Tuesday was the big day for the Top Tastings. The second day of The Wine Edition Wines from Spain began with Agustín Trapero and his selection of Spanish wines on Liv-Ex, a global online platform and a benchmark market for the trade of Fine Wines. In his presentation, the sommelier focused on the Spanish wineries that are part of this platform with the aim of explaining its benefits.

It was a round table in tasting format, in which attendees had the opportunity to taste some of these great wines from the winemakers themselves. “This wine resale market is here to improve the value of the wines,” Trapero said at the beginning of the presentation. ”Not everyone can be part of Liv-Ex because the monthly membership fee is high and there are some very powerful filters, such as having to work in the sector; it's a very small club with just over 600 members.”

The great opportunity offered by being part of Liv-Ex is having access to the global market, purchasing power and sales opportunities, as well as dedicated investment and promotion support. But what are the factors that drive the price of wine? Agustín Trapero responded with four well-defined causes: scores and reviews, vintage and production, market demand, and origin and authenticity. “Here we would have to add the death of the winemaker, which usually causes the price to raise because the 'artist' is no longer going to create any more,” he added.

The former Head Sommelier of Four Seasons Madrid explained that there is an elite ranking called Liv-Ex Power 100 that highlights the most influential brands in the market by combining factors such as commercial value, average price and price movement. Vega Sicilia is the top Spanish winery in the Liv-Ex Power 100 in 2024, demonstrating that Spanish wines are making their way onto this exclusive list alongside great names such as Dominio de Pingus, R. López de Heredia, Rioja Alta, Toro Albalá, Muga and Marqués de Murrieta.

During the tasting of the Spanish wines that form part of the Liv-Ex, Guillermo de Aranzábal, assistant general manager of La Rioja Alta, emphasized that there is a long way to go for Spanish wines. “This is indicative that our wines as a category are growing and we are positioning ourselves among the best in the world, more and more of us are joining the great international wines; it is a long-term job, at some point we will get there”.

Eduardo Muga, co-owner and third generation of the winemaking family, argued that being in the Liv-Ex with Prado Enea is a consequence of having done several things well. “Great wines are the ones that stir the emotions, and this wine in particular, which for us is the most classic of the range, has evolved very well over the years due to its freshness and its good evolution in the bottle, a very important factor for wine lovers”.

“Liv-Ex has rewarded us for the quality and ageing capacity of our wines, but also for the consistency of our pricing policy,” said Alberto Álvarez, general manager of Vega Sicilia. ”Many drops on this platform have been due to excess stock.”

For Antonio Sorgato, CEO Export of Toro Albalá, “being on the Liv-Ex is an honor, but also a challenge for Montilla-Moriles, because it means putting a traditional and very important region for Spain on the world stage”. The 100 Parker points of Don PX Convento Selección, he assured, changed the way the winery operated “because we had more demand than production”. For his part, Antonio José Muñoz, grandson and future manager of Toro Albalá, emphasized that it is his grandfather who continues to personally select each barrel to make wines as unique as this one.

María José López de Heredia, great-granddaughter of the winemaking dynasty, was unable to attend the presentation, but commented in a statement on her commitment to her family's legacy: “We are confident in what we do, and if the market recognizes it, we are happy, but if one day this is not the case, we will continue to fight to defend a way of cultivating the land, of making wine and working in what we deeply believe in”.

Rosés and ferments

Robert Ruiz, from Lov Ferments, brought to the stage the counterpoint to wine with other fermented beverages that can also have their place in the world of gastronomy and food pairing. In this talk, Ruiz explained and questioned, in a tasting format, the history and importance of wine, beer and spirits, and outlined the basis of his creative system for creating healthy fermented beverages. Where we come from and where we are going in the global framework of food and wine pairing, explained by one of the Spaniards who knows the most about the subject.

The expert explained that, on a human level, we do not understand fermentation literally: “For us, fermentation is a set of biological preservation techniques; you could say that it is rotting with knowledge”. Drawing on the past and through the exploration of traditional recipes, Lov Ferments has set out to separate the product from the role of its essence. For Robert Ruiz, innovation has to do with abstracting what something is from what you want it to be.

The expert presented some of his non-alcoholic creations to the audience: surprising kombuchas(type of tea) with flavours such as curry or gochujang, cola or black banana kefirs, and cutlet, goat's cheese and sesame kefirs. As for alcoholic fermented drinks, Ruiz demonstrated that it is possible to make mead from different honeys, wines from fruits other than grapes, scented tepache and guarapo or fermented soft drinks.

“We have always had the need to try to prevent a product from rotting. In ancient times we discovered how to convert complex carbohydrates into simple sugars and use them to make alcohol,” he pointed out. This is the origin of beer, sake and masato. But why flavor only with hops or distill only rice when you can make a beer from chistorra sausage or a sake from macaroni?

“The problem is that today we understand fermentation and distillation as something recreational, whereas in the past it was pure alchemy, a medicinal remedy; and we have lost sight of the other roles that alcohol can play”. With this philosophy, the expert talked about such groundbreaking and gastronomic creations as a crab broth preserved in vodka or an alcoholic roquefort extract. “Current technology allows us to have enzymes with which to continue innovating. The number of things that can be done with alcohol is immense: alcohol is neither good nor bad, it is just alcohol,” he said.

To close the morning, Beth Willard (Co-Chair - Decanter World Wine Awards) offered a masterful tasting of Spanish rosés. A tasting that highlighted the gastronomic possibilities of these elegant and subtle wines, increasingly appreciated both within and beyond our borders, and the good moment that Spanish rosés are enjoying.

The Australian expert emphasized that Spain is experiencing a new wave of quality rosés. “I haven't seen this progress in quality in other parts of the world,” she said. During the tasting, Willard took a tour of different regions of the country based on the reports she develops together with Tim Atkin. “There is significant growth in rosé sales worldwide, but the segment is still quite small and we are far behind Provence; it is also a market that is guided by seasonality, more rosé is sold in summer.” A complicated market, but, according to the expert, with more and more gastronomic opportunities due to its all-terrain character.

A Garnacha from Navarre fermented in an amphora, a rosé aged in concrete, another made with a minority variety in the Ribeira Sacra, a rosé from old vines in Cebreros aged in barrels or a claret from Chinchón fermented in a jar, which demonstrated the quality and versatility of this kind of wine, and the sweet moment that Spanish rosés are experiencing.

Generational handover and wines with stars

During Tuesday afternoon, Ismael Álvarez, sommelier at Chispa*, selected some of the young producers who are causing a sensation to carry out a tasting of the present and future of the sector: the guys from Cisteller, in Catalonia, who give absolute value to native varieties and become the 13th and youngest winery of Corpinnat; José Gil and Vicky Fernández, who collect the diversity of the villages of a diverse Rioja Alta; César Márquez, who revitalizes and renews the family tradition independently in El Bierzo, a region with a territory marked by the hierarchy of its soils; Bárbara Requejo and Guzmán Sánchez, of Bodegas Las Pedreras in the Sierra de Gredos, and their commitment to rescuing vineyards and traditions in a depopulated rural environment; Bodegas Cerrón, which renews Jumilla by rescuing historic vineyards historical vines and creating cult wines such as El Cerrico; and Carmelo Peña, leader of a movement to recover high altitude vineyards in Gran Canaria, preserving a unique wine culture.

Six young wine-growing talents in Spain who are revitalizing the sector with innovative projects and a commitment to their regions, sometimes through generational change and sometimes through entrepreneurship. From Catalonia to the Canary Islands, via Rioja, Bierzo, the Sierra de Gredos and Jumilla, each participant showed their unique approach. “More than an age, youth is a state of the soul,” began Ismael Álvarez.

Sometimes out of restlessness, other times due to generational change, young people have a lot to say in the world of wine. “For us, the way to be able to start up was to go back home,” said Sergi Canals, fifty percent of Cisteller. “Of the options available in the Penedés, the most valued option is the one of the winegrower, and that's where we want to be”. Canals and his partner decided to join Corpinnat in 2020: ‘We started from the beginning with a wine that is a reflection of what we wanted to do, a long-aged coupage’.

As protagonists of the rural exodus that practically the entire country is suffering, Las Pedreras addresses the problem of the vineyards in Gredos in different ways: “We are committed to the long-standing winegrower who enjoys what he does, and to new plantations,” said Bárbara Requejo.

“The next step for Canarian wines is to differentiate by island, because our varieties are different depending on the island we are on,” argued Carmelo Peña, from Bien de Altura. ‘Not all Canarian wines are reductive.’ For his part, César Márquez, from Villegas, highlighted the differentiation of the landscapes of El Bierzo and the craftsmanship of the winemaking to produce something different and honest with the terroir. Vicky Fernández, from José Gil, defended the village wines of La Rioja: “In San Vicente we have many soils within the same village, it could be a designation in itself, with its different harvests, this brings a lot of complexity to the wines”. A concept of vigneron with which they are revolutionizing Rioja.

From Albacete, Carlos Cerrón believes in a concept of small-scale Jumilla. “Within Jumilla there are many Jumillas, a lot of unexplored terroir because there is a lack of projects and a lack of people, but it is an area with a lot of potential”. The new generations are more travelled and also drink more, pointed out the round table host. Something that these young winemakers bring to the table that others lack: a vision of the future.

To close the agenda of the second day of The Wine Edition Wines from Spain, the enologist Tao Platón was accompanied by wine personalities such as Raúl Pérez, Alberto Ruffoni, Paco Berciano and Diana Berrouet García, to point out and taste some of the most internationally awarded labels. “The world of wine, communication and information have changed a lot since Parker,” promised Platón. “This is not going to be a master class about points, but about the human side of being judged by wine experts“.

“The critics were the ones who discovered our garage wine, which would now have been classified as a unique vineyard; for us it was a very important factor because they made this hidden gem known and contributed to making it mythical”, explained Diana Berrouet García, from Domaines Jacques Thienpont (Bordeaux). “The critical part was that the 'Parkerized' style in the wines caused the origin and uniqueness of the place to be lost.”

So what happens when you get 100 points? “The points are a very important part of our work, the first time I sent the wines to Parker for tasting I put things that nobody knew between 96 and 98 points,” said Raúl Pérez. “At the time it was important for selling in America, but then you realize that the points open more doors for you in emerging markets like Asia.”

Getting 100 points was, for the winemaker from El Bierzo, the longest agony of his life. “Because it was so hard for me, I was always just missing them, first they gave me 98, then 99+, and I came to think that I didn't know how to give my wines that half point I was missing,” he said. ”The 100 is a personal issue, it gave me inner peace and freedom to work, but in Spain it doesn't have the same weight as in Burgundy or Bordeaux.”

Alberto Ruffoni took up the defense of wine critics, arguing that “guides are a necessary evil” and that there are different methodologies when it comes to preparing them. “When you compare guides, you see that they vary depending on the wines, the times, whether they are tasted by sight or blind, whether the points are constructed by a team or by individuals.” The objective and the subjective behind a score.

A Vinomio with a French accent

Accompanied by his sommelier, Romain Rieu, James Henry, chef of Le Doyenné Saint-Vrain*, a french green star, carried out a Vinomio inspired by the proposal of this gastronomic and agricultural project born in Ile de France, on the grounds of the Château de Saint-Vrain, 36 kilometers south of Paris. A culinary paradise in which he closely links cuisine and nature, reflecting the original land and respect for the rhythm of the seasons.

“It is important to have the flexibility to adapt to the product and the freedom to work in balance with creativity and seasonality,” explained the chef. For the sommelier, adapting quickly to a constantly changing menu is not an effort but a challenge that he gladly takes on: ‘It's a good collaboration, it creates a very powerful energy’. Through three wine pairings, the Vinomio has been a journey through some of the most representative dishes of Le Doyenné Saint-Vrain*, accompanied by a rosé, a white and a sparkling wine selected by Rieu in line with the restaurant's philosophy.