GLOBAL NETWORK OF GREAT WINE CAPITALS AND LARGE VINEYARDS

Since October 2003, Bilbao-Rioja has beena part of a network of a select group of GreatWine Capitals and large vineyards, togetherwith Bordeaux, Christchurch-South Island,Cape Town, Florence, Magunica, Mendoza,Oporto and San Francisco-Napa Valley.

This is a project involving international cooperation withthe objective of linking large economic capitals locatedin prominent, world renowned wine-producing areas.

Based on a common culture and the worldwideopportunities afforded by the wine trade, each membercity both proposes and seeks out economic, cultural,tourism and academic initiatives via this network.

The “Bilbao-Rioja” project is led by the Chamber ofCommerce of Bilbao (province of Bizkaia) and therespective Chambers of Commerce of the threeprovinces integrated in the prestigious qualifieddesignation of origin, Denominación de Origen CalificadaRioja, namely La Rioja, Alava and Navarre, along withthe Association of Growers and Exporters of Rioja Wineand the City of Bilbao.

With wine as the common denominator for all of citiesinvolved, this cooperation aims to establish anadvantageous network of ties between these cities, andin all sectors of activity.

In October 2004, Bilbao was host city for the5th Annual General Meeting of the GlobalNetwork of Great Wine Capitals and LargeVineyards. A number of activities were organisedfor this event, among which and of interest fromthe point of view of tourism, was to invite leadingjournalists and tour operators of each of themember cities.

The objective of this invitation to the AGM wasto familiarise them with Basque culture,architecture, cuisine, and the regional wine ofcourse, apart from so much more. With a viewto creating projects of mutual interest, this movepromotes bi-lateral business relations betweenthe tour operators of the visiting cities andBasque inbound tour operators.

The high point of the AGM was the “Best Of” award ceremony,awarded for wine-growing tourism in which eight awards werehanded out, one for each wine-growing zone, in recognitionof the best wine-growing and tourism infrastructures.

The international competition “Best Of Wine Tourism” prizeis intended to acknowledge the outstanding wineries of eachmember city in terms of the excellence of their facilities. Sinceits inception, of the 2,099 nominations, 309 wineries havereceived an award in the various categories, from art andculture to sustainability in wine tourism and sharing qualityexperiences with the public.

For more information about the “Best Of” prizes and GreatWine Capitals in general, please visit their website:www.greatwinecapitals.com.