Barcelona Wine Week (BWW), the flagship fair for high-quality Spanish wine, will open its doors with a full house on Monday, with: 952 wineries and more than 7,200 m2, 15% more than in 2023 in terms of the number of exhibitors and surface area. After only three fairs, the organisation is preparing an expansion of its surface area in 2025 to accommodate the high demand from interested companies.
BWW 2024 will bring together wineries from 73 DOs and other high-quality seals from all over Spain, which will exhibit their best wines and establish commercial contacts with the 20,000-plus professional visitors expected to attend. Among them will be 650 large buyers and key importers from strategic export countries invited by BWW in partnership with ICEX Spain Export and Investment. It will also be attended by professionals from the United States, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China, once again with a prominent presence. These are purchase decision-makers from large supermarket chains such as Tesco (United Kingdom) and City Super (China) and key distributors such as American Northwest Distributors and Handcraftedwines (USA). They will be joined by nearly 1,000 national buyers invited by BWW through its VIP Buyers programme. It is estimated that a total of over 11,400 business meetings will be held between these buyers and the exhibiting companies during the event.
According to BWW director Celine Pérez, “the huge high demand to exhibit at the fair and the success of the programme to attract key buyers will confirm BWW as a unique event for the galvanisation and internationalisation of Spanish wine. This success is forcing us to grow while maintaining our commitment to a premium event focused on effectively generating business”.
The participating companies will include major names such as Matarromera, Pago de los Capellanes, Protos, Marqués del Atrio, Hammeken Cellars, Lan, La Rioja Alta, Juvé & Camps, Vicente Gandía, Freixenet and Vallformosa, as well as hundreds of medium-sized and small wineries grouped together in over 70 Designations of Origin and other quality seals. Those with the greatest presence will be the Ribera del Duero DO, the Rioja DOCa and the Cava DO, but there will be many others, including Priorat, Bierzo, Alicante, Mallorca, Jumilla, Cigales, Rías Baixas, Arlanza and Navarra.
The fair will be divided into three large areas. The largest will be BWW Lands, with wineries organised by DOs and other quality seals. It will be followed by BWW Brands and BWW Complements&Tech, with some of the most renowned brands on the market, and BWW Collectives and BWW Impulse, with small projects and micro-wineries.
70 tastings and presentations on the wine to come
BWW will welcome over 160 experts, Masters of Wine, sommeliers, critics and prominent producers who will analyse the major challenges and macro-trends in the sector and organise unique tastings. This time, the central thematic axis will be an exploration of the trend of using singular vessels to age wine, from jars to ancient stone winepresses. The speakers will include producers Fernando Mora (Aragón DO), Dominik Huber and Sara Pérez (Priorat DOca), Almudena Alberca, the first and only Spanish woman with the title of Master of Wine, and the last three winners of the Best Spanish Sommelier contest, brought together for an unprecedented tasting.
The diversity of materials for ageing will also feature in the Wine Tasting Journey by #alimentosdespaña space, where 70 wines aged in singular vessels will be on offer.
Other featured sessions will include those conducted by Peter Richards, Master of Wine and a highly renowned wine communicator in the United Kingdom, Beth Willard from Decanter magazine, critic Tim Atkin, with his first report on the best wines made in Catalonia, and the tasting to be led by sommelier and La Vanguardia journalist Ramon Francàs: The magnificent ten from the Ribera del Duero DO, which will encompass the best wines from wineries such as Pago de los Capellanes, Vega Sicilia, Pago de Carraovejas and Aalto.
As for the BWWHub area, it will host sessions on sustainability, trends, internationalisation and digitisation. We should mention those devoted to adaptation to climate change, the application of Artificial Intelligence, the upturn in non-alcoholic wine consumption, exports to the United States and excellence as a driver of international positioning, with the participation of ICEX Spain Export and Investment.
Visitors to the fair will also be able to enjoy the best paired dishes in the #BWWGastronomy area, with proposals by Casa de Tapas Cañota, Tangana and Hermanos Vinagre.
The passion for wine is set to invade Barcelona
On the occasion of the fair, Barcelona will host several proposals based on the world of wine. From 2 to 7 February, the BWW Likes The City! project will turn Barcelona into the capital of wine by linking up with restaurant establishments, hotels and other venues in the city. Over 20 restaurants, bars and wine bars will offer special menus and paired tapas. These will include, Citrus, La Venta, Nectari, Topik, La Balsa, Via Veneto, Bolero Bar and ABaC. But the wine-based experiences will also take over a dozen cultural venues, such as the Ona bookshop, the Macba and the Reial Cercle Artístic.
In addition, this year BWW Likes The City will première Hotel Wine Fest, organised alongside Gourmeet. These are three routes taking in iconic hotels in the city where special tastings and pairings will be on offer. They’ll feature the wines of the Penedès DO, those of the Murcian DOs (Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla) and those of the Cava DO. The participating hotels will include the Majestic, the Claris, the Neri and the Cotton House. All of them will compete to win the Hotel Wine Fest’s Best Pairing Award.