This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
We received some very special visitors at Bodegas Arzuaga in January: the best sommeliers in the world. A group made up of members of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale (International Sommelier Association – ASI), the Unión Española de Asociaciones de Sumilleres (Spanish Union of Sommelier Associations – UEAS) and presidents of Spanish sommelier associations came to our location in the heart of Ribera del Duero and enjoyed a tasting of some of our wines and a meal in our traditional restaurant, paired of course with our DO Ribera del Duero red wines.
As part of the preparations for the Contest of the Best Sommelier of Europe & Africa, the ASI’s technical committee visited Castile and Leon, choosing Bodegas Arzuaga as the setting for one of their events.
A broad representation of the best sommelier professionals at both national and international level thus came to the winery. They included Andrés Rosberg, ASI President; Jon Arvid Rosengren, World’s Best Sommelier 2016; Andreas Larsson, World’s Best Sommelier 2007; Olivier Poussier, World’s Best Sommelier 2000; and Serge Dubs, World’s Best Sommelier 1989.
Other ASI members who also attended the tasting at Bodegas Arzuaga, included Ricardo Grellet, ASI Vice-President for the Americas; Saiko Tamura-Soga, ASI Vice-President for Asia and Oceania; Michèle Chantôme, ASI Secretary General.
For Spanish association UAES, President Pablo Martín and Vice-President Ceferino Cimadevilla also attended the tasting at Bodegas Arzuaga. A wide range of Spanish national sommelier associations was also represented by their presidents, such as the associations for all the Castilian-Leonese provinces (except Burgos), Murcia, Galicia, Cantabria, Alicante, Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Navarre and Gipuzkoa, among others.
Attendees took a tour of Bodegas Arzuaga and its various facilities, followed by sampling a pairing of Laderas del Norte red wine with sea bass ceviche with tamarillo and purple corn, one of the gourmet tapas from Taller Arzuaga.
After the tour came the tasting of Arzuaga wines, led by Ignacio Arzuaga, the winery’s managing director, who was accompanied by Pablo Martín, UAES President. Six wines were sampled during the tasting, including Arzuaga Albillo 2007, named Surprise Wine of the year by the 2020 Peñín Guide. There were also five DO Ribera del Duero red wines: Arzuaga Gran Reserva 2004, Arzuaga Reserva Especial 2009, Amaya Arzuaga 2015, Arzuaga Reserva 2006 and Arzuaga Crianza 2017.
After this tasting, the sommeliers went on to Bodegas Arzuaga’s traditional restaurant, where they enjoyed a typical Ribera del Duero lunch together with three of the winery’s wines: Arzuaga Reserva 2016, Arzuaga Reserva Especial 2015 and Arzuaga Gran Reserva 2010.