There are times when a bit of luck and good timing align to provide you an incredible opportunity. At the conference, there were so many people we wanted to talk to and many we unfortunately missed. Thus, I honestly didn’t expect Bruno Prats to talk with us. I had just listened to his speech on climate change, using three different continents as examples, when suddenly during our lunch break, I found myself being introduced to him as he poured me a glass of the stunning wine Chryseia, a Douro red he produces alongside Charles Symington. The wine was amazing and Bruno Prats himself happened to be one of the kindest and most sincere men I have spoken to. Quickly, I asked for a word with him on camera, and the video below is the result.

Today, Bruno produces wines in Chile, South Africa and Portugal, and this experience has taught him a considerable amount about how the world of wine is changing in the face of climate change. I hope that you enjoy the video, and if you have a chance, do not pass up the opportunity to taste Chryseia, a wine that clearly shows that the Douro Valley is one of the most promising terroirs in the world of wine today!

Cheers,
Ryan Opaz

Video content from the conference was produced by Richard Gillespie please contact us if you are interested in hiring Richard for your next project.

This past weekend, I not only had the opportunity to meet some incredibly important people in the wine industry, but I also was able to understand how climate change will affect wineries both today and well into the future. Led by Pancho Campo, a man with an environmental mission, I was excited to see his enthusiasm and passion for this subject. What I also appreciated was his frank, pragmatic nature. Talk to Pancho and you will never hear that the sky is falling or that doom and gloom is right around the corner for the wine industry. Instead, you will encounter someone who acknowledges change is near, and regardless if you believe him or not, you will be effected. This is why I felt very disappointed by the lack of participation by Spanish wineries. Though we had a few Spanish climate experts speak, and Pancho himself is Spanish, the only voice that really stood out was that of Miguel Torres. Sure there were some Spanish wineries pouring their wines outside the conference during our breaks and at lunchtime, but very few. And of those handful of Spanish wineries that attended, when asked, “What are you doing about climate change”, answered, “nothing”. Now to be fair, there were wineries representing four to five different countries, and some of the these wineries had the same response; but seriously, if you’re going to pour wine at a Climate Change and Wine conference, I would think you might have a better answer than, “nothing”.

All this aside, what was even more shocking and disappointing was the lack of representation from Spain’s wine regions and historic wineries. Not one person I saw or spoke to was …

After Gore’s speech, the keynote speaker at the II International Conference on Climate and Wine in Barcelona was allotted a certain amount of time dedicated to questions and answers. One question fielded by Pancho Campo and asked of Al Gore was, “what is the responsibility of the wine industry in relation to the climate crisis?”

After I had watched this clip for the umpteenth time, it dawned me that his passionate speech about brand loyalty as it relates to trust is really no different than what makes a blog successful. Trust is the key to any successful relationship and the foundation for future growth. It is because of trust that you choose to read and interact with us. It is because of trust that we come to many of you for advice and clarity. Without this trust, without this dynamic relationship, you would not share our site with your friends, nor would they with theirs. I say this because web 2.0 is the new marketplace, where friends tell friends about products they adore, sites they appreciate and companies they respect. I love this clip by Gore because it not only enforces a long held belief Ryan and I have lived by for years, but it give it a tangibility that it didn’t have before. Wineries who place conservation as a priority and the life of their consumers as a focal point is a winery that will have a better chance of succeeding in the future. Interesting thought, is it not?!

Video content from the conference was produced by Richard Gillespie please contact us if you are interested in hiring Richard for your next project.

First, I’d like to give you just a quick idea of what the following few weeks will consist of on Catavino. This Sunday, we leave from Barcelona to Rioja for a week long adventure of visiting wineries, horseback riding, museum hopping, and of course, a great deal of eating! Throughout the week, our intention is to keep you up-to-date with a handful videos, some live blogging and a ridiculous amount of pictures. Then, from the 5th-9th of March, we’re off again to an enormous tasting in Oporto, Portugal, called Essencia do Vinho. Located in Palácio da Bolsa, in the very heart of Oporto’s historic district, the programe will include a series of tastings, dinners and bodega visits featuring wines from Quinta de Covela, Quinta do Ameal, Luis Pato, Casa de Cello, Quinta dos Roques, Domingos Alves de Sousa, Adega Cooperativa de Santa marta, Adega Cooperative de Favaios, Uniao de Adega do Dao, Niepoort, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vale D. Maria, Quinta do Vale Meoa and Quinta do Vallado. Tired yet? You best perk up, because following our return, we’ll head over to Alimentaria in Barcelona, where we’ll be checking out food and wine from across Spain.

That said, what are our thoughts on the II International Conference on Climate and Wine? Overall, it was a huge success, mostly as a result of the passion and dedication expressed by people such as Pancho Campo, Richard Smart, Tony Sharley of Banrock Station and Miguel Torres of Bodegas Torres. Interestingly, of everyone who spoke, it was both Tony Sharley and Miguel Torres who blew me away with not only the amount of time and effort they’ve dedicated to sustainable winemaking, but the amount of money they have invested in international programs dedicated toward …

As I sit staring at the computer today after 12 hours of constant chat on how global warming is effecting both the earth and the our wines, I’m still reeling with questions and concerns. Granted, I never expected to walk out of the II International Conference on Climate and Wine with all of my questions answered, but I was hoping to leave with a sense of hope and direction. Sadly, I’m just not feeling it.

Our day started with a rather frenetic start, as I failed horrifically in my duty to set the alarm for 6am. Instead, we woke up at 8:00am, completely freaking out, because we were expected to arrive at the conference an hour and a half later, which is not big deal if it didn’t take you that exact same amount of time to travel to your destination. However, by the grace of the Blogger God, we magically arrived at the Hesperia Hotel in Barcelona on the dot with our cameraman, Richard, waiting with a smile and cup of coffee. Albeit a nerve-wracking start, we eventually settled ourselves into our seats with among 350 other people from 36 countries, and began the conference.

To give you a little background, the first International Conference on Climate and Wine two years ago was both considered a major success and a major failure, mainly due to the fact that only 76 people registered for the event. Hence, Pancho Campo, the founder of the conference, lost a considerable amount of money putting the entire conference together with such a low turnout. Yet, he’s is not the type of guy to give up easily, preferring to proceed with a second conference to be scheduled two years later in hopes …