Daurada Food and Wine Experience.
You’ve spent a good part of your life following wine back to its source when you explore bottles in a wine store.
Maybe you’ve listened to winemakers explain the soil, the weather and the harvest.
This autumn, I’ll take introduce you to the wine and food of Cambrils, Spain for a conference called the International Food Tourism Conference (IFOODTC).
Organized by Wine Events Worldwide, the conference takes place November 10 and 11 on Catalonia’s Costa Daurada. The press program extends beyond the talks, with evening and post-conference visits planned to introduce us to the region’s food and drink.
I knew Cambrils had a reputation for good food. I knew much less about the wines within reach of its tables. The wider Costa Daurada includes Priorat, Montsant, Tarragona and Conca de Barberà, each with its own wine traditions.
In Priorat, Garnatxa and Carinyena are principal native grapes. Conca de Barberà has Trepat, traditionally made into rosé and now also used for red wine. I’ve been reading about smaller producers and organic wineries, and I hope to meet some of the people behind those bottles.
But a list of grapes only gets me so far. I want to know what someone in Cambrils pours when the food arrives.
The conference program gives me plenty to anticipate. At the fishermen’s guild, delegates will explore romesco and the local fishing kitchen. Other experiences focus on olive oil and Mediterranean vermouth. There’s a bluefin tuna tasting planned on the water, followed by an evening beside the harbor with fideuà rossejada, a toasted noodle dish tied to the town’s maritime heritage. I’m curious about the dishes themselves, of course. I’m just as curious about the wines people choose to drink with them.
The talks will raise questions that go beyond what’s on my plate. Speakers will look at how food shapes a destination, how local producers fit into the visitor experience and how a place can share its culinary traditions without losing what makes them local. Those ideas sound persuasive in a conference program. I’ll be interested to hear what the cooks, growers and producers think when we meet them.
I can listen to the discussions, then step outside and see how the story is told over a meal, at a market or perhaps across a winery table. I may find a pairing I would never have thought to order. I may find that the person pouring it has a better story than the speaker I heard that morning.
I’ll arrive with questions and an appetite. When I return, I’ll tell you what I tasted, who I met and which parts of Cambrils I’m still thinking about.
