I have been working with Spanish wine since 2016, and if there is one thing I have learned, it is that travelling through the Spanish countryside has been the most important part of my business.
Of course, there is a traditional way of doing this. Wine fairs, tastings, appointments, endless samples and spreadsheets. It all has its place, especially when you are dealing with a large and professional wine business.
But for me, wine has always been about relationships.
There is simply no better way to build those relationships than to put on your boots, fill up the utility vehicle and start driving.
It takes time. It costs money. Sometimes you drive for hours to taste a wine that turns out not to be quite what you were looking for. And sometimes you find something extraordinary in a place you would never have thought to look.
But that is exactly the point.
You don’t just discover wines. You discover people, villages, landscapes, restaurants, old bodegas, new ideas and stories. And somewhere along the way, the wine business starts to become something else.
A lifestyle.
Because I believe that wine is best understood where it comes from. You taste it differently after walking through the vineyards, sitting at the producer’s table, eating the local food and listening to the people who have spent generations making it.
That is what my Spanish Wine Tips and Winemaker Stories is all about.
Every week, I will share some of the places, people and experiences that have inspired me along the way. There will be wineries worth a detour, places worth stopping for, food worth looking for and, of course, wines that I think you shouldn’t miss.
My hope is that some of these stories will make you want to do the same thing.
Try a new wine. And if you visit Spain, take the long way, visit the places behind the labels.
Because the best way to understand and truly appreciate wine, might just be to go where it comes from.
Stefan Gahlin / Founder Scandeat Food & Beverage S.L.