March 12: Enofusiόn is the wine and drinks special area of Madrid Fusion which had several wineries showcasing their wines at their stands but some also conducted guided tastings, a couple of which were for foreign wines, writes Subhash Arora who attended those of Prosecco doc and the wines from Torres family estate of Marimar in California, giving the Tasting an international feel, besides visiting the stand of Matarromera wines being imported into India
The Wine Centre is the most popular area of Enofusiόn, due to the unique and exciting tasting sessions. This is an area designed for high-level educational tastings, experiencing wine-pairings, discovering novelties as well as for enjoying anthological vintages, enological beauties and emblematic wines from renowned wineries like Marques de Riscal- reported in the previous edition of delWine. This area has a seating capacity of 80 people. Wine-pairing and gastronomic symphonies are also the key to Enofusiόn, where original pairings are experimented with and created.
We share two interesting Tastings- both with foreign wine. This is not unusual-it has been done in previous 7 editions of Enofusiόn as well. Prosecco doc (Italy) and Marimar Estates (California) were the protagonists in these tastings.
Prosecco doc
It did feel odd to see prosecco stand represented by the Consortium of Prosecco doc which presented the guided Tasting of their sparkling wines-one of which, strangely enough, was called Spanish Prosecco. Apparently, the appellation laws of making Prosecco are similar to the ones in Champagne-a label may be sold in another country so long as it is bottled within the appellation.
Five wines were presented by Tanja Barattin from Consorzio di Tutela Della DOC Prosecco–all prosecco doc, including the Spanish Prosecco Astoria Prosecco DOC Treviso. As an interesting add-on feature, each Prosecco was paired with a different finger food prepared by a Chef from Italy.
An interesting hitherto unknown aspect of Prosecco that I came across was when I asked the question of the definition of Brut and Extra Dry. One winery called its 12 gms Brut while another one at 14 gm also called the wine Brut. Normally, it is Brut if the residual sugar is between 0-12 gms and extra dry from 13-18 gms (then it is Dry till 32 gms/liter). There was one Prosecco with 14 gms sugar but was classified Brut. It was then discovered that according to the appellation laws there is a leeway of 2-3 gms./ liter on each side of the limit to classify the bubbly as Brut or Extra Dry. Thus 14 gms could be classified by the producer as Brut or Extra Dry- so could be 10 gms!
Following 5 wines were tasted. Since the lady who was conducting the Tasting represented the Consortium for Prosecco doc- only these wines were included and there were no docg wines:
Millage Prosecco doc Treviso 2017 extra dry
Piera Martellozzo Prosecco doc O75 Carati Brut
Astoria Galie Prosecco doc Treviso (Spanish) extra dry
Villa Sandi Il Fresco Prosecco doc Treviso Brut
Masottina Prosecco Brut
All the bubbles were good quaffable wines- Villa Sandi appeared to be a notch superior. They were all excellent aperitif wines.
Marimar Estate of Familia Torres
Marimar Estate in California was yet another winery that was not from Spain although it is part of Familia Torres in Catalonia. It was constructed in 1992 and focuses on Albariňo, Chardonnay, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Godello grapes. Albariňo was introduced in 2011 and Tempranillo varietal was introduced only in 2014. The winery makes wines from two appellations (known as AVA in the US)- Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast.
The winery is organic and the process is European style of farming. Sergi Castro, Brand Ambassador of Bodega Torres was at hand to present 4 wines from the organic vineyard in Russian River Valley and one from Sonoma Coast:
Marimar Estate Albariňo 2016
Marimar Estate La Masia Chardonnay 2015
Marimar Estate La Masia Pinot Noir 2014
Marimar Estate Mas Cavalls Pinot Noir 2013
Marimar Estate Cristina Pinot Noir 2012
All the wines tasted were of excellent quality-especially Albariňo and the last two Pinot Noirs which are incidentally Estate Grown, bottled and unfiltered. Cristina Pinot Noir named after Marimar Torres’ daughter Cristina was simply an outstanding wine- clean, brilliant, elegant, fruity with great fruit concentration and lovely balance and structure. It will still mature for a few years.
Other Tastings
There were several other opportunities in the Enofusiόn section of Madrid Fusion where several Spanish wines could be tasted at the stands or the Wine Corner or Wine Bar which had around 200 samples of quality wines including the wines tasted today; where one could taste at leisure and disturbance.
The Enofusiόn offers an excellent opportunity to taste several wines from Spain, starting from supermarket wines like Makro to wines made by family estates like Bodega Miguel Torres.
For further details, visit http://www.enofusion.com/66/english-version
With 200 exhibitors, 766 accredited national and international journalists, 1896 delegates and 12,924 accredited attendees over the 3 days, Madridfusión and Enofusiόn, an integrated part of the food and wine show had a successful run and will be worth visiting for the right profiled people in January 2019.
Visit http://madridfusion.net/index.php?&lang=EN for further details.
For earlier Articles on Madrid Fusion 2018 in delWine, visit:
Madrid Fusiόn2018: Guided Tastings with Owners and Winemakers
Madrid Fusiόn 2018: Dining at Michelin Star Chefs- run Coque and Canalla Bistro
Madrid Fusión 2018: A Successful Gastronomical Event
Subhash Arora
If you Like this article please click on the Like button