From white wines with soul to young professionals and pairing food with sake, the final day of
The Wine Edition Wines from Spain was a brilliant showcase for the rich variety of the wine world
- Sarah Jane Evans MW hosted a fascinating discussion on age worthy white wines with two of the foremost experts on producing wine with longevity in Spain
- The fifth edition of the Juli Soler Award for young people in wine saw five emerging talents from the world of wine consider the future direction of wine, as they discussed current trends and challenges
- Ugo Muñoz, chef of Madrid restaurant Ugo Chan*, was joined by sommelier Marco Brocani and Sake expert Pablo Salvioni in a session to explain how they pair food with the Japanese wine
- In the tasting area, Santi Carrillo, the sommelier of El Corral de la Morería*, the world’s only flamenco tablao with a Michelin star, shared a selection of wines that showed a different side of Andalucía
- The tasting room also played host to superbly insightful sessions on wines from Georgia, Portugal and Catalonia
Madrid, Wednesday 29 January 2025. Concluding the 2025 edition of The Wine Edition Wines from Spain, the final day showcased the genuine diversity of the world of wine, as the audience embarked on a journey that featured discussions on white wines for cellaring; a focus on the emerging talent of wine professionals in the restaurants and the place for sake in a restaurant wine programme.
This fifth edition of the international wine congress, hosted by Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España, the most influential gastronomy congress in the world, now in its 23rd year, has explored the wine sector from a multitude of angles, through a programme of roundtables, tastings, presentations and educational sessions.
On this third and final day some clear themes stood out in the conversations on stage in the auditorium, among them the rising popularity of white wine and the need to approach a new generation of drinkers in a different way. Progressive thinking, curiosity and an open mind are crucial ingredients in these conversations.
For the first session of the day, in a Top Tasting named Age worthy white wines, Sarah Jane Evans MW, the co-chair of the Decanter Wine Awards turned the spotlight on white wines that are suitable for cellaring. She was joined by two renowned producers: María Vargas of Marqués de Murrieta and Pazo de Barrantes; and Rafael Palacios.
While both hail from La Rioja, Palacios has produced his wines in Galicia since relocating there and starting to work with Godello grapes in 2002. Vargas has worked with Marqués de Murrieta for almost 30 years. They shared insights on the unique challenges of producing wines in the two regions.
In a fascinating session, the two considered the recent ascent of age worthy white wines and the drivers of this development, as well as the change in the perception of white wines among the drinking and dining public. They spoke about a more recent trend of keeping the white wine in the bottle for longer, which is catching on.
“Albariño is a variety that is so lovely and it is a challenge to keep all the different facets. You need to give it the time in bottle to evolve all the flavours,” said Vargas. “This is something we have learned over time. The grape is the boss, we don’t decide. I always say that it is harder to make a good white wine than a good red wine. When you make a red wine you always a have a structure, a strength that you have with you all the way,
The white varieties are cheekier – Albariño, doesn’t like much of what we do to it.”
As for the future, Palacios is clear: it is in the north. “There is a great importance in what is happening with the temperature. The present and the future is clear, it is in the north in the Atlantic zone.”
The Juli Soler Award, sponsored by Ramón Bilbo, recognising the young talent of the wine profession, from the dining room to the winery, is a tradition of the Wine Edition Wines of Spain, much like the Breakthrough Chef of the Year is a recognition awarded by Madrid Fusión every year.
The tasting that followed the award, saw the five guide a tasting of white wines, in recognition of the shift in preference toward white wines among consumers. “This is not only among the consumers, we also look for more White wines with a structure that can withstand heavier dishes, as sommeliers this type of wine gives us more room to play and develop different pairings and the consumers give us the license to go there,” said Rocío Yagüe, sommelier of Hotel Brach in Madrid.
Another recipient, Ismael Mena, sommelier of Barro restaurant called for a progressive way of embracing different wines and pointed to a change in people’s diets too. “We have also changed the way we eat; we don’t eat heavy meats every day and we eat lighter dishes that perhaps white wines are more suited to. We ought to focus on the qualities of a wine instead of focusing too much on the colour of the wine, whether it is red, white or rosé,” he said.
The fives themselves are part of a generation that consumes less wine posing a challenge to wine producers and sommeliers who are tasked with selling and serving wine. “We need to get young people closer to the world of wine, engage them more in the consumption because if we don’t do that we are lost,” said Sara Bañuelos, winemaker in Bodegas Ramón Bilbao, who chaired this session.
In the final Vinomio session of the 2025 edition of The Wine Edition Wines from Spain, Ugo Chan: Japanese food and sake, chef Ugo Muñoz, together with sommelier Marco Brocani and sake expert Pablo Salvioni, outlined the restaurant’s approach to pairing Japanese cuisines with sake.
Muñoz pointed out that he prefers to refer to his cuisine as “Japanese, my way” instead of fusion and emphasised the close links between the kitchen and the wine programme in Ugo Chan. “I opened the restaurant with eight members of staff, now we are 35 and when Marco joined us, I remember thinking, ‘how cool, now I have a sommelier; we are a proper restaurant’,” he said.
Muñoz served four small plates: oyster with yuzo and chili, tuna tartare with cauliflower vichyssoise and caviar; sea urchin with artichoke soup; and a gyoza of tripe. They were paired with two wines and two sakes, selected by Brocani and Salvioni who explained the thinking behind the pairing as they outlined the flavour notes for each of the dishes.
When describing the selection Brocani explained his objective. “I always look for a clean mouth and a happy belly; this is something I learned from Ugo,” he said.
Salvioni who brought two sakes, one classic and one with more personality, spoke of an evolution in the world of sake producers. “The big sake producers are young people who travel a lot and visit wineries around the world; they are trying out new things and new ways of working with curiosity. The concept of natural wine is gaining traction with this new generation.”
In the tasting area of the Wine Discovery Zone the room was packed for the session on Wines of Andalucía, delivered by Santi Carrillo, El Corral de La Morería* in Madrid, the world’s only flamenco tablao with Michelin star. He was accompanied by guitarist Jose Manuel Montoya who played a different piece of music for each step of the tasting.
Explaining that we had wanted to show a different side of Andalucía away from the sherries that it is perhaps best known for, Carrillo set about guiding the room in a tasting of wines from across Andalucía, from Malaga to Huelva. “We have so much more than the wines from Jerez. We are going to show a different kind of wines, that are very of the moment but all are anchored in the tradition,” he said.
Also in the tasting area today were presentation of two countries showcasing their rich wine heritage and culture, Georgia and Portugal. Additionally, there was a fascinating talk by María José Huertas, sommelier at Paco Roncero Restaurante**, who presented a selection of white wines from Catalonia.
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