Expand your horizons, discover new places and new ways of doing things,
talking to professionals, tasting and smelling new wines – that’s the aim of the famous Wine tour of Spain.
A difficult start to the first visit of the year
It’s now traditional to leave for La Rioja the morning after the first BDE evening. There are two main strategies: miss the first evening of the year, go to bed early, get up early and be back in front of the school by 5.30am.
OR, for the more adventurous, do an all-night party, leaving La Dame de Shanghai straight away and making your way back to the meeting point at 5.30 a.m. and sleeping on the bus. This effective strategy is no less risky, as there have already been cases of students not hearing their alarm clock and…staying in Bordeaux.
For all the courageous and serious students who answered the call of the Spanish adventure, the programme was in the end very full.
The MBA Wine Marketing & Management is part of INSEEC’s Wine, Luxury and Spirits major. This MBA is open to students from a variety of backgrounds (universities or business schools), as well as professionals in the wine industry or those undergoing retraining.
As France is one of the world leaders in terms of production, consumption and exports, this programme has been designed with a strong international focus.
All our courses are highly specialised and professional, enabling students to work directly in companies. Numerous outings, visits to châteaux and wine tastings are planned throughout the year as part of the curriculum. These visits enable them to improve their technical knowledge and expand their network through meetings with industry professionals.
Navarre, the first stop on the MBA Wine Tour
First morning with a course run by the Syndicat des vins de la “Denominación de Origen” Navarra à Olite(the equivalent of our AOC) and a tasting of their wines. Focus on the terroir and the different grape varieties.
This tasting enabled our students to get off the beaten track and discover grape varieties that they are not used to tasting in France. AOC Navarre is made up of Grenache, followed by Tempranillo, Viura, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Mazuela and Graciano.
Our students then enjoyed a lunch of local specialities at the Hostal TAFALLA.
Next came a tour of the beautiful cellars and wineries of MARCO REAL.
Bodega Marco Real was founded in 1988 in the heart of Navarre, in Olite, a thousand-year-old town with a long-standing winemaking tradition. The estate uses state-of-the-art technical facilities to produce, age and bottle young wines, Crianzas and reserves.
Bodegas Marco Real produces a solid, modern range of D.O. Navarra wines, blending different red varieties (Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache and Graciano) or whites (Viura, Chardonnay and Moscatel à petits grains) from its 200 hectares of vineyards in Olite, Sansol, Torres del Río, Corella and Santacara.
La Rioja, the final stop on our students’ wine trip to Spain
The next day, the MBA Wine Marketing and Management students head for BODEGAS Y VINEDOS HERAS CORDON.
The Heras Cordón family ‘s production of Rioja red wine dates back to the 19th century. They grow grape varieties typical of the region: Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano (red) Viura, Moscatel (white) with small berries.
They also pride themselves on being the only Spanish wine drunk in the Vatican!
The students rounded off their tour with a visitto the Bodega MARQUES DE RISCAL and its famous luxury ‘hotel Marqués de Riscal’, designed by Frank Gherry, architect of the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
With its 1400 hectares of vines, this estate is the largest bodega in Spain!
