Wine tastings in July 2017

Winelovers working in July as well as those who are lucky enough to take time off and go on holiday will have many opportunities to enjoy at least one of the activities taking place across the country throughout July. Remember to return to this page for updates - Spanish Wine Lover doesn’t go on holiday in July!

30 June - 4 August. Throughout the weekends of July and early August Festival Vinya-Sons will include various musical shows at 11 Catalan cellars with artists such as Judit Neddermann, Celeste Alias Trio or In Crescendo, among others, plus winery tours and food tastings. The producers who are taking part are: Can Bas, Llopart, Mas Rodó, Segura Viudas, Martín Faixó, Abadal, La Vinyeta, Oller del Mas, Albet i Noya, Finca Viladellops and Finca Ca n’Estella. Tickets can be purchased on the festival website from €25

1 July. Mas Figueres, a country hotel in Marçà (Tarragona) hosts the eighth edition of fiesta VIdeNIT with the presence of 19 producers from Priorat, Montsant and a guest producer from Terra Alta: Celler Joan Simó, Celler Cal Pla, Celler Vall Llach, Celler Cecilio, Celler Ronadelles, Celler Comunica, Celler Dosterras, Celler Vermunver. Capçanes, Cellers Capafons, RAR Vins Singulars (Ricard Rofes), Bodegas Mas Alta, L’Infernal, Saó del Coster, Cims de Porrera, Alfredo Arribas, Vinyes Domènech, Orto Vins, Clos de l’Obac, Josep Grau Viticultor, Vins del Tros and Molí d’oli Miró-Cubells. Snacks and live music are also part of the show. Time: 20:00 Price: €50 Bookings on info@masfigueres.com

1-29 July. Every Friday and Saturday in July, Bodega Santa Cecilia in Madrid hosts a tapas and wine session each Friday and Saturday of this month with the following tapas and brands: Vitheras 2015 (Vino de Asturias) with Afuega´l Pitu cheese, Casona Micaela Albariño (VT Costa de Cantabria) with San-toña anchovies and La Catedral natural tomatoes on a mini toast;  txakoli Itsasmendi 2015, DO Bizkaiko Txakolina, with artichoke hearts and ham slices; Gaba do Xil Mencía 2014 (DO Valdeorras) with dry cured meat from León paired with olive oil and Arretxea 2013 (French Basque Country) with wild boar and mushrooms in a country sauce. Check timetables on the above link. Price: €25 (€20 for members)

1 July - 2 September. For sherry lovers, Taberna der Guerrita and its Sacristía are a legenday place in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The man in charge of this wine paradise is Armando Guerra, who prepares an annual summer tasting calendar to die for with some of the leading wine figures in Spain such as Eulogio Pomares (20:30, €30), Luis Gutiérrez and his new book Los Nuevos Viñadores (7 July), or Ferran Centelles (22 July), among others.

4 July. El Mostrador de Vila Viniteca in Madrid (General Díaz Porlier, 45) has organized a tasting of red wines to drink over the summer such as Artífice Tinto 2015 (DO Ycoden-Daute-Isora); Frank Cornelissen Contadino 2015 (Sicily, Italy); Philippe Bornard Plou Plou Point Barre Arbois Pupillin Ploussard 2012 (AOC Arbois); Dominio do Bibei Lacima 2013 (DO Ribeira Sacra); Domaine de Montcy Cheverny Rouge 2014 (AOC Cheverny); Niepoort Projecto Raúl Perez Calderera 2013 (DO Bierzo) and Domaine du Collier Saumur Rouge La Charpenterie 2013 (AOC Saumur). Time: 20:00 - 22:00 Price: €41 (€37 for members)

6, 13, 20 and 27 July. Bodegas Franco-Españolas opens the doors of its cellars in Logroño to show four films in original version with subtitles preceded by a gastrobar, a wine bar and tailor-made sessions with DJs. Tickets can be purchased in advance on +34 941 251290 Time:19:30. Price: €5 each film.

7 July. Wine merchant Vinoteca El Buen Gusto in Valladolid (Manuel Silvela, 2) closes its pres-summer tastings season with the wines of Bodegas Ossian, who pioneered the work with organic Verdejo grapes in the Rueda region. The following wines will be available for tasting: Verdling dry and sweet, Quintaluna, Ossian Capitel and Ossian as well as a sample of Pago de Ca-rraovejas 2015, made by the Ribera del Duero producer who now owns Ossian. Time: 20:00 Price: €20 Bookings on +34 983 377 199

7-9 July. Vilafranca del Penedès welcomes summer with the festival Banc Sabadell Vijazz Penedès, which blends in wine and cava with national and international jazz music. As well as listening to good music, the town’s Jaume I Square will be the place to go for the Wine & Cava Festival, with over 40 producers from DO Penedès and DO Cava offering around 300 wines paired with gourmet products such as ham, cheese, foie, anchovies and sushi.

8 July. The IV Eclipsi de Garnatxa Blanca in La Pobla de Massaluca (Tarragona) will host a bunch of producers from the DO Terra Alta, where participants will have a chance to taste wines made mostly from this variety paired with snacks and tapas made by chefs in the region.  elaborados por restauradores de la comarca. There will also be music throughout the day with Max Sunyer Trio. Time: 20:30 Price: €25 Further information and tickets on +34 977 421278

8-9 July. A Emoción dos Viños is a wine fair which congregates small producers from Galicia and several other wine regions from Spain and Portugal who aim to reflect in their wines the places they come from and their love for the land they work. It is a great opportunity to meet winegrow-ers like Xose Lois Sebio, Xurxo Alba, Bernardo Estévez, Dominique Roujou or Alberto Nanclares from Galicia as well as others from Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Sanlúcar and beyond. This year the event will be held at the Cloister of the Monastery of San Salvador in Celanova (Ourense). Time: 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-21:00 on Saturday and from 11:00-14:00 on Sunday. Tickets cost €20 for the two-day event (day tickets also available) and can be purchased by email on emociondosvinhos@gmail.com

10-16 July. The village of Elciego in Rioja Alavesa celebrates the 10th Wine and Music Week with Natalia Dicenta Trio playing live in memory of the late radio jazz presenter Juan Claudio Cifuentes 'Cifu', as well as winery tours and several tastings. The week wraps up with a musical vermouth on Sunday around the streets of Elciego. Furterh information on +34 945 606 632

11 July. Wine store Majuelos Singulares in Valladolid (San Ignacio, 9) has invited winegrower and winemaker Ismael Gozalo (MicroBio Wines) to present the following wines of his extended range of Verdejo and other varieties: Correcaminos 2016, La Banda del Argílico 2016, Sin Nombre 2015,  Tentado 2015, Livre 2015 and Sietejuntos 2014. Time: 20:30 Price: €15 Bookings on +34 616 675 123

14 July. As part of the Alella Summer Festival (Barcelona), producer Alta Alella hosts a concert by Marion Harper, a pop singer whose second record will be on sale in a few months. The concert will be held at El Celler de les Aus, the cellar housing this producer’s natural wines. As well as the mu-sic, participants will be able to enjoy the food served by local chef Marc Badia. Time: 20:00 (con-cert at 22:00) Price: €15

15 July. The Yacht Club at San Vicente do Mar (O Grove, Pontevedra) holds a music festival with rock & roll and wines from the DO Ribeiro. This edition of Ribeiro Son de Viño will feature bands like Malandrómeda, Escuchando Elefantes, De Vacas, Sen Senra and Kings of the Beach. Each band will pair their songs with wines from Ribeiro producers such as Alberte, Viña Meín, Viña Costeira, Eduardo Bravo, Villanueva and Son de Arrieiro. Time: 13:00-03:00. Tickets are on sale at ticketea and cost €12 plus postage (€15 on the day).

17 July. The Association of Sommeliers in Bizkaia hosts a sake course and tasting in the restaurant Txakolí in Artxanda (Carretera Artxanda-Santo Domingo, 19) in Bilbao led by sommelier Metodiyka Popova. Participants will receive a diploma. Price: €40 (€25 for members). Information and bookings on +34 608 232 100. 

18 and 25 July. Dealbariza is a new store in Sanlúcar specialized in local gourmet produce. During the month of July they host a few tastings some of which are unmissable for Sherry Triangle lovers: Bodegas Forlong and Callejuela (18th) and Ramiro Ibáñez and Mayetería Sanluqueña (25th). Time: 21:00 Price: €20 

19 July. Bread, grapes and cheese taste of a kiss is a Spanish saying that Óscar Soneira, author of the wine blog Hemoglovinum, remembers for this particular tasting as he will presents at La Vicoca in Barcelona (Carrer d’Hostafrancs de Sió, 18) a tasting of five wines paired with five cheeses: Massimo from Rey silo, Puigpedrós from Molí de Ger, Ermesenda from Mas d’Eroles, Azul from El Bucarito and Peñablanca from Quesería Los Corrales. Time: 19:30 Price: €25 Further information on oscarsoneira@gmail.com

19 July.  Wine store Jovani Vins in Barcelona (Comte Borrell, 28) presents a tasting of artisan ice-creams paired with wine. The ice-creams, made by Delacrem, are natural. Time: 19:45 Price: €12 (€11 for members)

20 July. The restaurant Los Cabezudos in Zaragoza (Antonio Agustín, 12-14) presents a tasting followed by dinner with the wines of Gramona, one of Cava's leading quality producers with three of its wines in the new Cava de Paraje category. The wines that will be served on the day are Gramona La Cuvee Brut Reserva 2013, Gramona Imperial Brut Gran Reserva 2012, Gramona III Lustros Brut Nature Gran Reserva 2009, Gramona Celler Batlle Brut Gran Reserva 2006 and Gramona Argent Rosé Brut Gran Reserva 2012. Time: 21:00 Price: €54

22 July. The first sustainable wine & food fest organized by Ruta del Vino de Rioja Alavesa will be held today in Laguardia with representations of 15 Basque regions. There will be tastings, stands with local and regional gourmet products for sale, music and children’s activities. To finish the day, a late evening cocktail will be served on a panoramic look-out.

22 July. Champagne-Sherry is the name of the fun activity organised today by  Essencia Wine Bar & Store in San Sebastián (Zabaleta, 42). Participants will go for a walk around the Gross district to visit pintxo bars such as Hidalgo 56 and Saltxipi or Zurriola beach before finishing in Essencia, where Fernando Angulo will present his personal wines sourced from Sanlúcar's albariza soils plus a few more like Selosse 2002, Navazos Bota Nº6, Amontillado Coliseo, Moscatel Toneles, Guiborat 1996, Manzanilla Pochola 70s, Agustín Blázquez Carta Blanca 60s, Rupert Leroy Cuvée 11, 12 and 13 etc. Time: 10:30am Price: €200 Booking essential on essenciawinebar@gmail.com

22-23 July. Producer Kirios de Adrada in the DO Ribera del Duero hosts this weekend an organic agriculture course focused on vinegrowing and wine. Led by Jesús Lázaro de Diego, winegrower and owner of Bodega Adrada Ecológica in Adrada de Haza (Burgos)  the course will include in-depth information about organic winegrowing in a practical and fun way. It is aimed at wine pro-fessionals as well as people wanting to learn more about organic and sustainable wine growing and it will include a vertical tasting of Kirios de Adrada wines. Price: €120 (25% discount for stu-dents and people under 25 years old)

25 July. To mark 50 years of the historic Sherry Case, which protected the origin and name of Sherry in the British courts, the Sherry Regulatory Body hosts a round table with experts in the international protection of denominations of origin titled "Defending identity and guarantee of origin". The session will be attended by David Sills, England & Wales Supreme Court attorney and partner in law firm Monier, Williams and Keeling, Charles Goemaere, director of Economic and Legal Services at the Interprofessional Committee of Champagne (CIVC), Juan Luis Bretón, former director of Fedejerez, and César Saldaña, director of Sherry Regulatory Body. Location: Headquarters of the Consejo Regulador (Avda. Alcalde Álvaro Domecq, 2) in Jerez. Time: 20:00 Price: free entry.

28 July. Valenciso, a quality wine producer in Rioja, hosts a bunch of activities for wine lovers. This year the first of the 12 experiences is a yoga session in the property's vineyards. The activity is planned for people who have practiced yoga earlier and costs €15. Location: Valenciso in Ollauri (Ctra. 313 Ollauri-Nájera, km.0.4). Booking necessary on +34 941 304 724

29 July. Bodega Marañones, located in Pelayos de la Presa (Madrid), has organized a rock & roll and wine day at their Albillo vineyards in Piesdescalzos. Participants will get to visit the winery and the vineyard and will have a chance to taste three wines made at the winery. Later on, artist Tito Ramírez (Peter Parker - Los Granadians) will play music during the rest of the evening. Time: 20:00 Price: €50 Bookings on +34 646 428 288

29 July. Eleven Catalan producers take part in the 6th edition of the Village Wine Tasting in Villa del Lloar i Solanes del Molar in Priorat. The cellars which have confirmed their presence are: Vinícola del Priorat, Clos 93, Torres Priorat, Celler Escoda Sanahuja, Terroir al Limit, Portal del Priorat, Casa Gran del Siurana, Celler Los Comuns, Merum Prioratí, Celler Sabaté and Cava Artistic. As well as wine, the Tasting will feature music, stands with foodie products and local crafts and bouncy castles for children. Time: 20:00 Price: €6 (includes a glass and five tastings)

30 July. Coinciding with the Antiques Fair in Sajazarra (La Rioja), one of Spains's prettiest villages, the neighboring producer Hacienda El Ternero hosts its First Open Door Day, which includes a free tour of the winery and the shrine's square, plus a tasting of its wines in the old Monastery wing and the chance to walk around the 250 hectares of forests and vineyards of this winery which officially belongs to the province of Burgos but it has the climate, soils and heart of Rioja Alta. Hours: 11:00 - 15:00

Do you know of any interesting wine events which are not on this list? Are you a restaurateur or retailer who organises tastings or wine events for the general public? Send us your calendar to info@spanishwinelover.com