The report ‘Aragonese wines: A market opportunity.’ by AC Nielsen, argues that Somontano has lead the process of completely renovating the production and marketing of wines in Aragón, “creating a totally new image through new wine varieties”. This is one of the keys to explain the growth of the wines from Alto Aragón. The other elements of the winning formula, which makes for a bright future of Somontano wines in the 21st century, are the concerted effort to promote wine quality and price stability.

With regard to the data on overall turnover, in the year 2010, 12,996,596 bottles of wine from the DO Somontano have been sold, producing a historic record in sales. This volume of sales is equivalent in market value to over 52,000,000 euros.

In recent years, more than a third of production has been sold in Aragón, around 20% in the international market and the rest in the Spanish market. The marketing policy has thus maintained an upward trend, which reflects the need to enlarge the market area and not to concentrate sales on a single operational area.

The estimated number of employment opportunities created since the establishment of the DO Somontano has produced an average of over 500 posts, both permanent and temporary. This source of employment has been generated to a large extent by the three largest wine producers (Enate, Viñas del Vero and Pirineos) with the rest being mainly family run wineries. To this number we must add over five hundred viticulturalists who are associated to the Designation of Origin. In total, more than a thousand people are directly connected to the economic activity of wine production.

All of this positive economic data is supported by the pace of wine sales, which saw a 5% increase in net volume towards the end of 2008, compared to the year 2007. 2008 saw the largest historic sales record since the DO was established.

This information was forwarded along with wine samples by the marketing group for DO Somontano

So why am I rambling like this? Well, I wanted to set the mood. The place is plain, the location solitary from other culinary gems, and the menu, with some interesting sounding items, not really that much different from others I’ve seen. So that’s why I was FLOORED when the first amuse bouche came to the table.La Xarcu – Unexpected Culinary Treat Hidden Where You Would Least Expect It in Barcelona, Feb 2009

You should read the whole article.

Just need to find a way to Spain.

I wonder what it might be?