A Emoción dos Viños 2024
Adrian McManus meets up with vignerons in Santiago for a celebration of viticultural diversity.
A Emoción dos Viños, north-west Spain’s premier rendezvous for small-scale winemakers, was held for the first time in the hydrangea festooned patio of the Pazo de Fonseca, a gorgeous renaissance jewel in Santiago de Compostela.
The previous four editions of A Emoción dos Viños were held at the crumbling but magnificent Monasterio de Oia, now undergoing a long-overdue restoration project. The organisers Marina Cruces and Antonio Portela were forced to switch operations to Galicia’s capital, which has turned out to be a win-win for attendees due to the ease of logistics with flights, rail connections and a much wider range of hotel options.
Held over the weekend, each day is split into two sessions, the first running from 11am to 2pm and the second from 5pm through to chucking out time at 9pm. That typically Spanish three hour parón for lunch offers you a cracking opportunity to explore what is undoubtedly one of Spain’s loveliest old towns and have a spot of lunch at one of Santiago’s leading spots for oenophiles, Gastroteca Salvaxe located in Nave 5 of the Plaza de Abastos or municipal market.
This year’s A Emoción dos Viños has drawn producers not only from all over Galicia but also from neighbouring Cangas del Narcea in Asturias, from Rioja Alavesa, Bierzo, Zamora, Sierra de Salamanca, Sierra de Gredos, Calatayud, Tierras de La Marina Alicante, Castelló, Mallorca, Jerez, Trebujena-Cádiz, Lanzarote, La Palma, Vinho Regional Minho, Dão and Lisbon.
In short, this winemaker gathering is a must for anyone with a discerning taste for high quality, often single vineyard wines, made with love and affection, an emphasis on minimum intervention and the harnessing of nature itself to deal with the existential threats they have to face year in year out.
The opportunity to taste wines with their creator and to hear about the effort involved, the battles they often have to fight in the vineyard, is not only an education but also a privilege. I was also left feeling that in a world where guaranteed yields and marketing manipulation seemingly take precedence over quality and identity, a visit to A Emoción dos Viños can be a pleasant wake-up call for even the most jaded palate.
Keep an eye out for next year’s A Emoción dos Viños XV via their Instagram or Facebook accounts. Tickets usually go on sale about a month before the event.