Last Monday, the IFEMA exhibition centre witnessed one of the most important alliances for Spanish wine. Spanish Wine Academy, a space created by Ramón Bilbao to provide education and training in Spanish wine, presented its agreement as an academic ally with the Peñín Group, the leading company in the promotion and dissemination of Spanish wine culture both nationally and worldwide.

This will facilitate the achievement of Spanish Wine Academy’s main aim: to educate consumers and experts about Spanish wine culture, showing the quality and diversity of Spanish wines in a global and transversal way, through different activities, programs and tools, both in Spain and internationally.

The main function of the Peñín Group will be to check and corroborate the academic content offered by the Spanish Wine Academy to ensure that it meets the necessary requirements to disseminate this knowledge.

The presentation of the agreement took place at the Best Wines Show organised by the Peñín Group, which came to a close yesterday, 23rd November. This professional event brings together all kinds of oenological projects, from small wineries to large groups, for which it serves as a promotional platform, making it a very important event this year in particular, to reactivate commercial relations and boost one of the sectors most damaged by the pandemic.

The presentation ceremony, led by the director of the Peñín Guide, Carlos González, and Managing Director of Zamora Company's wine division, Rodolfo Bastida, featured a tasting that highlighted the diversity of landscapes and wine styles in Spain’s rich wine heritage. In total, the guests were invited to taste eight wines from different origins and made by leading producers in the country: Paraje Cava Ars Collecta La Pleta 2011, by Codorníu; Ramón Bilbao Edición Limitada Lías 2018 (DO Rueda); Finca Valiñas 2017, by Mar de Frades (DO Rías Baixas); Alto de la Estrella 2019, by SotoManrique (DOP Cebreros); Mirto 2015 (DOCa Rioja) by Ramón Bilbao; Finca Los Hoyales 2015 (DO Ribera del Duero), by Cruz de Alba; Malvasía Dulce 2017, by Victoria Torres (DO La Palma); and Solera AOS Amontillado Rare, by Osborne y Cía (DO Jerez).

The head of the Spanish Wine Academy training project, Alberto Saldón, is very pleased with this agreement, as "it will allow us to disseminate Spanish wine culture nationally and internationally in different areas of knowledge, from beginners, with the most basic elements of wine tasting and culture, to top professionals, with specific tastings and seminars on global wine trends and how they impact Spanish winemaking".

Beyond this academic collaboration, they will also carry out other types of joint activities such as international tasting sessions at the main wine shows that the Peñín guide organises around the world, as well as international tastings with opinion leaders, company clients and other audiences, such as wine lovers and wine connoisseurs.

Spanish Wine Academy

Ramón Bilbao wants to shine a spotlight on wine, one of our culture’s most prized values, providing the general public with more knowledge through the Spanish Wine Academy, a space for education and training in Spanish wines. Based on the desire to bring the culture of Spanish wine to the whole world, the bodega relies on the best professionals in the sector so that both the professional and general public can learn first-hand about the current situation of wine in the world of the restaurant industry and the wine sector itself, as well as its future.