PATROCINIO WINERIES travels to Panama and Mexico to learn about consumer preferences

Bodegas Patrocinio's main goal is to learn more about consumers’ preferences, in order to work to promote wines best suited to the tastes of customers in different areas. In order to carry out this strategy, we visit the various countries where our wines are sold. This November, our Commercial Director Juan Pradell travelled to Latin America to host a number of tastings at restaurants, specialist clubs and resorts.

The first stop on the trip was Costa Rica, a burgeoning market for wine. In the absence of local production, the size of the market is determined by imports. Spain is the third largest supplier to Costa Rica, and one of the most widely recognised D.O.s is Rioja.

The growing interest in wine culture in Costa Rica has led to the emergence of wine bars and clubs where they hold more exclusive promotional activities, such as tastings, food pairings, workshops and seminars. Juan Pradell visited the restaurant Donde Carlos, in San Jose in Costa Rica. With Carlos the owner and the Terroir team, they enjoyed a tasting of Señorío de Uñuela. Later they visited a number of restaurant clients in the famous district of Escalante, such as El Gambas, El Churrasco, Verdísimo, and the beautiful Taberna de La Uvita Perdida. They also held a tasting and presentation at the Arenal Paraíso Resort in La Fortuna (Costa Rica). An incredible country, with wonderful people who enjoyed our wines... Definitely a trip to be repeated!

After Costa Rica, we travelled to Mexico, a market in which wine is in a growth phase. The profile of a wine consumer in Mexico is not only represented by middle-aged men with a mid to high socio-economic profile, but there is also a younger segment, as well as a female audience that continues to grow.

Juan Pradell visited CATAMUNDI in Polanco, Mexico City, with Cinthia, its sommelier, Javier Iñiguez of Zeus Wines, our ZINIO importer, and Alejandra Melic. We also visited the Mexico Industrial Club with Elías, head sommelier of an important Mexican chain, and Manuel Orgaz, the director of the centre. After various meetings with a number of important figures in the world of wine in Mexico, we returned to Spain... but already thinking about when we’d be back.