Edinburgh Wine Tasting
Instituto Cervantes Manchester, in collaboration with the Spanish Wine Federation, the Consulate General of Spain in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival, and Bodegas Alvear, invites you to a wine tasting and talk.
The wine tasting aims to showcase the cultural richness of Spanish wine in the north of England, featuring a speaker, Juan Manuel Bellver Sánchez.
Juan Manuel Bellver Sánchez is a Spanish journalist specializing in wine, gastronomy, culture, and lifestyle. Since 1991, he has written about wine and restaurants, winning the National Gastronomy Award granted by the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy in 2001, where he is now a full academic member and part of the governing board. Since 2014, wine has been at the center of his professional activity, through commerce, teaching, and consulting for wineries and high-end restaurant groups. He is a founding member of a wine-focused website and co-author of the book 1,001 Wines You Must Try Before You Die.
A lover of wines with history and the history of wine, his talk will address the past and present of Spanish wine, not forgetting the inspiring role it has played in the work of Spanish-speaking writers from different eras.
Bodegas Alvear
is one of the most prestigious and internationally recognized wineries in Spain, and the oldest winery in Andalusia, founded in 1729 by Don Diego Alvear y Escalera. With the fourth generation of the family, and thanks to his parents' connections in England and knowledge of the language, the export of wines and barrels from Montilla to England and other European countries began. Currently, Luis Giménez Alvear, General Director, is responsible for leading the winery, representing the eighth generation. The winery has extensive vineyards located in the famous regions of Montilla and Moriles (Córdoba) and also acquires grapes and wine from local growers. Their star grape is the Pedro Ximenez, originally from the Rhine, which forms the unique base of their sweet wines.