The fourth edition of Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain will be held at IFEMA Madrid on 29, 30 and 31 January 2024, as part of the 22nd edition of Madrid Fusión Food from Spain. As in previous editions, it will have its own auditorium, as well as a magnificent tasting area, exhibitors and an adjacent stage for commercial presentations, with the aim of integrating gastronomy and wine to discover new trends and new talents and serve as a forum for discussion and learning. To this end, international chefs, sommeliers, producers, catalysts and key thinkers in the sector will once again take part in a full programme of talks, round tables, paired tastings and presentations.

Advisory Board
 
Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain has an international Advisory Board made up of Pedro Ballesteros MW, Almudena Alberca MW, Ferran Centelles (former elBulli sommelier), Pilar Cavero (ABC wine critic), María Naranjo (Director of the Food, Wine and Gastronomy Department of ICEX Spain), Benjamín Lana (General Manager of Vocento Gastronomía and Vice President of Madrid Fusión) and Patricia Mateo (CEO Mateo&co). The international experience and unconditional support of Wines from Spain by ICEX as an exceptional sponsor will be added to this advisory board. 
  
With the aim of creating the necessary link between wine and gastronomy that both sectors are so interested in, both the auditorium and the rooms reserved for Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain 2024 will be open to all congress participants. To facilitate this integration, both congresses will be accessible with the same ticket and, as with the gastronomy event, all the presentations of this wine event can be followed virtually through the online congress platform: www.madridfusion.net. 
 
As in the previous edition, access to The Wine Edition Wines from Spain exhibition area will be free and there will be a programme of more than 25 open tastings from different wineries and origins, while access to the Wine Congress will be by purchasing individual tickets for each tasting at www.madridfusion.net. It will also be possible to buy tickets for individual days. Tickets for the tastings will go on sale in the coming days.
 
Confirmed personalities
 
Among the big names from the world of wine who have already confirmed their participation as speakers at Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain 2024 are Henrietta Lovell (CEO of the Rare Tea Company in the UK); André Mack, American master sommelier and oenologist; Jay Strell, a consultant specialising in wine and gastronomy, who will be representing several leading producers of natural wines; and Ivan Bell, one of the biggest and most prestigious designers of wine and drinks labels and packaging, who runs the Stranger&Stranger consultancy in the UK.
 
Other regulars at the congress include Ferran Centelles (former sommelier at elBulli), Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros, Álvaro Ribalta MW, Almudena Alberca MW, Mohamed Benabdallah (sommelier and head sommelier at Etxebarri) and Agustín Trapero (former beverage director and head sommelier at Four Seasons Madrid).
 
Representatives from the world of gastronomy include Francis and Chefe Paniego, Franco Pepe, the world's number one pizzaiolo according to the World's Chefs Awards, Nicolai Nørregaard and Alberto Segade, (Kadeau, Copenhagen and Bornholm).

Round tables and Vinomios
 
For the fourth year in a row, the programme will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with talks, round tables, talks with producers, tastings and presentations that will try to offer a broad and interesting vision of what is happening in the world of wine. The Vinomios, on the other hand, include pairing suggestions, where chefs and their chefs make joint presentations. This includes wine and food tastings.
 
With this in mind, meetings and conferences have been organised in which big names in the sector will share their experience on topical issues, such as the round table that will open the event on Monday 29 January: Spanish Wines in London', chaired by Álvaro Ribalta MW. And at the end of the first day, Agustín Trapero will lead the theoretical and tasting session to explain the programmes of the Master Sommelier Court and how a Master Sommelier tastes blind.

On Tuesday, American food and wine expert Jay Strell will moderate the 'Natural Wines' roundtable, with distinguished guests from European wineries Gut Oggau and Tschida, as well as Spaniard Rubén Parera. Ivan Bell of Stranger&stranger will talk about wine label design. His consultancy is the most awarded internationally and has developed and designed some of the best packaging in the world. The final round table on Wednesday will be on 'Value Creation', moderated by Juancho Asenjo, with world expert and former CEO of Estates&Wines at Möet Hennessy, Xavier Ybargüengoitia, author of the award-winning book 'Creating Value in the Wine Industry', and other prestigious guests.
 
At lunchtime, exclusive pairings will take place under the name of Vinomios, which will test the possibilities of wine with all kinds of food. 
 
On Monday you can enjoy Nicolai Nørregaard's suggestion, paired by Alberto Segade, chef and sommelier at Copenhagen's Kadeau restaurant. Nicolai will talk about Kadeau, including the Bornholm salt where the restaurant was born and the influence of Nouvelle Nordic cuisine. He will be accompanied by his head sommelier and head waiter, Spaniard Alberto Segade. During this meeting, three wines will be tasted with three different Kadeau flavours: one more acidic, one fermented and the last smoked.
 
On Tuesday, Italy comes to Vinomios with the famous pizzaiolo Franco Pepe and his sommelier Davide Guarino. And on Wednesday, La Rioja takes centre stage at lunchtime with a pair of brothers, chef and sommelier with two Michelin stars, Francis Paniego and his brother Chefe Paniego, from the Echaurren restaurant. Specialising in traditional cuisine, their game and spoon dishes require an extensive wine cellar, which they will share with the audience.
 
Henrietta Lovell, known as the Rare Tea Lady, founded her company to bring to the world of tea the values and distinctions of quality, excellence and care in the value chain that exist in the world of wine, for example. She is responsible for the non-alcoholic pairings of some of the world's finest restaurants, such as Noma. It is also responsible for the tea selection for major hotels such as Claridge's in London. Non-alcoholic pairing is one of the booming trends and tea, with its aromatic complexity, fermentation, toasting and choice of origin, has many similarities to the world of wine. Henrietta will explain how to enter this fascinating world.
 
Top tastings with professionals
 
Since last year, the morning and afternoon sessions have taken on a practical aspect, with master tastings and meetings with producers who will try to demonstrate everything to do with wine through interesting tastings, thus highlighting the latest oenological trends.
 
On Monday, the Top Tastings will begin with Ferran Centelles hosting a tasting entitled 'Ruta de la plata de Sevilla a Asturias' (Silver Route from Seville to Asturias). Since ancient times, this route has followed a natural corridor through the western part of the Iberian Peninsula. This millenary route allowed communication and trade between the peoples who inhabited these lands, from the Atlantic of Tartessos to the Atlantic of Galicia. Later, the Roman armies would use the same route in their long and painful conquest of Hispania. Under the guidance of Carlos Casillas, the talented chef from Avila, Barro, recently awarded a Michelin star, we will taste recipes inspired by history that could well have been served on this route. Centelles will accompany them with unique wines and old vintages from the different regions that were born along the route. Señoría de Ibias in Asturias, Fuentes del Silencio in La Bañeza or Rodríguez Sanzo in Toro are some of the wineries that will be presenting great wines, unpublished and off the market.

On Tuesday, the two top tastings will take place first thing in the morning. Almudena Alberca MW and Spanish wineries will be the protagonists of 'Spanish Wines on the Place de Bordeaux'. And then there will be a Master Tasting with André Mack, one of the stars of US wine, former sommelier at the legendary Per Se and French Laundry restaurants, as well as Master Sommelier, media star and influencer, and winemaker. André brings with him some of the American gems that we must discover and not miss if we want to know what is happening in the world of American wine.
 
Pedro Ballesteros MW will close this edition's Top Tastings under the title '50+50+50', along with producers and winemakers from La Rioja Alta such as Guillermo de Aránzabal or Remírez de Ganuza with José Ramón Urtasun.
 
Moha Benabdallah, sommelier and head waiter at the third restaurant in the world on the 50 Best list, Etxebarri in Axpe (Vizcaya), proposes 'With or without sulphites', a blind tasting of two wines of the same origin with and without sulphites. Champagne, Rhône and Burgundy are the regions he will be tasting.Champagne, Rhône and Burgundy are the areas he will be covering.
 
As a novelty, there will be a bar tasting led by Pilar Cavero, ABC wine critic. Taberneros Cosecheros' brings together some of our country's most famous taverns with their favourite vintages, because good wine does not have to be expensive and the Spanish way of life is based on taverns and bars, which continue to be exponents of our culture and the main centres of wine consumption. For example, La Caníbal in Madrid or La Tana in Granada.
 
The Aula de Catas as a centre for wine discovery
 
In addition to the auditorium, Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain 2024 will once again have an open tasting area where wineries and regions will have the opportunity to present tastings of historic vintages, gastronomic pairings and new wine projects and trends, with the help of great names from the world of wine.
 
In this fourth edition, the Aula de Catas will host prestigious national wineries such as Marqués de Cáceres, Lan, Fernández Rivera, Torres, Valtravieso, Dominio de Autata and Ramón Bilbao. Tenerife, Andalusia, Castilla León, DO Rioja and DO Rueda, among others, will also be present.
 
Finally, and as a novelty, the first Carajillo 43 Competition will be held in this space. Licor 43 brings back the Carajillo in its most modern version: shaken in a cocktail shaker, sophisticated and ready to extend the after-dinner drink until the sun goes down. 
 
Juli Soler Prize for talent and the future of wine
 
Just as Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España unveils the new crop of revelatory chefs year after year, the Wine Edition Wines from Spain aims to do the same with the new wine professionals. In this fourth edition, and once again with Ramón Bilbao as the official sponsor, the IV Juli Soler Prize for Talent and the Future of Wine will be awarded to young people with projection in the different areas of the sector. This prize will be awarded on the last day of the Congress.
 
Tierra de Sabor Award for the most sustainable winery
 
Tierra de Sabor, the brand promoting the agri-food sector in Castilla y León, will award a new prize during the event to the most sustainable winery, in accordance with the requirements established by the Congress Board.