The race will be the 72nd edition of the Vuelta a España and will be the final Grand Tour of the 2017 cycling season. The race is scheduled to start in Nîmes, France and finishes in Madrid. It will be the first time the race has started in France and only the third time it has started outside of Spain.
Stages 12-16: We will taste wines from the regions the cyclists pass through: Jerez-Xerez-Sherry-Manzilla, Navarra, and Rioja.
Located in southwestern Spain is Jerez-Xerez-Sherry-Manzilla; the birthplace to Sherry and Spain’s most historical wine region. It all began in the 14th century when Manzilla first started exporting their wine to the United Kingdom. It wasn’t until the 16th century that the English gave a name to the much-beloved wine coming out of Manzilla. They named it Sherris sack; sack being a generic term for fortified wine. It soon became shortened simply to Sherry. Then in 1933, Manzilla earned Spain’s very first DO.
While Manzilla is Spain’s most historical wine region, Rioja is Spain’s most popular. Rioja is known as “The Land of a Thousand Wines” and is Spain’s most famous DO. It is here that Spain makes 40% of their total wine sales and has shares in over 100 different international markets. On average, Rioja makes about 360 million bottles of wine a year.
Going up against Rioja can be very daunting and at times casts Navarra in its shadow. However, Navarra has a lot to offer to the wine world. In 1967, Navarra became an official DO of Spain. One unique aspect of this wine region is that Navarra is a large, vast region. And with its size leads to very diverse climates all through its region. With having multiple climates comes all kinds of different grapes and their ability to grow here, allowing Navarra to make all kinds of wines. On top of the archeologists dug up the ruins to Roman wineries, making it a great tourist destination!
What to Expect:
This event is aimed to host a select gathering of like-minded wine and food lovers who are eager to share wine, stories, laughter, and friendship. We welcome you whether you are an entry-level wine drinker or a well-traveled wine connoisseur. The wines we will sample are carefully hand selected by our premier wine buying team. Please, consider joining us in the midst of a busy week to unwind and take a break from the routines of your normal day to sample some amazing wines while listening to an incredibly well-informed speaker about regions and varietals you may not yet have visited or tasted.
