The José María Pemán Award 2009: To all those brave Spanish wine journalists who have reported (not!) WineFuture-Rioja 2009 and on the Pancho Campo-Robert Parker affair.

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Casa Pepe, Dispeñaperros, Photo by Gerry Dawes, copyright 2008.
 
The José María Pemán Award 2009
 

To all those brave Spanish wine journalists who have remained silent on the Pancho Campo affair and WineFuture-Rioja 2009.  Like the Spanish National Anthem, if you had any lyrics at all (a majority had none), they were reminiscent of those of José María Pemán during the Spanish Civil War.  (Pemán was commissioned to write new lyrics for the Marcha Real, which Franco reestablished as Spain's national anthem in 1939. His lyrics remained in use until 1978.--Wikipedia)

 

With special mention to the Federation of Spanish Wine Journalists, over a month after Decanter.com broke the Campo Interpol story (and subsequently published a follow-up story), threw their full support behind Campo and WineFuture-Rioja 2009 and offered their members free admission to the nearly 800 Euro per person event.

And a very special mention to the speakers at WineFuture-Rioja 2009, who have steadfastly maintained their support for the event, except for Jorge Ordoñez*, one of Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s most favored importers of Spanish wines to the United States.  (*It is rumoured that Ordoñez may have to miss the event because of jury duty in the United States.)

 

Robin Kelley O'Conner, a speaker at WineFutures-Rioja 2009, at Casa Pepe, el puerto de Despeñaperros, carretera de Andalucia Km 243, en Venta de Cárdenas (Cuidad Real), Castilla-La Mancha.  
Photo by Gerry Dawes copyright 2008. 
   

(José María Pemán y Pemartín (Cadiz, 8 May 1897 - 19 July 1981) was a Spanish journalist, poet, novelist, essayist, and right-wing intellectual.  Pemán was one of the few prominent intellectuals to support Francisco Franco and the Falangist movement. This ensured his professional success during and after the Civil War, but damaged his international reputation.--Wikipedia)

About Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand prize in 2009 and received the Association of Food Journalists 2009 Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television series  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Culinary Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com

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