La Bobal Revisited (trailer) from Zev Robinson.
Bobal is Spain’s second most planted grape variety, grown almost exclusively in the neighboring La Manchuela and Utiel-Requena regions in SE Spain, used only for making bulk wine. Over the last decade or two, smaller wineries have started developing quality Bobal wines and giving it some sort of recognition, but it still remains a struggle for an unknown grape more or less confined to one part of Spain.
Canadian-British filmmaker and artist Zev Robinson moved to a small village in the middle of Bobal country in Utiel-Requena in 2005, and in early 2008, he made a documentary about Bobal and the culture, politics and economics behind it as he interviewed farmers, winemakers, importers, wine writers and winery owners who populate the world of wine. “La Bobal and other stories about wine” was finished at the end of the year and was shown in London and New York and various places in Spain, and blog posts were written about it as far away as Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand, and the film was recognized as having an impact on the marketing of Bobal.
Fascinated with the culture, politics and economics of wine, and how urban and rural cultures are so closely intertwined, Robinson went on to direct several other documentaries on wine, food, agriculture and sustainability, and, in 2014, he re-edited the first one to include wineries from La Manchuela. La Bobal Revisited https://vimeo.com/101941669, with over 50% new material, was shown in London and Brussels, and its North American premiere will be at Speyer Hall, University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, New York on May 27, 2015.
After the film, W. R. Tish www.wineforall.com, managing editor of the trade magazine Beverage Media, will a present a tasting called “La Bobal and the Grapes of Spain” afterward, with Bobals alongside a variety of Spain’s other important varieties such as Monastrell, Garnacha, Graciano, Cariñena, Verdejo, and Albariño, to show that Spain is rich and varied in culture and regions, and so much more than just paella and flamenco. As Tish notes: “Rarely have Americans ever had the chance to experience Bobal in the context of its peer grapes, and with the backdrop of Zev’s revealing film. This is an opportunity to witness a true shift in what wine from Spain can be.”
“…his ability to connect with the audience, not just visually, but emotionally…”
– catavino.net
“…films (that) have the power to enter naturally in the lives of farmers…”
– spanishwinelover.com
La Bobal Revisited screening and tasting, Wednesday, May 27, 2015.
May 27, 2015. Doors open at 6:00pm, screening at 6:30pm, “La Bobal and the Grapes of Spain” wine tasting at 7:20 presented by W.R. Tish
Speyer Hall, University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street, New York
Tickets $17 at Eventbrite – eventbrite.co.uk/event/16691840745
Free for trade with advanced reservation.
Bobal_in_NewYork_invite
Bobal in NY press release
I’m back in Spain after a very successful trip screening my films Philadelphia, New York, and Toronto. Arribes was shown at Bryn Mawr and Barnard, and Spanish Grapes at NYU. There were admin problems at the latter that prevented organising a wine tasting, but there was an hour-long discussion afterward, and the event will be repeated, complete with wine, in October.
There were two Spanish Grape screening and wine dinner events at New York Vintners and at the Globe Bistro (where Barry Brown, president of the Spanish Wine Society of Canada presented the wines) in Toronto, proving to be a dynamic, entertaining and educational format that will be used in the future, including in London on June 11 at the London Cooking Project where I’ll be having a pop-up exhibition in June. More information soon.
