Barcelona Wine Week 2023 features record number exhibiting wineries

The third edition of Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) kicked off on Tuesday, with a record number of 828 exhibiting wineries, 27 percent more than in 2022.

The Spanish wine sector's main annual event is being held in the city's Montjuic congress venue, and runs until Friday. Over 8,000 business meetings are scheduled here between exhibitors, buyers, distributors, importers, and retailers.

This year, the fair has invited 1,800 buyers of Spanish wine, from Spain and major export markets such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, China, Japan and Brazil.

Visitors can take part in one of the 50 tasting sessions, and attend talks with wine experts and producers.

A wine bar called "Wine Tasting Journey - Soils of Spain," in collaboration with the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food, offers guided tasting tours of 58 wines.

"What we have to continue doing is improving the representativeness of the fair, bringing in more wineries and buyers, and above all to continue growing in quality," Javier Pages, president of Barcelona Wine Week, told Xinhua.

Sustainability and innovation are major themes of the fair this year, with presentations on subjects such as vineyard soil management amid climate change, the benefits of eco-design, the reuse of bottles, and systems for protecting old vineyards.

"Spanish wine is going through an essential moment," Maria Naranjo, director of Food, Wine and Gastronomy at the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX), told Xinhua, adding that the Spanish wine was starting to be recognized of its characteristics.

According to ICEX, Spain ranks third among the world's wine producers, with 40.5 million hectoliters produced in 2022. It is the number one exporter in terms of volume, and the third in terms of value, exporting 2.9 billion euros (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar)