Travelling to Spain without leaving NE Ohio

Last weekend I had the opportunity to explore the many diverse regions of Spain and learn about the wines that each produce. Hosted by the Wine Academy of Spain our class was treated to three intense days of learning and tasting over seventy wines.

The Wine Academy of Spain was started by Pancho Campo, Spain's first recipient of the Master of Wine (MW) title. The Academy was founded to teach and train wine professionals, help promote Spain's wine and tourism industries, and through a special forum bring to light the effects of climate change on wine.

As part of the Academy's 2009-2010 tour, Cleveland and eleven other U.S. Cities were scheduled to host the Spanish Wine Education program. Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of Catavino , an educational website that promotes Iberian wine, food, and culture, offered the chance for an interested blogger in each city to take part in the course. Having traveled to and fallen in love with all Spain has to offer, I jumped at this exciting opportunity. To my delight, I was able to attend the three day class at The Cleveland Wine School, owned by Marianne Frantz, Certified Wine Educator.


Lead by faculty Jesús Bernad and David Denton the course was an in depth look at the history, culture, and of course wines all around Spain from the lush, green valleys of the Rías Baixas to the hot, arid planes of Extremadura. Tasting wines from many of these regions allowed the class to form a more concrete understanding of the quality of wines being produced, and helped characterize each region and their individual grape varieties. In all, seventy-four wines were sampled (don't worry – all tasting is done professionally and samples are spit out), and included all types and styles including red, white, sweet, dry, sparkling, and fortified.

The Wine Academy concludes their U.S. Leg of the tour in Washington DC before heading to Asia, stopping back in New York City, and then to Sweden. The upcoming Wine Future Rioja09 conference held in Logroño will be held November 12-13. This event will bring the world's top wine personalities and professionals together in Spain to discuss economic crisis, consumption, sales, market trends, climate change, and more. Learn more about this event at www.winefuture.es.

Participating in this course and completing questions on theory as well as a blind tasting will (as long as I passed!) certify me as a Spanish Wine Educator. In the meantime, I would like to share information and notes on some of the excellent quality wines that are being produced in Spain and highlight what a great value they are in our market.

Salud!