Spanish Wine and Tapas

Here at the Glasgow Wine School we love our food and wine. To celebrate the magical combination, why not join us in our Spanish Wine and Tapas Evening?

The Spanish word “tapa” means “lid” and the phrase is said to have derived from an ancient tradition, which took place hundreds of years ago in Spanish inns and bars. In those days, a piece of bread, meat or a plate (hence, a lid) was placed over the customer´s wine or beer to keep out the ever-present flies. In time, food was placed on top of the ‘lid’ and this tended to be savoury or salty… The innkeepers realised that this made the customers drink more… and, hey presto; the concept of tapas was born!

Today in Spain, “tapas” still refers to small portions of savoury, Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be found everywhere in Spain and is generally based on cheeses, olives and various meat, fish and veg dishes. You can also nowadays find gourmet tapas, which are miles away from the original peasant/casual style and places like San Sebastian, Barcelona and Madrid offer the full spectrum of tapas experiences. Tapas are still often placed on a slice of bread and these are normally known as “Pintxos”, especially around the Basque Country.

During our Spanish-themed evening, we will be investigating the fascinating subject of food and wine pairing by looking at some of its basic rules and giving you some tools to help you to successfully navigate this often-daunting task. To help to bring the topic to life and put these rules to the test, we will be savouring some delicious Spanish tapas/nibbles alongside some of the diverse and exciting wines that are to be found in Spain’s traditional and up-and-coming wine regions (we will also find out a bit more about these!).