A Priorat red will represent Spain at a semi-blind tasting in Bordeaux

A red wine from Spain’s Priorat region will take part in an international tasting in Bordeaux next month, placing one of Spain’s best-known mountain appellations alongside wines from seven other countries in a format designed to test tasters on comparison rather than labels.

According to Wine-and.com, the organizer of the event, Perinet Vinya Mas Vell 2018 has been selected for Wineand International Tasting 2026, or WIT 2026, which is scheduled for Nov. 7 at La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, France. The session will bring together eight red wines from eight countries in what organizers describe as a semi-blind tasting. Participants will know in advance which wines have been chosen, but they will not know the order in which each wine is poured.

That structure is meant to shift attention to tasting and discussion before identification. In a fully blind tasting, tasters often know little or nothing about what is in the lineup. In this case, the field is known, but the service order is not. Organizers say that format allows for direct comparison among wines from different origins while keeping a degree of uncertainty that can affect perception and judgment.

For Spain, the inclusion of Perinet Vinya Mas Vell 2018 gives Priorat a place in an international lineup that spans Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Priorat, in northeastern Spain, is one of the country’s most recognized quality wine regions and is known for red wines grown on steep slopes and slate-based soils. The press material circulated for the event does not provide technical details on the grape blend or production of the 2018 wine, but it identifies the bottle as the Spanish representative for this year’s tasting.

The other wines announced for the event are Pizzato DNA 99 Single Vineyard 2020 from Brazil, Clos Apalta 2019 from Chile, Shumi Salome 2020 from Georgia, Castello di Meleto Parabuio 2019 from Italy, Labi Grand Rahova Reserve 2019 from Kosovo, Château Kefraya Comte de M 2020 from Lebanon and L’Aventure Estate Cuvée 2020 from the United States. The selection places established wine-producing countries next to markets that are less often present in international masterclasses of this kind, a point that appears central to the event’s concept.

WIT 2026 is set to run from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time at La Cité du Vin, the Bordeaux museum and cultural venue dedicated to wine. The session will be hosted by Mattia Antonio Cianca, whom organizers identify as Best Sommelier of Italy 2019 and Best Sommelier of Australia 2017. His role will include leading the tasting and discussion as participants work through the wines one by one without knowing their sequence.

Wine-and.com describes itself as an independent wine discovery and education platform based in Bordeaux. It says the WIT format was first held in Bordeaux in 2023, then moved to Porto in 2024 and Catalonia in 2025 before returning to Bordeaux this year. The annual event is presented as a meeting point for producers, wine professionals and consumers with an interest in tasting wines from different countries under the same conditions.

The choice of Bordeaux as the venue again is likely to carry symbolic weight for the wine trade. The city remains one of the world’s best-known centers for fine wine, and holding a tasting there that includes wines from Brazil, Kosovo, Lebanon and Georgia alongside countries with a larger export profile suggests an effort to widen the map of what an international benchmark tasting can look like. At the same time, the format avoids setting up a formal competition. Organizers have framed it as an educational masterclass rather than an awards event.

For Spanish wine, the Priorat entry gives the country a presence in a tasting built around national representation rather than broad regional categories. That matters because the event will not compare several Spanish wines against one another. Instead, one bottle will stand for Spain in a field where each country has a single red wine. In practical terms, that means Perinet Vinya Mas Vell 2018 will be assessed in direct sequence against wines from Chile, Italy, the United States and the rest of the lineup, with tasters relying on aroma, structure, texture and finish rather than on the bottle in front of them.

No attendance figures were included in the event announcement, and organizers have not released judging criteria because the session is not being presented as a scored competition. They said interviews, additional information and authorized images of the event or wineries can be provided on request. Further details about tickets and access are listed on the organizer’s website.

The event comes at a time when wine tastings aimed at both trade professionals and enthusiasts are increasingly built around experience and education rather than traditional presentation formats. By telling participants what is in the room but withholding the order of service, WIT 2026 appears to be betting that uncertainty at the table can produce more discussion about style, place and winemaking than a conventional labeled tasting. In that setting, the Priorat wine’s appearance in Bordeaux gives Spain a visible role in a small but international stage devoted to side-by-side comparison.