will offer a self-guided tasting with 58 wines in which the soil is an element of special importance. There will be wines from Bierzo, Valderroas, Somontano, Valle de Orotava (Tenerife), Jumillas, Priorat, Mallorca, Jerez, León and Calatayud, among other territories.
In addition, the extensive tasting program includes sessions such as the one that will bring together Masters of Wine who now make their own wines, such as Norrel Robertson, who has been producing his wines in Calatayud since 2003; Fernando Mora, with vineyards in different parts of Aragon; and Andreas Kubach, director of Península Vinicultores, with wineries in La Rioja Alavesa, among other points. Award-winning sommeliers who have become winemakers such as Bruno Murciano, Guillermo Cruz, Sergi Figueres and Xavi Nolla will also star in a joint tasting.
The tasting program will be completed by around fifteen renowned winemakers who cultivate in unique soils such as René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios and Miquel Torres, who will show the richness of the Priorat licorella; Ricardo P. Palacios, with vineyards on a slope with slate soil in El Bierzo; Esmeralda García, who works with the sandy soils of Santiuste (Segovia); Julia Casado, who seeks in her wines the emotional connection with the terroir of Bullas (Murcia); Sara Pérez, in love with the soils of Priorat and Montsant; César Saldaña, a visionary of the potential of the albariza de Jerez and Felipe Blanco, who will talk about the magic of Canarian soils and wines. For his part, the journalist and sommelier Ramón Francàs will lead the ‘7 magnificent Priorat’ tasting, with 7 of the best wines from the area; and Santi Rivas, author of “Leave Everything or Leave the Wine” will analyse 13 consumer trends through 13 wines.
Other interventions of interest will be those of the internationally renowned critic Tim Atkin, who will present his long-awaited Rioja 2023 Special Report and will guide a tasting of wines from the area; and that of Luís Gutiérrez, taster for Wine Advocate Robert Parker for Spain and author of the book “Los nuevos viñadores”, who will lead a tasting of 6 great wines from 6 different soils. Finally, another tasting will pay tribute to the figure of Gérard Basset, considered the greatest sommelier of all time (he held the titles of Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and Best Sommelier in the World), and who died three years ago.
Challenges, trends and more gastronomy
The BWWHub space will also host conferences and round table discussions on sustainability, innovation or digitization. Topics such as the management of vineyard soils in the face of climate change, the benefits of ecodesign, new ways of reusing bottles, the digital transformation of viticulture, the protection of the country’s old vines or how to better communicate Spanish wine will be analysed.
This year, BWW will also make a firm commitment to strengthen the synergies of wine with haute cuisine, a great ambassador of the Spanish food industry abroad. Thus, in collaboration with ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, a round table discussion will be held with international restaurants recognized with the Restaurants from Spain international gastronomic quality distinction. Participating, among others, will be Nacho Manzano, chef at Casa Marcial (**Michelin) and gastronomic director of the Ibérica Restaurants and Camino group (London) and José Pizarro, owner of 6 restaurants in London and collaborator of the BBC, where he divulges the benefits of Spanish produce.
The #BWWGastronomy Food & Wine Restaurant space will offer the possibility of enjoying the best dishes paired with great wines at breakfasts, appetizers, lunches and after works by three outstanding Barcelona restaurants: Bar Alegría (Tomas Abellan), Cecconi’s (Alessio Biangini) and Kao (Josep Maria Kao). The sommelier César Cánovas will be in charge of finding the best wines to accompany each menu.
In addition to this extensive program, BWW will have 700 wineries and 70 quality labels in its exhibition space. In this way, it will be a great business and networking forum that will bring together thousands of professionals and purchase decision-makers from large distribution groups, importers of recognized prestige, wholesale centres, specialized distributors, retailers and gourmet stores. To this end, it has invited nearly 1,800 key buyers of Spanish wine, coming, in addition to Spain, from relevant export markets such as the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Singapore, Colombia, Brazil, China, Japan and Korea.
Barcelona, 17 February 2023
Susana Santamaria
ssantamaria@alimentaria.com