We have compiled some of the most interesting activities we have heard about on our virtual agenda of talks and tastings. We update it daily so don't forget to check new events! All times are CET times.
May and June. The charity blind tasting competition organised by the Masters of Wine Fernando Mora and Jonas Tofterup has been postponed until the end of June but for the moment you can see the posts published on Bodegas Frontonio's blog and follow the educational sessions and occasional talks which will continue to be broadcast on @fernandomoramw on Instagram. Time: 19:00
30 and 31 May. Jimena Cristo, of Colourful Wines, presents a series of virtual tasting sessions via Zoom in English and Spanish with the following topics: sherry wines (in Spanish, 30th) and sparkling wines from the world (in English, 31st). Time: 19:30 Price per household: €8 which includes wine recommendations and pairings. Reservations: jimena@colorfulwines.com
31 May, 5, 9 and 20 June. Laura and Roberto Ijalba, of @bodegassantalba, family bodega in Rioja, host virtual live tasting on Instagram pairing their wines with a variety of international dishes. Broadcasts are at 13:30 except for Friday June 5th, which is at 20:30.
Every Monday. @sorbitoasorbito is the Instagram account of sommelier Julián Hermoso, distributor, sales manager for Artadi in Andalucía and Levante and a great wine lover. To brighten up the lockdown, Julián did irreverent and fun nightly Instagram shows with sommeliers, producers and other Spanish wine professionals. The daily shows are finished but he hosts weekly ones. Time: 23:59
2 June. The indefatigable Juancho Asenjo takes over temporarily the @vinos_malaga account where he interviews producers from different areas of the region. His next guests are Vicente Inat @vverticales and Ana Castro @bodegamelonera. Time: 18:00
Professional platform Vitivin broadcasts a daily live video with leading personalities in the wine business. To watch them, you need to register on their site and join the sessions. The programme started with Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros followed by professionals such as Sara Pérez, Luis Gutiérrez or Marcos Eguren (3rd June). Time: 13:30
Every Thursday in June. Rafa Vivanco starts a series of live shows on Instagram @vivancoculturadevino from the family's vineyards to reveal where the house's wines come from. The tour begins at Finca El Cantillo in Briones (Thursday 28th), Finca el Bosque in San Vicente (Thursday 4th June), Alto San Antón in Alesón (Thursday 11th), Panizares in Tudelilla (Thursday 18th) and La Isla in Briones (Thursday 25th). Time: 18:00
Jesús Lázaro, of Kirios de Adrada winery in Ribera del Duero, presents an organic farming online course with videos and materials to download. The duration of the course is nine weeks and the cost is €190.
English For Wine Aspects are English courses specialized in the world of wine. While the crisis lasts they have launched “Wine Lessons at Home”, a set of exercises in English divided into different lessons to practice wine vocabulary. Lessons are published twice a week and the solutions, presented by course director Andrew Ashurst, are posted on social media
31 May. You can listen today via Zoom to the recording of the first podcast #Lustforwine about "wine in times of coronavirus" with @patricia_regidor, @taoplaton and @pilar_cruces, in partnership with @cabdeburgos and @fundacioncajadeburgos. Book your spot at info@lustforwine.es Time: 13:00
Spanish Organic Wines SOW hosts a daily presentation of its members on their social media accounts in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@OrganicWinesEsp). It's a chance to discover the great diversity of organic wine producers and the wide range of still, fortified and sparkling wines they produce.
Bodegas Gramona and its team of sommeliers are available to anyone interested in learning more about sparkling wines, long aging or biodynamics through #cataconmigo, an online personalized service via Zoom. If you want to know more or take part in a session, send an email to contact@gramona.com
@javiersanpedroortega, a young Rioja producer, has been publishing weblogs on his Instagram account explaining his daily routines both in the vineyard and in the winery from pruning to filtration or stabilization by refrigeration. You can watch them on IGTV. Agustín Santolaya from Bodegas Roda in the Haro Station District, also publishes a daily video, which is available on the winery's YouTube channel.
Through her WhatsApp, Pilar Cruces the driving force behind Lust For Wine, presents "Knowing about Wines is a Piece of Cake", with entertaining and straightforward information on topics such as the principles of tasting, production areas and wine recommendations to be enjoyed with a book or with music, with input of experts in various disciplines. You can follow her on YouTube or join Lust For Wine virtual club (€6/month) which entitles you to discounts on wine purchases, online meetings and preferential access to event bookings. For more information call 638661408
Since the coronavirus forced him to temporarily close his restaurant in Teruel (Aragón), sommelier Raúl Igual broadcasts his daily “Stories around wine” and talks about a wine every day on his Instagram account @raul_igual_yainrestaurante
Every Friday, Marimar Torres and her daughter Cristina present from California a traditional recipe sourced from Marimar's cooking books and paired with some of the family's wines. The show cookings can be watched on the Marimar Estate Facebook page.
Vila Viniteca offers its customers a free three-month subscription to RobertParker.com with access to 400,000 tasting notes, scores and more. All you have to do is register at RobertParker.com with the promotional code STAYINiCFCg4. The code expires on May 31 and is only valid for new subscriptions.
Professional platform Vitivin opens its contents to everyone during the lockdown. Everyday, new premium content is available including videos with prestigious professionals such as Valerie Lavigne, Antonio Palacios, Pedro Ballesteros or Belén Ayestarán.
Guía Peñín has launched its first Vermouth Guide with over 380 brands from Spain, Italy, France and Germany, all of them available in Spain. You can download it for free on this link. The Guide also 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. Additionally, the members of the Guide's tasting panel publish three weekly videos on their IG account @guiapenin in which they discuss varieties, styles of wine and wine vocabulary.
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.
Faced with the impossibility of printing, 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.
Priorat-based American wine writer Miquel Hudin is offering hospitality staff one-year free membership to his website. In addition, everyone who takes advantage of the offer will be entered to win a set of the Vinologue books, sent anywhere in the world. Click here to register
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.
Another documentary that is free to watch online is (R)evolution Champenoise, an interesting promenade along the vineyards of Champagne with some of the best growers in the region. It was filmed by Spanish distributor À la Volé and is available on this link. French language with subtitles in Spanish.
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.
Through her WhatsApp, Pilar Cruces, the driving force behind Lust For Wine, presents "Understanding wine is easy-peasy", with clear information presented in an informal manner on aspects such as the principles of tasting, production areas and wine recommendations paired with a book or with music and with the help of experts in various disciplines. To join in, send a text message to Pilar to +34 638661408. Videos are sent between 21:00 and 22:00 except Saturdays, which are sent at 13:00
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 now on release 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. It's not going to win any Oscars but the plot revolves around wine.
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).
Historic producer Marqués de Murrieta hosts a quiz with questions about the Rioja producer and the world of wine in general. The quiz has nine levels and two lives and the winner will enjoy a tour of the winery and lunch for two people. Wine lovers can also do a virtual tour of the historical Castillo de Ygay cellar and sign up for free to an online tasting course via Murrieta Academy.
Wine tourism for health professionals. To show their gratitude for the efforts of this community during the pandemic, 180 wineries from different areas in Spain are offering free visits to health workers. Wine lovers wishing to help can also bid in the wine auctions held on the live shows of @zoltancsaba on Instagram.
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 over 40 daily menus on Instagram, @ferranadria explains now on Twitter the projects of El Bulli Foundation at 11:30 everyday. And we love the videos of ice cream maker Fernando Sáenz and his wife Angelines González. Some of the recipes they have shared include milk ice pop, fruit ice pop and cocoa ice cream.
Do you know of any interesting wine events which are not on this list? Send us what you are doing at home to yolanda@spanishwinelover.com
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