Updated on 31 March

The coronavirus outbreak has transformed our lives, at least temporarily. The lockdown has forced us to say goodbye to many things that we used to take for granted, like going for a walk, visiting family and friends, dining out or going to a tasting. Fortunately, and thanks to the generosity of many members of the wine industry, there is barely a moment for boredom and dozens of virtual wine-related events have emerged to avoid a total halt in activity.

We have compiled some of the most interesting activities we have heard about here. If you are hosting any homebound wine-related events and you want it to be in our agenda, send us the details to yolanda@spanishwinelover.com. We will regularly update this virtual agenda! All times are CET times.

Talks and conversations

30 March - 5 April. Fernando Mora MW (@fernandomoramw) holds daily discussions with wine professionals on his Instagram profile. The broadcast started on Sunday 15 with his thoughts about old vines and continues daily with various wine professionals among whom was our editor Amaya Cervera talking about forgotten varieties. The programme this week includes: Pepe Raventós (Vines and bubbles,  30th), Luis Gutiérrez (Jura and beyond, 31st), Dirk Niepoort (The reinvention of Douro, 1st), Willy Pérez (Old vineyard classification in the Sherry Triangle, 2nd), Ton Mata (Biodynamics, 3rd), Marcelo Retamal (The moment of harvest, 4th) and a guest surprise on Sunday 5th. Time: 19:00

30-31 March.The Real Business of Wine website, promoted by Robert Joseph (winethinker) and Polly Hammond (5forests), features a series of wine conversations in which professionals worldwide are invited to take part by registering on their page. On Monday at 19:00 CET, the discussion focuses on the 2019 Bordeaux vintage and will be presented by Jane Anson. On March 31st Eric Asimov and Tim Atkin will discuss how sustainable wine writing is. The conversations are in English and previous episodes are available on their YouTube channel.

30-31 March, 1-3 April. @sorbitoasorbito is the Instagram account of sommelier Julián Hermoso, sales manager for Artadi in Andalucía and Levante and a great wine lover. To brighten up these weeks on lockdown, Julián joins in the Instagram fun but very late at night (his broadcasts start at 00:00, so log in on the eve of the date). His guests are, in order of appearance, Fernando Mora MW (31st), Alejandro Muchada (Muchada-Léclapart, 1st April),  chef and sommelier Sebastián Giraldo (2nd April) and comedian Santi Rodríguez (3rd April). Time: 00:00

26-31 March. Online magazine Wine Style Travel hosts talks on Zoom, a platform that allows several guests to chat simultaneously. This Thursday at 19:00, sommelier Ferran Centelles will do introduction to wine pairings. The focus on the 31st is on small producers featuring sommelier Xavi Nolla, who will talk about Vins de la Memòria, and Lluís Figueres, who will introduce Varietal 500. To listen to the conversation, you need to download the app and send and email to Wine Style Travel to receive an access code. More info on this link

From 30 March. Juancho Asenjo will guide the Experience Tour de France, organised by importer and distributor FAP Grand Cru. During 12 days, starting on March 30th, Juancho will travel across France Francia with his glass and 12 wines that can be purchased on this link. The talks are broadcast on FAP Grand Cru You Tube channel at midday from Monda to Saturday. 10% of the money will be donated to Cáritas and #SaldremosJuntos in their fight against coronavirus.

30 March - 2 April. Sommelier Alaitz Galán, who works for wine distributor On Egin, talks daily on her Instagram profile (@alaitz_sumiller) with wine professionals while they enjoy a glass of wine. The week starting March 30 features Juanma Galán, "metrelier" at Terraza del Casino in Madrid (30th), producers Sara Pérez and René Barbier (31st), Colectivo Decantado (1st April), Juanma Terceño of González Byass (2nd) and Cristina Silva of Vinotellers. Time: 21:00

30 March - 3 April. The DO Sherry presents Conociendo el jerez, a series of talks on the viticulture and ageing of these wines as well as their pairing potential. The conversations will feature some well-known names such as Montse Molina, winemaker at Bodegas Barbadillo (30th), Mugaritz chef Andoni Luis Aduriz (31st), grape grower José Manuel Bustillo (1st), Bodegas Tradición (2nd) and Josep Pitu Roca of Celler de Can Roca (3rd). Pepe Ferrer and César Saldaña will take turns to chair the talk, which can be watched on Instagram @sherrywinesjerez Time: 20:15

30 March - 3 April. Under the hashtag #devinosencasa, the innovative guys behind Vintae have scheduled several talks and tastings conducted by CEO Ricardo Arambarri through IGTV. The programe this week is as follows: Wine & Lives with alpinist Simón Elías (Mon 30); Wine & Words with writer Andrés Pascual (Thu 31); Wine & Curiosities with wine researchers Pedro Balda and Hipólito Medrano (Wed 31); Wine & Rock with Pilar de Haya (Thu 2); and Music & Wine with DJ Edu Anmu (Fri 3). Time: 18:00 except for Friday’s talk which has been set at 20:00.

31 March. Sommelier Meritxell Falgueras talks today with Juan Carlos López de Lacalle of Artadi about the evolution of quality wines in his Instagram profile @winesandthecity  Time:18:00

31 March The section “Rollos Uva”, hosted by Rioja producer Marqués de Vargas on Instagram features a casual conversation between Omar Bravo, wine director at Varma, and @colectivodecantado. They will talk about the changes underway at Marqués de Vargas and about enjoying wine in general. Time: 18:30

31 March. The group of sommeliers @chupipandawine gets together to chat about wines in an informal way. Today the screens are for @eva_sumiller of Fierro restaurant who hosts @sumimch of Marbella Club Restaurant to talk about luxury, sheiks and wine at 20:30 

Tastings

Many wine stores are inviting their customers to join them on virtual tastings with wine lots that are delivered to their homes prior to the tasting, simultaneously broadcast on Facebook Stories and Instagram.

27, 29 March and 1 April. In a video conference Alma Vinos Únicos, presents a tasting of six small European wineries with merchant Paco Berciano and sommelier Pilar Cruces. The dates are Friday 27, Sunday 29 and Wednesday 1 at 20:15, after the round of applause. The wines, two of which are opened each day, can be ordered until Wednesday 25 at 09:00. The price is €75 including VAT and delivery in Spain. Further information at www.el-lagar.org

27 March and 3 April. The DO Jumilla conducts virtual tastings on Fridays under the slogan #convinamiento. They are held live on the DO's Facebook channel (@VinosJumilla) at 20:00 with the possibility of asking questions live during the tasting or watching it afterwards. The first tasting, broadcast on the 20th, was conducted by sommelier María Quílez from her home in Jumilla. Esperanza Pérez Andreo, sommelier at La Gracia Encanto Líquido, will be in charge of the tasting on Friday 27, while winemaker Diego Cutillas will take on the challenge on April 3.

28 March and 4 and 11 April. Wine store in Valladolid Majuelos Singulares has invited Juan Esteban of producer Valderiz in Ribera del Duero to taste two of the wines. The price of both bottles are €28 with tax and home delivery included. On 4 April, it will be the turn of  Viña Zorzal and on 11 April the guest is flying winemaker Dominique Roujou, who will present an Atlantic wine vs a Mediterranean wine.  You can sign up for one, two or three tastings -signing up for several tastings has some advantages. Time: 13:00 Orders via Whatsapp (616 675 123) or email info@majuelossingulares.com

2 April. Following their “stroll through Burgundy” last month, Madrid wine store La Tintoreria has scheduled a new themed tasting on Instagram. This time is a “A short stroll across Northern Rhone”. Wine lovers can either buy a case containing one white and five reds for €175 or half a case with one white and three reds featuring producers like George Vernay, René Rostaing or Eric Teixier. Orders may be received by telephone (+34 912 092 550) or email latintoreria@latintoreriavinoteca.com. For more information, check Instagram account @cesartinto

Free content

Guía Peñín allows free access to the 2020 edition of its wine guide: some  12,000 tasting notes to search for scores, regions, bodega, wine styles, varieties, vintage or price.

Magazine MiVino also offers free access to its archive and contents. Click on this link to read them.

Sobremesa magazine has opened up part of its content to readers. On March 16, the wine and food publication announced its desire to "contribute to making the days of confinement more bearable by allowing free access to its last ten issues". You can access them by clicking here.

Vadevino Editorial, publisher of wine magazine Planeta Vino, is offering free access to its April-May 2020 issue. Directed by wine journalist Andrés Proensa, it can be read or downloaded on this link.

La Semana Vitivinícola, one of the longest-running technical wine magazines in Spain, is offering free access to its articles for as long as the state of alarm is in place.

The documentary Spontaneous Fermentation, directed by sommelier Clara Isamat, is free to watch. With the different months of the year in the vineyard as a backdrop to the story, Isamat captures the thoughts, motivations and concerns of 11 wine producers such as Manuel Valenzuela (Barranco Oscuro), Fabio Bartolomei (Vinos Ambiz), Rubén Parera (Finca Parera) and Celler La Gutina. You can watch the documentary here. 

The DO Rueda joins the #CuarentenaCultural (Cultural Quarantine) with over 100 short films from past editions of the Rueda con Rueda festival. They are available on its YouTube channel

Most Festival is also committed to making confinement more bearable with broadcasts each day of one of the films or documentaries that have been screened over the nine years of the festival's existence. You can watch them on their @mostfestival account on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Images and paying films

Positive images. Every morning, La Rioja Alta, the century-old winery in the Haro Station District, uploads what it calls a #brotedeilusión (outbreak of hope) onto its social media accounts -beautiful pictures from their vineyards which are in the midst of sprouting right now.

The film Uncorked is released on Netflix. It is about a young man who feels torn between his dream of becoming a master sommelier and his father's expectations that he'll take over the family's barbecue business. If, in addition to watching the film, you feel like joining a virtual party (in English) with more wine lovers, sign up on this page. 

Contests and Quizzes

Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez, from Bodegas de la Riva in Jerez, have decided to liven up the confinement with a game that consists of attempting to identify a vineyard in the Sherry Triangle based on the clues that they publish on their Instagram account @bodegasdelariva . There's a great prize to be won: a bottle of their Oloroso Viejísimo de la Riva Balbaína Baja.  (Finished. The winner was Nico Montaner, co-owner of Taberna Maitea in Barcelona)

For those who are studying the WSET advanced courses or simply want to improve their international wine culture, sommelier Agustín Trapero has launched #winequestionsathome, a series of multiple choice questions with four possible answers. They are published daily on his Instagram Stories (@agustin_trapero). 

Other initiatives

Cooking at home. Those of us who appreciate good wines also enjoy good food. That's why it's great that many chefs and entertainers are sharing home videos with relatively simple dishes and ingredients that are easily found in the shops. Dani Garcia is one of the most active in his Instagram account (@danigarcia7), but La Ser radio station (@la_ser), broadcasts #Gastroconfinados, a space "to talk, listen and keep people company in the kitchen".  Mikel Iturriaga @elcomidista has been publishing videos on his website long before the pandemic but now he has decided to put on his apron to cook live with his followers. After his debut with #tortillaconfinada (#confinedSpanishomelette), he will cook another dish on Saturday 4th April at 20:30. Ferran Adrià also joins in the dissemination of information and will prepare daily menus that will be broadcast on his Twitter account @ferranadria at 11:30 everyday. And we love the videos of ice cream maker Fernando Sáenz and his wife Angelines González. So far they have showed us how to make milk ice pop, fruit ice pop and cocoa ice cream.