Viva el Vino: New Wine and Dine Concept Flips Traditional Dining on its Head

Campo Viejo and Tapas Tapas encourage daring diners to add mystery to their meal

The UK’s most popular Rioja wine brandCampo Viejo is launching the next stage of its inventive campaign ‘Viva el Vino’ by teaming up with Liverpool-based Spanish restaurant Tapas Tapas. The campaign will run for one month from 1^st November 2010. ‘Viva el Vino’ is a pioneering initiative where diners choose their wine first from a menu withoutselecting their food – and are then presented with a selection of food, matched perfectly to their wine, to create a truly unique dining experience. Tapas Tapas will be the first restaurant in Liverpool to host the successful ‘Viva el Vino’ campaign, following its initial launch in London last October. The ‘Viva el Vino’ campaign was devised by Campo Viejo and involves matching specific food and wine nuances in order to enhance a diner’s culinary experience. This is fast becoming a new dining trend, allowing people with a passion for food and wine to explore an entirely new eating experience, by trusting those ‘in the know’ to make the most suitable food choices to match the wine(s) they are drinking. It’s food and wine matching, but not as you know it. Michael Gledhill, owner of Tapas Tapas, comments: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Campo Viejo to encourage our diners to add an air of mystery to their dining experience.  We are truly passionate about Spanish cooking and serve the very best authentic Spanish “Tapas” style food prepared freshly on the premises to impress and excite our customers. The ‘Viva el Vino’ is a great way of getting people to really think about the wine and food they are enjoying and understand how a great wine can complement and lift the flavours of the dishes they eat.” Dining the ‘Viva el Vino’ way On entry to the restaurant, diners will receive a wine menu from their waiter and will be asked to choose only their wine – not their food. The chefs then create a meal that is designed to perfectly enhance the flavours and notes of the wine.  The ‘Viva el Vino’ menu is a modern take on traditional tapas – dishes are carefully designed to entertain the palate and the intrigue is heightened as the food will remain a secret until it is served, creating a delicious, adventurous and fun wine and dine experience. Diners are able to choose from two menus – one which offers food matched to Campo Viejo’s range of red wines and the other, a degustation-style menu, will pair all of the Campo Viejo varieties to dishes of the chef’s choice. It doesn’t matter if diners are vegetarian, have a nut allergy or are pescatarians - there is something for everyone. Commenting on the ‘Viva El Vino’ campaign, Mathew Bird, Head of Marketing for Campo Viejo, says; “’Viva el Vino’ is all about providing adventurous diners with the opportunity to enjoy the perfect combination of wine and food, in a fun, unique and unusual way. Pairing the right kind of food with the right variety of wine can completely transform people’s dining experiences and the aim of our ‘Viva el Vino’ campaign is to get people to sample the best of Campo Viejo’s popular wines with the finest Spanish cooking.“ Mathew continues: “Our inventive menus will ensure diners have an extra special evening sampling the diverse Campo Viejo range, which the talented Tapas Tapas chefs will match perfectly to a whole host of delicious tapas. It’s a great alternative for those who can’t decide on what to choose from the menu, those wanting a Friday night after-work gathering with a difference, or an opportunity to impress a new business contact.  I also imagine it would make for an interesting first date!” Visit www.campoviejowines.co.uk for more information.