AFG/ICAL
The vice president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Juan García-Gallardo, praised the Duero area as a place “where some of the best wines in the world are produced,” as it is one of the economic “oils” of Casilla y León. García-Gallardo opened the third edition of the Duero Wine Fest international congress at the Salamanca Congress Palace.
“Wine is an essential part of our economy,” he added, “one of our largest wealth funds, and that is reflected in the sales volume,” explained García-Gallardo. Data that amounts to a turnover of almost a billion euros, 33,000 jobs, half of them direct, and almost four percent of the Gross Domestic Product of Castile and León, “which also allows us to have a positive trade balance and to settle the population in rural areas with an economic activity that cannot be relocated,” he said in statements collected by Ical.
Conquering the international market
When asked by the media what is missing for Castilla y León wine to conquer the international market, Juan García-Gallardo explained that he is already in this process: “What happens is that we are not satisfied with little He made it clear that Ribera del Duero, “our flagship appellation of origin”, has already overtaken Rioja, the “older” appellation of origin, on the national market.
Regarding the possibility that the Godello de Bierzo grape can be used in Rueda wines, García-Gallardo preferred to remain on the sidelines and not make any statements on an issue that “will be resolved at the level of the regulatory councils”. However, he insisted that “Castile and León is fortunate to have such a wide variety of wine regions and we must promote them all and continue to produce outstanding and high quality wines.”
III Douro Wine Festival
The third edition of the international congress Duero Wine Fest will take place on April 15 and 16 at the Salamanca Congress Palace. According to its president, Juan Manuel Bellver, this festival was created “with the aim of supporting, publicizing and promoting all the wines of the Duero through the exchange of ideas between professionals, prescribers, journalists or winemakers” in order to create an “engine” to create the economy of Castile and León”. In addition, the Duero Valley is recognized as one of the most important wine rivers in the world and relations with neighboring Portugal are deepened.
During these two days they will analyze, among other things, trends such as low alcohol wines, wine tourism or the way in which winemakers or winemakers can deal with the temperature changes that have occurred recently. There will also be lectures by Oxford professor Felipe Fernández-Armesto and wine master Tim Atkin.