One of the things that has to be appreciated about Grenache is that it is one of the few wines that goes perfectly with Curry dishes.

Am assuming that all the sponsors and distinguished speakers at WineFuture Rioja09 will have asked the same question.

http://jimsloire.blogspot.com/2009/10/winefuture-rioja09-do-they-know-where.html

Pancho was seen via Skype at the Wine Academy of Spain seminar in NY this week. He did talk about how important WineFuture 2009 was.

‘the wine Atteca Armas is not from DO Campo de Borja but from DO Calatayud….’

The two DOs are not even in the same Spanish region: Borja is in Aragon and Calatayud in Catalonia.

Further comment might be both unkind and superfluous…..

“Winefuture-Rioja ´09 has exceeded all the expectations and goals of the organizers. The conference has reached 600 registrations from wine professionals from over 40 nationalities. 450 of these registrations are VIP tickets that include access to the Robert Parker Master-class and to the Official Dinner. The rest of the registrations are regular tickets that give access to all the panels and speeches. ”

It’s still early but you can get that many people to watch a cement mixer. The program doesn’t seem to have been thought through very well either. Obviously Parker isn’t able to do a master class on Spanish wine but given that a good part of the money for the event is coming from the local government, it seems like somebody should have figured out a way to have the talk tie into Spanish wine some way. And if Zraly’s wife is as knowledgeable about Rioja as she’s supposed to be, she should have been able to point out the minimal garnacha in most Rioja wines.

Far more interesting would have been to do a tasting of “peers” instead of random vintages. Instead of continually hyping the 2007 Southern Rhones, why not compare grenache around the world from the same vintages? Like maybe 1998? Or compare one each of 1998 and 2007 from Australia, Priorat, Rhone, etc. There were a number of aging predictions made based on very few vintages from Spain and it would have been illuminating to see if any of those are likely to pan out.

Often as not, when tasted side by side, the Chateauneuf du Pape wines do not impress more than many other wines, so perhaps that is the reason to show them at their youngest and freshest. But even so, I wonder why the obsession with promoting those since he’s not a producer or involved financially in the wineries?

Many thanks for the financial details. All the more reason for the source of the original of The Wine Academy of Spain to be made clear. Given PC’s conviction and current money laundering laws it is possible that those organisations and companies involved in WineFuture Rioja09 have a legal requirement to establish this information.

Manuel – thanks for the translation.

If Miguel González de Legarra wasn’t asking those questions about the original funding for the Wine Academy already, he will be asking them this weekend, I’m sure. I intend to translate your comment here as part of my “Freaks of the Week In Review” Friday post. If Sr. González de Legarra doesn’t read English, I’ll make sure he gets this idea in Spanish, because it’s really important. One needs to follow the money in many different directions in this case.

One thing José points out makes me particularly curious: He says that beyond the number that is attending Parker’s Garnacha shindig, there are “150 people who are paying for the event without the Grenache tasting”. Does that mean we’re talking about an event that will get only 500-600 attendees? Doesn’t that seem a modest audience, considering the magnitude of the speaking crew? Also, it’s about time someone revealed the “speaker’s fees” for the “top talent” being brought in. I would imagine Parker’s honorarium will be hefty, Unless, being the “Emperor of Wine” and this being the benevolent event to figure out the future (or perhaps the “fouture”?) of wine, he will go pro bono?

This would make a great movie, I think.

Best,

Manuel

You have to add to the income another 150 people that are paying for the event without the Grenache tasting.

Also, 100 wineries will be pouring their wines at the trade show part of the event. Typical charges are about 1,000 to 1,500 euros per table.

In addition to Rioja’s DO, there is over a dozen other outfits sponsoring the event. Pancho’s group also got a freebie on the locale for the event. There is a lot of money going to Pancho’s group and little expenses that he has to pay for this event.

With all these money coming in maybe he will be able to pay his debt to his former partner in Dubai.