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.

For more details and information of the project, see the webpage here: rutadelvinoriberadelduero.es

Post in Spanish: Plan de dinamización de Producto Turístico Aranda de Duero