In a year in which Catalonia presents itself to the world as the World Region of Gastronomy, the province of Barcelona reaffirms itself as a wine tourism destination, with proposals that transform the traditional wine experience connecting wine with landscape, gastronomy, and heritage. The regions of Barcelona are full of culinary specialties that make their gastronomy an international benchmark, in which a key element also stands out: wine and cava.
Through its three designations of origin, the nuances of wine mark a differential factor in the proposal that the regions of Barcelona reserve for the palate. The DO Penedès, the DO Alella, and the DO Pla del Bages, with their vineyards and wineries, propose a landscape of experiences with which to delve into enology. And they do so by going beyond aromas and flavors, with wines and cavas as an expression of the culture, tradition, and essence of each territory.
To discover what enology represents for the regions of Barcelona and to immerse oneself in the multiple wine tourism proposals, the Moments Estel·lars series, organized by The New Barcelona Post, proposes to delve into the world of wine with the sociologist and wine tourism expert Lluís Tolosa; the director of the Escola d'Enoturisme de Catalunya, Gerard Domingo, and the writer and presenter of the program Tast Vertical, Empar Moliner. To attend, you must reserve a free ticket.
With the title "Wine tourism near Barcelona, many experiences to discover", the session will be held on September 15 at 6:30 p.m. at Casa Seat. The meeting will be led, as usual, by the journalist and UPF-BSM professor Toni Aira, in an event that has the collaboration of Casa Seat, Must Media Group and the Diputación de Barcelona.
The meeting will serve to get closer to the oenological universe of the regions of Barcelona, which attracts visitors with a glass of wine among vineyards, bucolic landscapes, visits to wineries, brunches paired with local wines, sparkling wines and cavas, and even evenings under the stars and tastings combined with bike rides with vineyards in the background.
To analyze the relevance of wine tourism for the regions of Barcelona, the session will feature the voices of Tolosa, Domingo, and Moliner. The three, from their diverse perspectives, will discuss the role of this sector in the territory, and how it attracts visitors and contributes to positioning its gastronomy as an international benchmark.
Tolosa will address this facet of the Barcelona municipalities as a sociologist and writer, specialized in wine tourism and the dissemination of wine culture. With 25 books published on wine and wine tourism, Tolosa has received 12 national and international awards, including the Best Wine Tourism Book in The World of 2021, which he received from Paris.
The sociologist, who has accumulated more than 200 articles published in this field, works as a speaker and presenter at congresses, and is a professor of communication and marketing of wine tourism, in centers such as the CETT of the University of Barcelona (UB), the Abad Oliba University (UAO) and the Escola d'Enoturisme de Catalunya.
Precisely the director of this institution will be another of the guests in the Moments Estel·lars session. Gerard Domingo, who has directed the Escola d'Enoturisme de Catalunya for almost two years, has almost a decade in the institution, with seven years as pedagogical coordinator.
Domingo, who previously presided over the Forma Association as a meeting point for trainers, directs a school that was born in 2014 as a training project aimed at the different professionals in the sector, based in Vilafranca del Penedès but with a view to the whole of Catalonia, and beyond.
The writer Empar Moliner will complete the table that will bring the attendees of Moments Estel·lars closer to the world of wine tourism. With a long list of published titles, Moliner currently directs the Catalunya Ràdio program Tast Vertical, in which she addresses the different facets of the oenological field, from sommeliers to wineries and DOs.
Moliner, who was distinguished in 2015 with the Mercè Rodoreda prize for Tot això ho faig perquè tinc molta por, directs a weekly program that spends 50 minutes exploring diverse wineries, different DOs and surprising proposals, paying attention even to the best glasses for tasting wine, sparkling wines, and cava.
Through the eyes of the three experts, the new session of Moments Estel·lars will delve into an oenological world that awaits visitors with experiences, flavor and authenticity, leaving its mark both on the territory and on those who come to taste it.