Enofusion, the international wine event held as part of the “Reale Seguros Madrid Fusión” Gastronomic Summit, ends following three days of intense activity, in which the world of wine was able to show its strategies, trends and ways of understanding the current context in order to adapt to it.
TopWineSpain, one of the main areas of this event, consolidated itself during its second edition as the reference point for quality wines from Spain, thanks to the participation of 43 Spanish wineries from across Spain. A selection endorsed by the wine critic from El País journal, Carlos Delgado.
The Tasting Room, Enofusion’s most dynamic area, witnessed the development of wineries over these past years, together with the novelties with which the wineries aim to add diversity, quality and differentiation. Wineries such as Vega Sicilia (Enofusion’s Award for Achievement 2020) and Arzuaga Navarro showed their oenological history and how their wines have “behaved” over time.
The outcome of wineries and designations of origin which have known how to adapt themselves to new trends by incorporating new ways of understanding the world of wine: such as LAN and their boost for singularity; or Legaris displaying Tempranillo’s diversity, Ramón Bilbao (Enofusion’s Prize for Innovation 2020) which carried out a tour through their range of innovations; ARS Collecta with their cavas; PDO. “Vinos de Madrid” boosted “taberneo” (Spanish way of wandering around tabernas while tasting wines); PDO Ribera del Duero and the incorporation of the Albillo wine grape; or PDO. Rueda advocating for Verdejo’s ageing capacity.
This development was mainly seen during the tasting session “Young winemakers” in which the new generations of the following wineries: José Pariente, Fariña and Gerardo Méndez were addressing new ways of interpreting wine although not forgetting their heritage. These changes were also “tasted” throughout the presentation of the project called “Alma Carraovejas”, which is the consolidation of the growth of what started as Pago de Carraovejas, the first main winery.
Thanks to Makro and PDO. Prosecco, food pairings were not lacking throughout this major event. Wonderful wine experiences were carried out thanks to wines from the Island of Tenerife (Spain) or from Canadian icewines.
The sector’s challenges were also discussed: climate change was addressed by Pancho Campo, including a wine selection from areas which are not historically winegrowing areas but with the climate changes they have actually produced wine; and another major challenge dealt with was that of consumers and how to connect with them, by Susana García, director of OIVE.
On the last day, Enofusion offered the 2nd Enovision, a forum for debate that had great public attendance. On this occasion, the Spanish Wine Brand was reflected upon by the most prominent professionals in communication and brand construction, as well as by opinion leaders, institutions and major wineries. The keys for understanding the concept of “Spanish Wine Brand” are that Spain has unique values (lifestyle, leisure, gastronomy) and the wine culture can operate as a backbone of Spain as a Country Brand (“Marca España”). However, the Spanish country brand has to support excellent and emotional wines and must also decide if Spain should sell according to quality or value. And also Spain can and should be leader in historical vineyards and organic yields, as well as in actions regarding climate change. Wine is the strongest asset for Spanish Brand reputation, yet Spaniards do not seem to realize it.
In the general exhibition area of Enofusion, visitors were able to discover new wines that classified according to current trends at Enotendencias: vegan wines, organic wines, varietal wines, wines made from autochthonous grapes, limited-edition wines, etc. And also novelties presented by 10 wineries that participated under the umbrela of “Ávila Auténtica”, wines from the DO. “Vinos de Madrid”, wine references from “Experiencias d’Autor”, the wine supply from Makro, the designations of origin from Castile-La Mancha, the wines awarded “Gran Selección”, as well as the elaborations from Bodegas Nabal, Península Vinicultores, SotoManrique Bodega or Ana Caballo Vermouth.
The 10th Enofusion
Enofusion is the international wine event that was held within the 18th “Reale Seguros Madrid Fusión” Gastronomic Summit. This summit provided an intense program of speeches, in which nationally and internationally renowned chefs, exposed the current state of avant-garde cuisine and new trends. The 10th Enofusion was held on the 13th, 14th and 15th of January in Pavilion 14 at Madrid’s IFEMA.