Grandes Pagos de España launches global Terroir Workshop

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 14 March, 2023

Leading Spanish producer association, Grandes Pagos de España (GPE), has launched a global education program which puts the country’s ‘grand crus’ front and centre.

The ‘immersive education program’ has been developed with the aim of going beyond the realm of traditional wine study and promises to explore the full impact of history, science, geography, language and people on terroir, according to the organsation.

The program will debut in the US and Mexico, with plans to broaden to other markets in due course.

GPE is a high profile Spanish association and represents 36 renowned single estate vineyards.

The course, dubbed The Terroir Workshop by GPE, aims to broaden knowledge of these estates, therefore taking the notion of the country’s terroir and wine culture to a new level.

“Spain has one of the most dynamic and historic wine cultures in the world, which reflects many influences often overlooked by wine education that prioritises varieties and geography. This can be to the detriment of a more holistic definition of terroir,” says Toni Sarrión, president of Grandes Pagos de España.

“The term pago is at the heart of who we are as an organisation and what we hope to communicate through our education program. Each of our wineries has a singular identity based on their unique geography, culture, history and perhaps most significantly, the people behind the wines today. Working with top educators worldwide, we will explore the profound complexity of Spanish wine from a perspective that places the highest value on terroir and human achievement.”

Classroom study and tasting will focus on Spanish ‘pagos’, a single vineyard designation reserved for exceptional viticultural sites.

The Terroir Workshop by Grandes Pagos de España will launch in Miami, Los Angeles and Mexico as of August 2023, with additional locations worldwide to be announced. Classes will be led by notable Spanish wine experts, including Alessandra Esteves, founder of Florida Wine Academy in Miami, Monica Marin DipWSET in Los Angeles and Sandra Fernández Gaytán, of SFG Estrategias in Mexico.

Each educator will cover eight regions of Spain (Green Spain, Meseta North, Ebro River Valley, Catalonia, Mediterranean, Meseta Central, South and the Islands), each sharing a common syllabus. Tasting will form a key component of the course too, featuring an ‘exclusive curriculum’ of wine from selection of pagos from GPE member wineries.

For more information about the courses click here.

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