http://www.williamgammuto.ch Elsa Mesot | Muto) The Great Wine Capitals Special Achievement Awards recognize outstanding lifelong accomplishments by wine tourism related companies. During the Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner marking the end of the 2023 Annual Conference of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network in Lausanne, the Vivanco Foundation received the Network’s third Special Achievement Award. The first award was in 2019 for La Cité du Vin (Bordeaux) and the second, in 2022 for WOW (World of Wine) in Porto. Give Back to Wine What Wine Has Given to Us This motto was the inspiration for t ..read more

We have much more wine than we can drink. We haven’t bought much lately and prefer to draw down our large inventory of bottles unless we get a really serious recommendation. The other day we decided to have steak for lunch.  My wife started rummaging around our wine cellar and brought up a bottle of red that I didn’t even remember either buying or receiving as a gift. (Note to self:  put tags on the bottles so we remember where and when we got it, and in the case of a gift, who gifted it.) The bottle was Myotragus 2012, a ‘vino de la Tierra’ (regional wine from Majorca, one of Spain ..read more

A refreshing look at our city, how young people discover the world and not forgetting the things we take for granted Logroño and the rest of the Rioja region – Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental  – recently received unexpected advertising support from a young American couple, the Smiths and their young son.  The couple recently moved here from Kansas in the USA. Photo credit: smithsinspain on Instagram The Smiths relate their experiences on Instagram and TikTok, where they have 500,000 followers. FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND FOLLOWERS When one considers that dozens of websites, re ..read more

2022 was a great year to drink terrific bottles, some already familiar and others tasted during one of my wife’s and my trips around town, Spain, and the world. I know that many of my fellow journalists list their favorite wines at the end of the year.  I want rather to write about the underlying experience that added to our enjoyment of the wine. The wines are described in chronological order. Château Croix d’Allons, AOC Bandol (Fort Lauderdale Florida, USA) January. A dear friend who lives in south Florida asked me to help him pour at the Seaglass Rosé Experience on the beach in Fort La ..read more

Interested in sustainable wine tourism initiatives? Join us at 4pm on December 14 for a fascinating webinar featuring four of the 2023 Best Of Wine Tourism award winners in the ‘Sustainable Wine Tourism Initiatives’ category. The winners from Rioja (Bodegas Beronia), Porto (Six Senses), Mendoza (Rosell Boher) and the Casablanca Valley (Matetic Winery) will explain their award-winning sustainable policies. To register, click on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4-vZEVHnQzqOqPRflr5mMA ..read more

Credit: Tom Perry Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture has recently approved twelve new applications for singular vineyard (Viñedo Singular) status from Rioja producers.  This brings the total of singular vineyards to 133. As a reminder, to attain singular vineyard status, the most important requirements for a vineyard are: It must be located entirely within the limits of a town or village, It must be over thirty years old, The owner or lessee of the vineyard must present an agro-geological and climate study that explains why the vineyard is exceptional, The vineyard must be harvested manuall ..read more

The wines from the Rioja region, although in high demand in northern Spain, were not highly regarded abroad.  In his memoirs, the future Marquis of Murrieta, Luciano de Murrieta y García-Lemoine complained about their quality: “I was in England with the Duke of La Victoria (General Baldomero Espartero), suffering the consequences of forced exile (from 1843 to 1848) because of our political ideas and constantly observing the esteem, that bordered on admiration, that was given to good wine. On my return to Logroño and seeing that in many cases wine was used to make mortar because it was che ..read more

The development of the steam locomotive in England in the early 19th century was one of the most important drivers of the Industrial Revolution.  By the middle of the century there were more than 10,000 kilometers of railway lines in England, France, the German and Italian States, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia. (1) Spain was eager to adopt this modern means of transportation. However, despite the governments’ progressive leanings, finances were in a sorry state following a severe economic crisis in 1847 and 1848 so official financial backing for rail lines was lacking. According ..read more

Jeremy Watson Wine – it’s such a complicated subject. If we venture beyond the ‘either I like it or I don’t’ phase, we need an expert’s help to attempt to fathom its mysteries. Enter the wine writer. As far as I know, no other fruit has been so meticulously dissected as the grape and its fermented liquid. I tip my hat to the men and women who have worn out their elbows studying, their suitcases and salaries from traveling and their palates from tasting and reporting on the mind boggling variety of wines made around the world. The topic of Rioja is no exception, although our output dwarfs those ..read more

Miguel Merino Sr. and Jr. Miguel Merino, founder of Bodega Miguel Merino, passed away on October 31 after a long illness. Most people in Rioja today knew Miguel as the jovial owner of the winery he founded in 1994.  Miguel however, was a 44 year veteran of the Rioja wine trade, having begun his career as one of the two export directors of Bodegas Berberana, at that time one of Rioja’s powerhouses along with Paternina, AGE and Savin, the parent company of Bodegas Campo Viejo. I met Miguel shortly after my arrival in Rioja in 1983 as the export director of bottled wines for Savin and we soo ..read more