Buyer meets Catalonian Cellar

In collaboration with Catavins Sabadell (Fira Sabadell), Wine Pleasures is pleased to announce a new Workshop for wine importers to meet with boutique Catalonian wine producers.

Catalonia – Where’s That?

This might seem like a silly question but the truth of the matter is that many wine  importers we have come across over the last 7 years have not known where Catalonia is. Our answer to the question is usually Barcelona, Spain and that gets them orientated. If you look at the map it’s the green coloured area in the north-east part of Spain.

Wines from Catalunya include sparkling Cava, dry white wines and powerful reds, known as “black” wine or vi negre in Catalan language (which is not a dialect of Spanish as many are led to believe). The grapes of the region include the Cava and white wine grapes of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel.lo and the red wine grapes of Garnacha, Monestrell and Tempranillo.

The Catalan wine region includes 9 Denominació d’Origen or Denominación de Origen (DO) and 1 Denominació d’Origen Qualificada (DOQ) region – the Priorat. The Catalunya DO is a generic appelation  that covers the entire region for wines that do not fall under any other DO designation.

The 11 wine regions of Catalunya are as follows. Links for each one will take you to our Resource section where each region is described in greater detail.

The Event

The Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Catalonian Cellar takes place over two and a half days from Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th November 2010 where Hosted Buyers hold pre-scheduled meetings and tastings with small to medium sized boutique Catalonian Wineries not normally present in the larger international trade fairs.

What is a Hosted Buyer?

If you organise, influence or make wine purchase decisions as an importer, distributor, retailer, agent or as a member of the on-trade then you could be eligible to attend the Wine Pleasures Workshop as a Hosted Buyer.

Register as a Hosted Buyer

Why attend?

With the current pressure on budegets, let Wine Pleasures host you for this dedicated business opportunity. As a Hosted Buyer, you will benefit from:

• *Subsidised flights to Barcelona Airport & scheduled transfers from the airport to event venue.
• 2 nights accommodation in the Catalonia Grand Hotel Verdi****
• A personal itinerary of appointments with your choice of winery
• A range of dedicated networking opportunities throughout the event
• Seminar programme relevant to your business
• Wine and food matching at lunches and dinners

A Valuable Use of Your Time

Wine Pleasures strives to provide you with the most cost effective use of your time, and real, measurable, return on investment. We offer you an event to:

• formulate buying decisions without the hustle and bustle & stress of attending large trade fairs
• meet one to one with boutique wine-makers who inspire you
• make your budgets work harder
• attend seminars aimed at gaining new wine consumers
• network with industry peers

The Hosted Buyer Workshop Programme

Wednesday 10 November, 2010
15.00 – 17.30 Registration of participants
17.30 – 19.00 Seminar: “The Catalan Model of Wine Making” delivered by Oriol Guevarra, Director General of the Institut Català de la Vinya i el Vi (INCAVI) part of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Dept de Agricultura, Alimentación i Acción Rural)
19.00 – 20.30 Wine tasting & time for scheduling extra appointments
21.00 Dinner and wine matching  in the hotel

Thursday 11 November, 2010
09.00 – 10.00 Workshop opens – time for tasting and/or scheduling extra appointments
10.00 – 13.00 One to one meetings with wineries
13.00 – 15.00 Lunch
15.00 – 15.30 Free time
15.30 – 18.30 One to one meetings with wineries
21.00 Dinner and wine matching in the hotel

Friday 12 November, 2010
09.00 – 10.00 Workshop opens – time for tasting and/or scheduling extra appointments
10.00 – 13.30 One to one meetings with wineries
14.00 – 15.30 Lunch & end of workshop
15.45 – Transfer to Barcelona Airport. Arriving at 16.30

Online Registration

To register as a buyer for the Wine Pleasures Workshop Buyer meets Catalonian Cellar please complete the online Registration Form:

Register as a Hosted Buyer