Great news for winelovers all over the world! Your favorite talk show Cellar Talks returns! We are starting a new season: Ediciones especiales – Tour d’España. For this season we decided to focus on one of the most promising wine countries in the world: Spain. Join us as we will take you on a tour that will show you the diversity of Spain as a wine country!
For this season we decided to team up with a organisation that is successfully showcasing how different terroir and wines can be throughout Spain; Grandes Pagos de Espana. In 6 episodes we will talk about the diversity of Spain, it’s history, present and future and we will guide you through 5 prominent and promising wine regions. Each region will be represented by one of the local stars, and members of Grandes Pagos de Espana.
About Grandes Pagos de Espana
Grandes Pagos de Espana; Great Vineyards of Spain. In Spain there is a group of winegrowers who live by and to achieve exceptional wines. Winegrowers who love their farms and respect the environment that surrounds them, as if it were real jewels. People who cultivate the land with the same dedication and care that Mother Nature provides the best resources (soil, nature, climate) for her payments. And even an extraordinary beauty. When these winemakers met and tasted their wines, they realized that not only did they share passion and work philosophy, but they could still go a step further by working together to achieve exceptional wines. Then the Great Pagos of Spain arose.
But what does a Pagos mean?
El Pago, a Spanish term, defines the unique interaction between climate, soil and plants that leads to a very specific and original wine. Following the uniqueness of a vineyard and single vineyard origin. To become a certified Pago, there are several requirements: the Pago needs to be owned by the winery who produces the wines, the Pago has to be within a registered DO, and the Pago has to demonstrate unique characteristics that make it worthy of receiving the status. Once certified, a new DO is created for the pago in question and it enters the official list.
Discover Spain
As mentioned we will start shortly with our special edition series of Cellar Talks. We have created a line-up that will take you to the North of Spain, the North and South Plateau (center) of Spain, the Mediterranean coast and the South of Spain. Below you will find a short introduction per guest and the topics we will discuss.
The first edition of the show (an overall introduction to Grande Pagos de Espana and Spain in general) will be on the 5th of November 19:30h CET (via Instagram Live on our DWA account). Our guest for this episode will be Jean Belondrade.
| Episode | Date | Guest | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 05-11 19:30h | @grandespagos Jean Belondrade | Wine Region: Spain (Grandes Pagos de Espana) |
| 2 | 12-11 19:30h | @alonsodelyerro North Plateau, Alonso del Yerro | Wine Region: DO Ribera del Duero |
| 3 | 26-11 19:30h | @bodegamustiguillo Mediterranean, Bodega Mustiguillo | Wine Region: DOP El Terrerazo |
| 4 | 10-12 19:30h | @cortijolosaguilares South Spain, Cortijo los Aguilares | Wine Region: DO Sierras de Malaga |
| 5 | 17-12 19:30h | @pagovallegarcia South Plateau, Pago de Vallegarcia | Wine Region: DOP Pago de Vallegarcia |
| 6 | 14-01 19:30h | @vinasdelvero North of Spain, Pago de Secastilla | Wine Region: DO Somontano |
A short description of our guests:
- Grandes Pagos de Espana Jean Belondrade will join us for the introduction to GPE and Spain as a wine country. Jean is a respectable member of the Spanish wine society and has achieved great successes with his father Didier at Belondrade wines. Belondrade is one of the iconic Verdejo producers one of the most successful wineries in the Rueda region and Spain as a whole.
- Alonso del Yerro We move to the Northern Plateau, an important part of Spain, where we will talk with Maria del Yerro. In 2002 she and her family moved from Madrid to Ribera del Duero, on a quest to create the best wines. We will talk about this important and iconic region, the family’s success and the red Tempranillo wines that are so iconic for Spain.
- Bodega Mustiguillo The Mediterranean region of Spain, in-land from Valencia. Here our guest will be Toni Sarrion, the owner and winemaker at Bodega Mustiguillo. Sheltered by mountains and located in a valley his domain lies at 800 meters above sea level. With a unique microclimate their focus grape is the regional star Bobal. Toni is also the current President of Grandes Pagos de Espana. He achieved his status by hard work, dedication and mostly persistence. This resulted in his winery to become the first single-estate-appelation in the Mediterranean region.
- Cortijo los Aguilares In this episode that South of Spain is our focus. In the Sierra de las Nieves you will find a magical environment where Cortijo los Aguilares is located in the DO Sierras de Malaga. Winemaker Bibi Garcia will take us on a tour and tell us all about the region, their winery and the great Pinot Noirs (some of the most Southern in Europe) and Petit Verdot’s they make.
- Pago Vallegarcia We end our tour at Pago Vallegarcia, located in the Southern part of the Plateau. Again a great winery and region, that has successfully been growing mainly French grape varieties, turning them into excellent wines. Adolfo Hornos (General Manager and Winemaker) will guide us through his home and tell us about the well received Syrah and Viognier wines, but also the Bordeaux style blends they make.
- Pago de Secastilla In the valley of Secastilla in the North of Spain Jose Ferrer is making great Granacha (Grenache) in a land that is both enchanting as well as rough, but these circumstances make excellent white and red Granacha.
Soon more on all the guests but write down all the dates and be sure you do not miss out on your favs!
We will be broadcasting on Instagram Live, always on Friday night at 19:30h CET, for instructions on how to join us click here.
All shows are recorded and can also be watched on our IGTV channel (also accessible through our instagram profile). If you did not have a chance to tune in for our previous seasons you can watch the recordings through this link.We are also converting all previous episodes into Podcasts, more information and links to that can be found here.
