Spanish Winemakers Tasting

Patrick Mata of Ole Imports (bottom center), David Sampedro of Bodegas Vinedos de Aldeanueva (left middle), Pedro Alvarez of Ladera Sagrada (right middle), and the top row, from left to right is Carmen Sebastian of Falset Marca, Diego Magana of Bodegas Vina Magana, Myself, Juanjo Galcera Pinol of Bodegas Vinos Pinol, and Emili Esteve Punti of Vinos Sin Ley, Bellum and Castellar.



On June 30, from 2-5pm, Acton Wine & Spirit Co. hosted a special wine tasting with six Spanish winemakers. I attended this event with other members of The North Shore Winers. This was an exceptional event and my entire group very much enjoyed themselves.

There were twenty wines available for tasting, and I tried them all. This was considered a value wine tasting as nearly all of the wines cost less than $20. There were Cavas, white wines, red wines and even one dessert wine. There was even a generous 20% discount if you bought six or more bottles. And at these value prices, you could definitely afford to buy a bunch.

Patrick Mata, a CEO of Ole Imports, helped to arrange for this special tasting. Ole Imports began in 1999 and now imports over 100 Spanish wines to the US. Their portfolio includes wines from all over Spain, including areas much less known. Ole Imports seek Spanish wine with three common attributes: "quality, value, and terroir." In Massachusetts, their Distributor is Ruby Wines, Inc. If you go to any wine store and check out their Spanish wines, look at the back label and you might see that the wine was imported by Ole Imports. If so, you probably have found a good tasting value wine.

I did have an opportunity to speak a little with Patrick and he was very personable and helpful. It is also obvious he is passionate about wine. In fact, I found much passion for wine at this event.

I met and spoke with all six of the Spanish winemakers, including: David Sampedro of Bodegas Vinedos de Aldeanueva, Pedro Alvarez of Ladera Sagrada, Carmen Sebastian of Falset Marca, Diego Magana of Bodegas Vina Magana, Myself, Juanjo Galcera Pinol of Bodegas Vinos Pinol, and Emili Esteve Punti of Vinos Sin Ley, Bellum and Castellar. They all possessed much passion for wine! Plus, they were very personable, charismatic and helpful. It was such a pleasure to speak with all of them.

To do each winemaker and their wines justice, I will address them in separate posts.

Besides the wines, there was also some food to nibble on, including Serrano ham, Chorizo, a couple Spanish cheeses and crackers. All of this was delicious and the Serrano ham went very fast. The Chorizo had a nice spicy taste.

The tasting was well organized and seemed to run very smoothly. I did not hear any complaints from anyone. It was not overly crowded so you did not have to wait long at all to taste the wines and talk with the winemakers. This was an excellent opportunity to taste some good Spanish wine, to learn more about Spanish wine, and to talk with the winemakers. I am very glad I attended this event and will look forward to future events hosted by Acton Wine & Spirit Co.