I always join the European Wine Bloggers Conference on the last minute I have the good fortune to get it. This is my third edition.
To meet wine lovers is an especial experience. These people have a lot in common, but maybe most important is their attitude to have fun in every event they assist.
When you are 20, you may not appreciate this characteristic what is worth. To laugh and have fun then is easy. But when you get older you become more demanding. Besides many things happen around you. These things that happen make you consider a somewhat different classification. On leisure the most important classification you do is wheter the people you meet are like living mummies to which nothing excites, and another group of those who get excited about little things, trying to have awakened the senses to realize that they are alive and also have a strong desire to live.
On the wine events except on rare occasions you find yourself almost exclusively with people who want to enjoy life and look at activities as a way to enjoy it. Enjoy life or the bad feeling is contagious. So there nothing like to meet with people who only intention is to ass his best and give it to the surroundings.
The European Wine Bloggers Conference is all that but much more. It is because it is an event that occurs once a year, because the places we visited are truly wonderful, because they meet the 250 people attending that are connected by Social Media, and with a hobby in common: they are completely mad on wine and its environment, to try new wines, for reading and writing about wine, wineries, meet old friends and make new ones and then keep in touch via Social Media and Internet. And much like the above who are willing to make thousands of miles, to meet like minded people. If it turns out that the organizers do a pretty good job, because they do it (Thank you Gabriella, Ryan, Robert), and if local partners, in this case the Italians in Franciacorta, do the best they can, the result can not be better.
I was delighted in Lisbon, I was delighted in Wien. And has come to pass in Brescia, Italy. We have spent 3 unforgettable days.
How to transmit all this in more graphic way?. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe with a couple of videos …
On the first you can see what I appreciated through the window of the plane on my trip to Milano. I was up at 3 in the morning, to catch the plane at 6. As you will understand I was knackered. But something was happening inside me as I was approaching to Brescia. I got asleep on the plane, but at a certain time I woke up and saw something that I guess you can see many times when you fly. But If you go to the EWBC your sensitivity is different. The plane seemed to not need wings because it seemed to float in cotton. Look at the video. Is this a good start no?
The first day we had a very long time (from 3 am on foot), with many interesting tastings and conferences. Then evening comes. On the program appears: Private Dinners at Secret Franciacorta Wineries. Uauuu!!!!!. This looked good. We went up to 4 buses each with a different destination. I happened by a Brazilian tasting teacher, with very lively conversation, but there was a time when, in the darkness of the bus, she and I, got asleep. (for the second time in a conveyance that day) I do not know how long it took. But I woke up, got off the bus like a zombie and I find this.
When you see the video you will see that it takes a bit to focus in the darkness of the night. This an effect I did not look for, but that accurately reflects how evolved my state, which was cleared in a few seconds to start listening to a story in the darkness of the night seemed a fairy tale.The owner of Il Mosnel Winery, talked to us (this was the winery we were visiting). She gave us the first details about the visit we were going to do. In few words she said we were in a winery that was founded in 1836, a family winery that strikes an important stretch in the 60s, and currently produces around 250.000 botttles.
The dinner was wonderful, with 9 winemakers of Franciacorta sitting each in echaof the tables. The dinner was prepared by the restaurant in Brescia, Due Colombe. They got out. His chef, Stefan Cerveni, at the end of the dinner, was so kind as to come to us and made a small speech, extremely emotional in English. As I had my Iphone at hand I recorded the finishing words of his speech. Thank you very much Stefano.
There are a number of tendencies that are evident today, even though many wineries are still questioning them, such as the following:
-Wineries need to differentiate themselves from their competitors more than before, given the ongoing process of globalization -The way to differentiate better (apart form the actual wine and its presentation) is by telling the story of the winery -There are more and more consumers that are interested in learning about the world of wine, especially those who are interested in areas peripheral to, but related to the world of wine, such as wine tourism.
-This is a tendency that is not in Spain as strong yet as it is on the abroad, and it comes from there with a tremendous force.
There are more and more people that are rejecting typical beach-tourism which is boring and mass-marketed, and are looking for something more interesting and individual, such as rural tourism with a wine connection.
Wineries know this, and it shows from the type of visits and experiences they regularly offer at their installations. The type of language they use is directed to people who have never been to a winery before. And from the type of questions asked (and not asked) one can tell that the visitors are not looking for a particularly sophisticated or highbrow level.
I was lucky enough to meet the people from the “Consorcio Ruta del Vino” during my visit to Aranda for the tasting organized for Bloggers and Wineries. They told me about their project, which has quite an important budget with many different public bodies involved.
A few wineries asked me if they should participate or not. At a cost per winery of about €2000/year, my reply would be that they should definitely participate. This is a ‘train’ that you either catch or get left behind!
It’s an attitude problem. Some wineries concentrate on making good wine, and don’t pay any attention to what’s going on around them.
And there are lots of things going on that can have a huge impact on whether a winery will be successful in the future, even it’s been successful in the past.
Like I said, it’s an attitude problem. In answer to a similar question of “Should I participate in WineFuture, or FineWine or the International Organic Wine Fair?” my answer is undoubtedly a “Yes”. Because it’s important to know what other wineries are doing and what they’re going to do. Then you can make an informed decision. But it’s easy to say that, when you are not the responsible of don’a limited budget to administer!
The wine business is becoming evermore complex. The only wineries that will survive are those that make really good wine and/or have a charismatic personality and/or know how to make use of the new means of communication and commercialization.
In summary, congratulations to the wineries that have decided to go along with the Ruta del Vino de Ribera de Duero project, which will be a great help for them in defining their future path over the next few years. The same applies to the new technologies: the wineries that have gone with Ribera de Duero will make better use of them. From a tiny acorn the might oak grows!
My thanks to Cristina Prat and Sara García for spending so much time with me to explain their project. They are very competent professionals who will ensure the success of the Ribera de Duero project.
When some body goes to Peñafiel, the first thinking is about visiting the“Museo del Vino” in the castle of Peñafiel.
As you arrive to Peñafiel you can see the castle, from several miles of distance. The view is great. The castle is over a mountain, perfectly maintained. You have a moment when you think you have gone through the time machine to the middle age. It is one of the nicest castles I have ever seen.
You can find a very good accommodation at the “Hotel Convento de las Claras”. The hotel has very nice rooms, an atractive swimingpool, a magnificent view of the castle and it is not very expensive. You have also a massage zone where you can relax after a hard day of walking and visiting.
The restaurant was not far from the hotel so we decided to go walking. I suppose that this restaurant can be very good for lunch. But what it is really cool is going to dinner.
The darkness and the river that both surround it, makes the place with something mysterious and charming. We need to go through a dark tunnel, with indirect lights. Then we arrived and we could see that the restaurant is made with taste, very special. The food and the service are also good.
I live in Pozuelo de Alarcón, quite closed to Madrid. When I have an evening like this one I wonder what the great town has to offer. I prefer 1000 times what Peñafiel offered me this evening.
And I taste his wine (Viña Solorca 2004 vintage selected). The first thing that strikes me is the presence and the elegance of its bottle and label. He had mentioned previously how many problems this kind of bottle had caused him on the filling line and how he had solved it. I can say now that it was worth to do what he did. The result is a very elegant bottle with a storng personality.
But let’s talk about the wine. There is no doubt that it comes from Ribera del Duero, it takes a little time to open at nose, but when it does, it becomes extremely generous, with many shades. On the palate, full bodied, but extremely balanced and complex. Even better than at sight and nose. At the same time soft, very soft. I understand why all these prizes we had seen previously on the prizes room.
As I keep being in this wine sector I feel an increased pleasure in knowing the stories about wine, wineries and about people that are behind each wine. It is very exciting.
We ate this fantastic fish beautifully presented, accompanied of the forementioned Viña Solorca Gran Selección 2004. The chef of its kitchen joined us at the table, a polite, friendly and close man.
I actually enjoyed of a very special dinner. And I felt I was among friends, thanks to the good relationship that connects Pedro with Victor.
As I mentioned before, Victor told us about his plans, his projects, his inventions. This man has a brain full of projects. It is like a machine of making bright ideas and implementing them.
I really enjoyed his wine in his cellar. Today, several days after the visit, I opened at home other bottle ot this same wine. And I have to say that the experience has been as good as the first one.
Then I have a look at his catalog. They have quite a nice catalog.
Then, I visit his website. I have to say that I can help him on this subject…
Solorca Vineyard, a winery with two things especially remarkable. They have a fantastic wine and a very, very special owner.
There are different ways to visit a winery. The most usual is joining an organized tour.
There is another which is more attractive. It is when you are invited by the owner, the winemaker, or either the manager. When this happens you have the possibility to know many things about what’s behind a bottle of wine… its label, its colour, its flavour, the final product, the winery, the personality of the main actors.
Every time I am going to a tasting, I try to sharpen my senses in order to achieve to perceive what the wine I am tasting has special. “How difficult is to succeed in a blind tasting!”. The game changes a lot if you know the wine and you have a lot of information about a concrete winery.
On the tasting I am trying to see how each piece of information that I have fits into that product I am tasting. How was the weather of this year, the type of grape, how it has been collected, how the vineyard has been worked, characteristics of the facilities, etc. I try to discover some details that perhaps I would not be able to perceive if I had not this additional information. This wine I am tasting is not any more one among thousands. This allows me to be a lot more sensitive about getting into more little details.
Pedro Hernández introduced me to Victor Balbas, owner and manager of Bodegas Viña Solorca.Pedro is the designer of the winery we are visiting and of some others. It’s an aditional pleasure to be also with him. Because I can see how he looks at, when he is front of his works. There is a twinkle in his eyes of pride and affection in front of his own work.
Victor receives us very kindly, but he has a this moment some problems to solve that does not allow him dedicate to us all his attention. For this reason is Pedro Hernandez who makes most of the commentaries while we visit the different places in the winery. A very nice experience to listen to the winery designer!
Viña Solorca facilities are wonderful, much better than many other well known Ribera wineries. With a spectacular fill line. A beautiful barrel room has been built mainly for efficiency as the prioritary factor.
We visit the awards room in which we can see they have quite a good amount of them.
After the visit we went to the splendid dining room available to be used in feasts and meals with clients of the winery. We entered a small room. It is a this moment that I feel there is a great change in Victor´s attitude, now totally focused on us. His chef has prepared a delicious fish to be accompanied by a Viña Solorca gran Selección 2004.
This new Victor is someone mucho closer to us, exposing the many projects, ideas and inventions that he has in mind. Some of them already executed and some only on experimentation phase. He never talks about crisis but of solutions, alternatives, of trying new things. I can see now a very creative and executive man. I think he has most of the qualities that a true entrepreneur should have.
