Now that the 2012 Games are behind us we can finally tell the world! Bodegas Castro Martin was the only bodega to supply albariño to the London Olympics! So why are we only telling you now I can hear you ask? Well, the truth is that LOCOG (the London organising committee that selected the wines for the Olympics), made us sign a confidentially agreement prior to shipping the wine. The reason being that we were simply an official ‘supplier’ and not an official ‘sponsor’, meaning that we did not pay for the listing. The difference is that being a ‘sponsor’ (such as McDonalds or Coca Cola), firstly you have to pay millions to be there, but then by doing so, you are at least allowed to mention the fact in your advertising, and also print the Olympic Rings logo all over your products. As a ‘supplier’ you have the honour of being there, for visitors to buy, but other than that you are not allowed to use your connection with the Games to promote your products in any way. A desperate shame, and believe me, keeping a secret such as this is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Only two or three people in our entire business knew about it until after the event!

Naturally we were extremely proud and honoured to be chosen for the Olympic Games, and despite the fact that we couldn’t shout about it, we still had the satisfaction of knowing that people were enjoying our fantastic albariño at this global event. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and a gold medal for every single one of the hard working team at Castro Martin!

Now that the 2012 Games are behind us we can finally tell the world! Bodegas Castro Martin was the only bodega to supply albariño to the London Olympics! So why are we only telling you now I can hear you ask? Well, the truth is that LOCOG (the London organising committee that selected the wines for the Olympics), made us sign a confidentially agreement prior to shipping the wine. The reason being that we were simply an official ‘supplier’ and not an official ‘sponsor’, meaning that we did not pay for the listing. The difference is that being a ‘sponsor’ (such as McDonalds or Coca Cola), firstly you have to pay millions to be there, but then by doing so, you are at least allowed to mention the fact in your advertising, and also print the Olympic Rings logo all over your products. As a ‘supplier’ you have the honour of being there, for visitors to buy, but other than that you are not allowed to use your connection with the Games to promote your products in any way. A desperate shame, and believe me, keeping a secret such as this is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Only two or three people in our entire business knew about it until after the event!

Naturally we were extremely proud and honoured to be chosen for the Olympic Games, and despite the fact that we couldn’t shout about it, we still had the satisfaction of knowing that people were enjoying our fantastic albariño at this global event. A once in a lifetime opportunity, and a gold medal for every single one of the hard working team at Castro Martin!