It’s hard to come by someone who doesn’t love wine. The divine creation is consumed in all corners of the globe, but did you know that in 2014 Spain was the largest wine exporter in the world? Although it’s consumed on a regular basis by people everywhere (and especially here in Barcelona), how many of us know exactly what’s inside of it? As Anna Giselle Toro mentions in our recent podcast, unlike a carton of milk or a box of cereal, wine bottles do not need to indicate all of their contents. An interesting thought!
“In the EU, more than 600 things can be added [to wine] and 
only one thing needs to be listed, which is if it has sulfites or not. You have no idea what you are drinking.”
Anna Giselle Toro is an entrepreneur, wine expert and big advocate for natural wine. She gave us a new look at the wine industry and what new trends could flourish in the next few years. Having created a meetup group online called “Cultivated Alcoholics” one year ago, Anna now has the largest wine tasting meetup group in Barcelona, which solely concentrates on the education and tasting of natural wines. Having grown up on a vinegar in Hungary, wine has always been a part of Anna’s life –hence it becoming her passion and career. At only the age of 24, she has completed her international business and law degree, a wine and spirits education course and has started a revolution in Barcelona with natural wines.
It was wonderful having Anna on our latest podcast. The trend of “natural” and “organic” in the food and beverage industry seems to only be growing and we absolutely love it! People are getting more educated about the importance of organic and natural foods, but the subject of wine is a new one in which Anna is playing a large role in shedding light in Catalonia.
“There is nothing added or taken away from it. Literally just not drinking chemicals, that’s practically it.”
Wine making without fertilizer, additives, supplements, flavouring or even any filtration or refining process is what natural wine is – a truly natural product. With the organic and natural trends going on in our culture and in Barcelona especially, it’s clear that Anna is on to something and gained interest of many people in the area.
Anna also gave us a brief history of wine making, so be sure to listen to the podcast to soak up all the information. She also discusses a couple of her events, which she describes to be more chill and relaxed events to gather people together to learn about and taste natural wines. Her latest event, Wild and Natural, that occurred this past Friday, was a success. The urban jungle themed event was held at a beautiful flourist shop in Sant Antoni, where 5 different natural wines were tasted, accompanied by some delicious vegan delights created by Naty Creci, who doubled as a talented chef and photographer.
We strongly recommend liking Cultivated Alcoholics Facebook page and joining her Meetup.com group to stay in the loop for Anna’s next exciting event
Update 2017: Anna now works for Vivino App; check out her blog post on the Most Expesive Wines here
Danielle Marquis
The Grid BCN
