Madrid: wine week ramps up
Madrid is in wine mode — Bacchus 2026 is blind‑tasting over 1,600 wines across three technical days at Mom Culinary, and WINEMAD will launch in May as the city's first international wine fair ( ). Semana Santa festivities are also folding gastronomy into their program this week — think torrijas and sacred‑music culinary tie‑ins for visitors (elconfidencial.com).
The XXIV Concurso Internacional Bacchus will be held at the MOM Culinary Institute in El Pardo and brings more than 1,600 submitted labels to blind tastings staged over three technical days. (elespanol.com)) Organisers say the tasting panels assemble roughly 100 professional catadores from 26 countries, including four Masters of Wine and at least one Master Sommelier among the jurors. (elespanol.com)) The Unión Española de Catadores (UEC) opened entries on 1 November 2025 and set the final date for receipt of physical samples as 13 February 2026. (uec.es)) Bacchus 2026 debuts a NOLO (No/Low Alcohol) category, the first time desalcoholised and low‑alcohol wines will be assessed within the competition’s blind tastings. (tecnovino.com)) WINEMAD — the Madrid International Wine Fair — will stage its inaugural edition at IFEMA from 27–29 May 2026 as a strictly professional event aimed at internationalisation, distribution and business development. (esmadrid.com)) Madrid’s official Semana Santa program runs from 27 March to 5 April 2026 and includes city‑organised torrija routes, sacred‑music cycles and public concerts alongside the processions. (elindependiente.com)) The city estimates consumption of around seven million torrijas over the Semana Santa period, a figure organisers cite when promoting the concurrent gastronomic programming. (madrid24horas.com))
