Image courtesy Barcelona Wine Week
Barcelona Wine Week concluded this week with record figures, prompting expansion plans for 2025.
The fourth instalment of the event, the 2024 edition of Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) grew by 15 percent compared to the previous year, featuring both more exhibitors and a larger exhibition space, whilst remaining committed to the sustainability of the event.
BWW closed its doors on Wednesday at Fira de Barcelona, featuring exhibitors from 952 wineries from 73 Designations of Origin and close to 21,000 professional visitors, 20 percent of whom were international.
In total, more than 12,000 business meetings were held during the event between exhibiting companies and the 1,000 national buyers and 650 international importers from strategic countries such as the United States, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China.
BWW is firmly committed to the sustainability of the event, ensuring that 70% of the show’s furniture and stands are reused and the carpeting is environmentally friendly. In addition, in collaboration with Ecovidrio, more than 17 tonnes of glass were collected at this edition. The show also recovers cork stoppers with the involvement of the Institut Català del Suro and has eliminated single-use plastics.
With the focus now on the 2025 edition, BWW plans to expand further to meet the high demand from wineries and visitors, with next year’s event to be held from 3 to 5 February.
The show’s president, Javier Pagés, said that the event’s growth was an indication of its calibre.
“In just four editions, Barcelona Wine Week has become one of the three most important wine shows in Europe. This success forces us to resize ourselves, to grow to welcome more wineries and more buyers, but without losing the essence of exclusivity and quality of the event”.
Over three days, more than 300,000 glasses of wine were served for tasting from large companies such as Matarromera, Pago de los Capellanes, Protos, Marqués del Atrio, Hammeken Cellars, Lan, La Rioja Alta, Araex, Juvé & Camps, Vicente Gandía, Freixenet and Vallformosa, as well as from hundreds of small and medium-sized wineries grouped into Denominations of Origin and other labels.
The DO Ribera del Duero, DOCa Rioja and DO Cava were notable among those represented, as well as Priorat, Bierzo, Alicante, Mallorca, Jumilla, Cigales, Rías Baixas, Arlanza and Navarra.
The show was attended by more than 160 experts, Masters of Wine, sommeliers, critics, and winemakers who analysed the major challenges and macro-trends in the sector. From adaptation to climate change and advances in sustainability to the trend of using alternative winemaking vessels.
Renowned winemakers such as Dominik Huber and Sara Pérez (D.O.Ca Priorat), Masters of Wine such as Fernando Mora, Almudena Alberca and Tim Atkin and experts such as Peter Richards and Beth Willard took part.
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