The previous editions of the Barcelona Wine Festival were organized in Marbella under the name of "International Wine Symposium", in 2004 and 2005. The first edition took place at the Hotel Puente Romano and had as guest speakers: Jancis Robinson, José Peñín, Alejandro Fernández, Carlos Falcó, Jesús Flores and Juan Muñoz Ramos.

The 2005 edition was hosted by the international university centre CIE Marbella with the participation of names such as Richard Smart, Stephane Derenoncourt, Miguel Torres, Marcos Eguren, and Peter Sisseck, as ell as representatives of organizations of prestige such as Wines of Chile, Wine of Australia, Wines of South Africa, University of California Davis, and Crus Classes de Graves, amongst many others. The event was closed with The Wine Gala of Marbella and a superb performance by the legendary Glenn Miller
Orquestra.