Saturday, 21 February 2026, 09:05
Barcelona Wine Week’s figures are more dizzying than the wine itself: 26,000 visitors, 1,350 wineries, 90 designations of origin or quality seals, and nearly a thousand foreign buyers. In a time of commercial uncertainty and consumption contraction, Spanish wine stands tall at the most important fair in the sector. This edition, which has focused on the human factor, highlights some of the trends shaping the present and future of wine: how it is made, how it is consumed, and how it is narrated.
First, it was the aging process; time in the barrel determined the wine’s quality. Then came the grape, with an immense effort to recover minor native varieties, teaching us about torrontés or garnacha tintorera. Now, experts focus on the soil, explaining wines based on the land where the vines grow. Prepare to hear sommeliers muse about the minerality of limestone soil, the opulence and roundness of clay soil, or why slate imparts tension and verticality to the glass. This trend aligns with the strong push for estate wines and the revaluation of village wines, remembering that what ends up in the glass is always the result of a combination of factors: climate, orientation, vine age, and the winemaker’s touch.
Surnames like Eguren, Gramona, Pariente, or López de la Calle carry significant weight in the wine world, but not enough to overshadow the personalities of those who bear them. This edition of the Barcelona Wine Week was dedicated to the human factor, with prominent family dynasties taking center stage. “We’ve received a fantastic legacy, hard to surpass,” admitted Roc Gramona. Perhaps that’s why the sixth generation at the helm of the historic Penedés house decided to embark on a parallel project, L’Enclòs de Peralba, more free and personal, without compromising the century-old identity of the family label. A path similar to that followed by Ramón Roqueta, Eduardo Eguren, and Willy Pérez, who participated in a tasting on the delicate balance between family legacy and personal identity. “What little wines you’re making,” Eguren recounted his father saying when he started with Cuentaviñas.
If we can ask artificial intelligence for a medical diagnosis or emotional advice, why not leverage its possibilities in the wine world? At the Barcelona Wine Week, discussions revolved around its use in both vineyards and wineries. Carlos Tarragona from Espectral Geo explained that today they can predict diseases and calculate impacts up to twelve days in advance, relying on data from the past eight years; a small digital oracle providing some leeway in an era of unpredictable climate. It can also handle reservations and inquiries 24/7, as it does at Pradorey, even closing deals with clients or organizing visits for tourists with special needs. However, everyone agreed on one essential point: AI never works alone. It requires a human to supervise, decide what information to feed it, how to manage it, and what decision-making margin to allow. Adapting is not an option but a necessity: “Not doing so would be like refusing to have a website in 2000 and sticking to the yellow pages.”
Without getting drunk, without testing positive in a control, and without a hangover the next day. Alcohol-free wine has moved beyond being a promise or a timid prototype to become a rapidly growing business line in many wineries. The Barcelona Wine Week included a tasting titled ‘No/Low, high level: alcohol-free wines that are no longer a plan B’, to explore what’s being done in the category of totally or partially dealcoholized wines. Giants like Freixenet, Peñascal, or Málaga Virgen have launched 0.0% versions of their classics, seeking to maintain aromas and personality. It’s a way to adapt to changing consumption habits of young people who opt for a healthier lifestyle.
Winemakers still stand at attention in the presence of Jancis Robinson, the world’s most influential wine critic, who attended the Barcelona Wine Week to lead a tasting with Ferran Centelles on wines that have set trends in recent years. Although her ability to elevate a label with a high score remains, the ways of reaching a wine are changing. Alongside classic guides and renowned critics, today there are equally or more influential recommendations through blogs or social media. Amaia Soto, Carlos González, and Santi Rivas discussed how prescription has evolved. Because recommending with discernment remains highly valuable in a sector as fragmented as wine. “It’s not enough to say ‘this wine is good’,” said Rivas; one must know how to tell its story, convey the landscape, or the hands that make it.
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Dining and Cooking