It is a source of pride for my team and me to organize this event in Madrid, one of the world's great capital cities. We feel it is especially fitting to present our selection of the finest Spanish wines here.

 

Over the past two years, we have significantly expanded our coverage of the Spanish wine industry at timatkin.com. Many of you have already taken advantage of our Spain subscription to access and use our various reports.

 

During this time, we have published in-depth analyses of the following regions: Aragon, Bierzo, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Galicia, Jerez, Navarre, Rías Baixas, Ribera del Duero, Rioja, Rueda, Sierra de Gredos, and Toro. We also evaluate other areas in our annual Discover Spain tasting.

 

Beth Willard, Fintan Kerr, Tom Hewson, Margaret Rand, Wojciech Bonkowski MW, Matthew Forster MW, and I share the same values. We all believe that tasting on-site—visiting wineries and vineyards, and talking with owners, winemakers, and grape growers—is the best way to write rigorous tasting notes and provide in-depth insight into each region.

 

We are all passionate about Spain and convinced that its finest wines deserve to be better known, valued, and appreciated. That is the main reason we decided to organize this tasting. Today, in this room, you will have the opportunity to taste more than 300 wines from 160 wineries. All of them have received a score of 95 points or higher from us.

 

Some Spanish regions are more famous than others, both within and beyond their borders. However, we believe in treating them all equally: our only rule is to reward excellence.

 

The diversity displayed in this room today confirms Spain's position as the most exciting wine-producing country in Europe today.

 

We hope you enjoy tasting these wines as much as we enjoyed selecting them.

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Tim Atkin MW

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