Enjoying wine as Madrid Fusion turns 15
To commemorate the 25th year of the Wines from Spain division of ICEX, 25 of the most influential Spanish wines in the last two decades and a half were carefully chosen and served in one hedonistic tasting seminar. ’Til now I count this seminar as one of
MADRID — It was exactly a decade ago, in 2007, when I first attended Madrid Fusion, the annual one-of-a-kind gastronomic summit here in Spain. Now I am back the second time around as Madrid Fusion celebrates its 15th anniversary and continues to be the most significant international gathering of its kind in the world of gastronomy and culinary arts.
TOP CHEFS AND TOP RESTAURANTS
Madrid Fusion started in 2003 in the capital city of Spain. Back then the country was already becoming a huge gastronomic hub, thanks mostly to the exploits of one of the world’s most famous chefs, the incomparable Ferran Adria.
In 2002, Adria’s El Bulli restaurant in Catalonia already garnered three Michelin stars, and then it captured the inaugural top spot on the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The list is compiled annually by British magazine Restaurant, and is tabulated based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, and big-time restaurant critics. El Bulli would go on to land at the top spot of the list a record of four more times in consecutive years, from 2006 to 2009. El Bulli closed its doors on 2011 as chef Adria went on to pursue other endeavors.
Whether it was “molecular gastronomy” (Adria hates this term), “deconstructivism” (which is how Adria calls his cooking method) or “culinary foam” ( a media favorite), the success of Ferran Adria had put Spanish culinary excellence on the world map, and Madrid Fusion became Spain’s showcase event for its chefs and restaurants.
Last year, Spain once more dominated the World’s Top Best Restaurants List with three entries in the Top 10 list, namely: at No. 2. El Celler de Can Roca (the 2015 No. 1 Restaurant) in Girona, at No. 7. Mugaritz in San Sebastian, and at No. 10. Asador Etxebarri in Axpe.
In 2015, Madrid Fusion was for the first time taken overseas, with Manila being the beneficiary city, thus the staging of “Madrid Fusion Manila” — which immediately became Asia’s biggest gastronomic summit. This year, the third Madrid Fusion Manila will be held on April 6 to 8 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
THE WINE SIDE OF MADRID FUSION
When I went to the 2007 Madrid Fusion, it coincided with the year the Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX) celebrated the 25th year of its Wines From Spain division which was formed to promote the export of quality Spanish wines. To commemorate this special silver anniversary, 25 of the most influential Spanish wines in the last two decades and a half were carefully chosen and served in one hedonistic tasting seminar. I remembered queuing up quite early to make the limited 80-people capacity room, and it was indeed impressive. ’Til now I count this seminar as one of my best wine-tasting experiences of all time.
I tasted some of the top wines from the most iconic Spanish wine brands in one sitting, from Vega Sicilia, Pingus, Alvaro Palacios, Torres, and Pesquera, to Marques de Murrieta. I recalled vividly that the ICEX tasting was just one of the narrow choices of wine activities at the summit, outside of the exhibiting wineries that were giving tastings and doing business- to- business transactions at the exhibitor’s pavilion. However, commencing in 2011, Enofusion, an event exclusively for wines, was created to complement the Madrid Fusion summit. With a theme that espouses “wine as protagonist within the gastronomy of Madrid Fusion,” Enofusion is an international wine congress that is on its 7th edition this year. Enofusion has its own exhibition area at the
entire 3rd floor of Palacio de Congresos Juan Carlos I where the Madrid Fusion summit is held. Enofusion has been growing on its own and receives more than 10,000 professional visitors each year from wine distributors, sommeliers, hoteliers, general lovers of gastronomy, and wine writers like your’s truly.
Enofusion is divided into three sections: The Centro del Vino ( Wine Center), The Enobar, and The ExpoBodegas.
The Centro del Vino is where the wine seminars, master classes, technical oenological conferences, wine region/appellation of origin discussions, and wine tastings from distinguished wineries are conducted.
The Enobar is the section of Enofusion where over 200 different wines are lined up for free sampling. The different featured wines are pre-selected based on reference to the different Spanish wine denominations, the typical grape varietals, and general wine styles. Each wine comes with detailed information of the bottle that contains the name of winery, the wine region, viticultural notes, varietal composition, price per bottle, and other pertinent info. I experienced this wine tasting format in other international wine fairs in Europe, and I really like this because it allows the participants to sample, appraise, and make personal notes on the wines being tasted at their own pace.
The last section, the ExpoBodegas is the commercial side of Enofusion (and extends to the 4th floor), where exhibitors — mostly wineries as expected — showcase their best wines and discuss business with prospective buyers at their respective booths. Over 40 wineries who exhibited in this 7th edition of Enofusion.
In my succeeding columns I will be sharing my experiences at Madrid Fusion and Enofusion 2017. I want to thank the Spain Tourism Board, special mention to Chet Francisco, the Singaporebased PR and Media Executive, for the generous invitation and arrangement. Even if I am freezing my behind off in this very cold winter some 12,000 kilometers away from my cozy home, the opportunity to be back in Madrid to learn, be updated, taste, and partake at the various gastronomic and wine activities here is impossible for an enthusiast like me to pass up. I now need to drink more wines to keep myself warm given Madrid temperatures are ranging from -3°C to 0°C.
By the way, Kiong Hee Huat Tasi (Happy New Year in Fookien) to ALL!
The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at www.twitter.