Latin America is a market to be conquered by Spanish wines | WORLD

Latin America must rely on its historical and cultural relationship with Spain to promote the consumption of came that still has a lot of space to conquer in the region, assures the international taster Juan Carlos Rincón Domínguez.

The expert, who was president of the tasting jury at the 10th Zarcillo Awards International Wine Contest in Valladolid (Spain), participated in the blind tastings that reward the best wines of the XVI Expovinos, one of the main fairs in the sector in the region, which is celebrated between October 21 and 31 in Colombia.

“There is a historical relationship between Spain and Latin America and Spanish wines with the region, not only at the export level of Spanish wineries on the continent but also a degree of Spanish influence in vineyards in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina”, Rincon stated.

He pointed out that the countries of the region should also take advantage of trade agreements with the European Union (EU) to “generate a greater flow of Spanish wines to Latin America.”

“It would be necessary to strengthen this historical link and the taste of the Latin American consumer for Spanish wines because there are brands or references that are anchored in the subconscious of the Latin American consumer,” he added.

For every taste

Rincón, a London resident, is the only Colombian professional wine taster, with more than 20 years of experience in competitions such as Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), Mundus Vini, International Wine Challenge, Vinalies Internationales, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, the Premios Bacchus and Los Angeles International Wine Competition, among others.

With this experience, he underlines that Spain, due to its prices and varied offer, is an important supplier to the British and US markets and can better position itself in Latin America.

“Spain at the moment is the most important country in terms of export and world production of quality wines and wines at an affordable price”, he says and highlights not only traditional producing regions, such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero, “and the same cava Spanish ”, but others that in that country“ are gaining great strength and are beginning to be important such as the areas of Galicia, Rueda and El Bierzo ”.

For all this, he assures, “there are many Spanish regions that have great potential and Latin America is a very favorable market.”

Market to grow

In the case of Colombia, where wine consumption is growing little by little, the expert sees “great dynamism” but also tax burdens that prevent “greater participation in the family basket of Colombians.”

“When Colombia had managed to sign a trade agreement with the European Union and the wines arrived tax-free, the Government decided to surcharge the wine with an ad valorem tax of 20% before the consumption tax, raising the price of the wine in the case of 26 %”, it states.

Wine consumption in Colombia is still marginal, 1.3 liters per capita, that is, less than two bottles a year, very far from benchmark countries such as Portugal (56.4), Spain (27.8), Argentina (25.2) or Chile (15.7). ), according to 2019 data from the Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV).

To boost consumption, large supermarket chains, such as Éxito and Carulla, leaders of the national wine market, invest in dissemination through fairs such as Expovinos that began on Thursday.

“They have the purpose of popularizing the responsible consumption of wine in Colombia, that people learn to enjoy and consume the wine generally associated with gastronomy, which is how it should be,” he says.

This edition of Expovinos, which will be mixed, will offer more than 800 references of wines with discounts in 200 stores and a virtual part with an academic program that includes tastings and talks with national and international experts, gastronomic experiences, musical presentations, and a virtual store .

“The palate is being created and to the extent that the consumer has more wine offers, his taste will grow,” says Rincón, commenting on the variety of Expovinos labels, where 45 were classified by him and five other experts as being of higher quality. .

Rincón compares this fondness to the habit of reading: “The person who likes to read reads fiction, reads adventure, reads mystery, and as he learns new variants his fondness for literature increases, the same happens with wine ”, he concludes.

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