Our Festivals
NAPA VALLEY
May 4-8, 2025
The Napa Valley Festival was a huge success for the Americas featuring some truly exceptional experiences. There was lunch at the incredible French Laundry hosted by the famous Chef /Proprietor Thomas Keller who treated members to some of his ‘greatest hits’. Other visits to the top vineyards of Napa included Freemark Abbey, Verité and Chappellet – all producers of 100 point wines and whose buildings are architectural treasures too. A tour of Tonnellerie Ô (a premier Californian cooperage) was fascinating plus members took part in a cooking class hosted by the Culinary Institute of America and evendonned a chef’s hat. The weekend closed with a superb Black Tie Winemakers Gala Dinner held at Greystone.
The May 2025 Napa Festival was one of the Americas strongest festivals to date. The trip featured a lunch at the incredible French Laundry. As many know, the French Laundry remains one of the most difficult restaurants in the United States to get a reservation. Thomas Keller greeted the group with a Dom Pérignon Champagne reception followed by an outstanding multi-course lunch featuring some of his greatest hits as appetizers as well as a charcoal grilled wagyu as the main course. The French Laundry lives up to its hype and it will be a meal long remembered by those who attended.
The trip also featured visits to Freemark Abbey, Verité and Chappellet vineyards. As everyone reading this would know all three wineries make fantastic wines, including multiple wines that have garnered 100 point scores. But what you may not know is that all three are also architectural treasures. Freemark Abbey is one of the oldest vineyards in Napa Valley. The old buildings have been beautifully restored. Verité has a brand-new facility to which no expense was spared. The lunch they served in their sleek barrel room with wines from their library and a decadent quiche was the favorite for some. Chappellet is located on the top of Pritchard Hill on one of the most beautiful sites in Napa Valley. The winery was built in the 1960s and is gorgeous. The picnic lunch outside couldn’t have been more pleasant.
On the first day, the attendees split into two groups, one attending a cooking class put on by the Culinary Institute of America and the other group received a tour of Tonnellerie Ô, one of Northern California’s premier cooperages. Both were well received.
The final Black Tie Winemakers Gala was held at Greystone. The Greystone complex was originally built for Greystone Cellars in the 1880s. It changed hands a couple of times before being bought by the Culinary Institute of America in 1993 as its western campus. It was another gem in a week of fantastic sites. The meal honored the winemakers whose wineries we had visited during the week.
There had been some concern before we planned the trip that too many members had already been to Napa on their own and wouldn’t be interested in a festival there. I think that was proven wrong. The places we went to and the wines we drank would have been impossible for an individual to duplicate. It reinforced the reason why we hold festivals and other group outings. Thanks to Festival & Events Chair Charles Schurhammer and his team for a spectacular event.
BASQUE COUNTRY AND RIOJA
May 18-25, 2025
Members across the Society met to enjoy a festival, hosted by the Europe Africa team, in the Basque Country and La Rioja regions of northern Spain. Basque was the pre-tour destination where members embarked on a food tour of the Pinxtos bars of Bilbao and tasting the local Txakoli wines. They then headed south for the main festival visiting some of the famous Rioja bodegas of Marques de Murrieta and Contino plus discovering some of the smaller boutique wineries. While enjoying the finer food and wines of the regions they were to find they were also frequenting the same hotel as football team Tottenham Hotspur, in Bilbao, and dining in Marques de Riscal where music megastar Lady Gaga was staying. A mega trip on all fronts…
On May 18th, 25 members from across the Society, met for the pre-festival event at the Carlton Hotel in Bilbao for a glass of Riojan cava [a region with artisan producers paving the way for the revitalisation of this traditional method sparkling wine and is given warranted coverage in this year’s monograph]. We soon discovered that this was the hotel to be occupied by the Tottenham Hotspur (“Spurs”) soccer team, eventual winners of the Europa League Cup. Members dined in the renowned Bilbao restaurant, the Ataren.
Next day we toured the Basque country, enjoying a tour of a farm, a leading producer of the Basque sheep’s cheeses followed by a visit to Bodegas Berroja, for a tour of their vineyard, with its wonderful views, its winery, a tasting of their Txakoli wines and lunch. Dinner was a walking food tour of six Pinxtos bars in Bilbao each serving different Pinxtos as well as Txakoli wines and local cider – a memorable highlight.
Next morning, we enjoyed a guided tour of the famous Frank Gehry designed Guggenheim museum, before departing for Logroño, and where the group was based at the Aurea Palacio del Correos for the main festival. 45 members gathered on the roof top terrace of the hotel for Canapés and an Apertif.
Harold Heckle, the IWFS consultant for Spain who for many years has reported on Spanish wines to the Wines Committee made a short presentation of the history of wine in Spain. He was presented with a certificate of appreciation for all his contributions to IWFS [see Our Awards]. Dinner followed in the hotel with a presentation by Rubén Provedo, a notable winemaker, of his first production of wines as an independent producer.
Over the next four days, they visited major Bodegas, such as Marques de Murrieta, Contino, wineries in Barrio de la Estación in Haro and L’Emperatriz, as well as the wines of a number of smaller boutique winemakers. Two Black tie dinners were held, the first at the Frank Gehry designed Hotel and Bodegas Marqués de Riscal enjoying two Marques de Riscal wines with each of 6 courses. We also discovered that Lady Gaga was staying though the autograph hunters failed in their endeavours! The second on the final evening was at Palacio de Samaniego where we enjoyed a 5-course meal presented by Chef Bruno Coelho. We also had an evening wine tasting from a boutique winemaker accompanied by tapas and a free evening. Lunches were enjoyable and relaxed, notably at Viñedos de Paganos (when no dinner was planned) and a barbecue at Bodegas la Emperatriz.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the festival and the opportunity to learn about Rioja, its history, wines and wonderful food. Participation by Grape Escapes led by Rachel Garrod in curating the festival together with input from a group of IWFS members and from Itziar (“Itzi”) Callejo, who also proved to be a wonderfully knowledgeable and fun guide, leading a wine tasting herself.
