Spain 2017: A Different Approach

Greetings from London Gatwick! From the airline I’m flying, to the routing of the trip and how I plan on finding delicious new Spanish wines, I decided to change it up a bit this year when planning my annual trip to Spain for K&L. No stateside connecting flight (that’s why I’m at Gatwick), no hours spent driving on the Spanish wine routes (which, compared to, say, a trip to Burgundy or Bordeaux, are extensive, and quite spread out), and, for the first time, I’m attending a large wine fair. The hope is that all of this adds up to a more efficient trip, maximizing my/our company’s time by linking up with as many of our current suppliers as possible, while (hopefully) tasting intriguing new stuff. 

In broad brush strokes, here is my master plan:

- Arrive to Madrid midnight tonight.
- Meet up with both Bryan Macdonald from Laventura and Miguel Merino tomorrow (reminder to self: Sunday appointments in Spain ARE possible, if you know who to ask!)
- Drive a few hours north to Ribera del Duero on Monday to meet Lambuena and a few other potential partners
- Take the AVE train down to Ciudad Real Tuesday and Wednesday for the wine fair
- AVE to Barcelona on Thursday, then drive down to Penedes wine country to link up with the producers of some of our favorite sparkling wine producers in Mas Codina and Loxarel, as well as a few other cool possibilities….
- Spend Saturday in Barcelona catching up on blogging, work email, and any accumulated samples I have to taste (may need an early morning trip to the Boqueria though for motivation!)

That’s the gist. I’m very much looking forward to telling you how it all goes. Stay tuned!

-Joe Manekin

Joe Manekin