Closing Plenary Session: Basque Country: Premium Wines & Stunning Architecture

Many of the Premium Wines of Europe are produced in the Basque Country (El País Vasco in Spanish), a region of northern Spain well know for its ancient culture and beautiful landscapes.  Few wine regions can claim to excel in young and aged red, white, rosé and sparkling wines. Dense Tempranillos to floral Garnachas to elegant Gracianos from the Rioja Alavesa region to spritzy and fresh white Atlantic Wines from the three Txakoli (pronounced chacolee in Spanish) production areas.

Thanks to the Basque country's geographical location - the wild Sea of Cantabria on the North and the high Sierra Cantabria reaching to the sky to the South with huge plains and hills and dales in the middle gives this region a great diversity of terroirs for vine cultivation. The care and dedication of the Vascos also play an important role in the quality of Premium wines produced here. They have combined traditional production processes with new technologies. This means that the Basque wine producers can exhibit  everything from vintages aged in medieval caves through to wines produced in the most avant-garde architectural installations designed by stars like Frank O. Gerhy.

This closing plenary talk will  journey in and around the wine regions of the Basque country showing the audience that its a grape escape destination that demands exploration beyond the delightful main cities of Bilbao, Vitoria and San Sebastian.