I enjoyed the February South American wine tour so much that here I am doing the same in Spain in October! This one is accompanied by wine writer Andrew Williams who hails from Pontypridd, 3 miles over the mountain from my home village of Abertridwr, and takes in 12 wineries in 7 wine regions (DO’s) in northern Spain. The most distinctive grape of these regions is tempranillo but there’s also viura, graciano, verdejo and more. The DO’s dictate percentages of grape varieties and minimum times in barrels and bottles for the Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva classification, but some wineries are beginning to opt out of this in order to be free to make what they want .
Before we’d even arrived at our first hotel, we stopped off at Palacio de Bornos in the wine region of Rueda (www.palaciodebornos.com) to taste their whites, mostly made with the Verdejo grape unique to the region. These were a very pleasant surprise and those like me, bored with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, might like to try them. Waitrose / Ocado have a verdejo/viura blend from this winery for £7. Here they were storing some wine in green jars in the open air, defying all wine-making rules.
Our first base was Zamora, the most westerly point on the trip, where we stayed at the Parador, a 15th Century nobleman’s home built around a central courtyard. Zamora is a small walled city on the River Duero with a large modern urban sprawl. The old town was very lived-in and un-touristy.
Our next visit was to the wine region of Toro, known for big reds made with tempranillo grapes. At Farina (www.bodegasfarina.com), after a tour of the winery, we tasted an ambitious 9 wines; a broader range than expected which included a white, a rose and a couple of dessert wines. The consensus was ‘mediocre’ but I rather liked them. I’m clearly less discerning and more easily pleased!
From here we headed to Dehesa la Granja (www.dehesalagranja.com) for a tasting over a very long, very tasty but very filling lunch. This is within the new DO of Zamora and is the 4th winery of someone who built an empire on the strength of one rave review from US writer Robert Parker. He’s renovated a deserted winery with an extraordinary underground ‘city’. His wines were good, but dreadfully over-priced – but who can blame him if American ‘sheep’ are prepared to pay 58 euros a bottle for what Parker described as ‘Spain’s Petrus’.
We moved on to the Ribera del Duero DO for a visit to Legaris (www.legaris.com), one of the new generation of investor-backed ventures which to my mind are a bit like wine factories – good wines, but without any distinctiveness or personality; a little like Lapostelle which I visited in Chile. It was a striking piece of modern architecture, though there didn’t seem to be anyone working there (apart from the lady who showed us around)! The tapas lunch was good though.
We managed a sight-seeing stop in Burgos en route to Rioja which was a treat. Burgos has a spectacular and enormous cathedral, within a lovely old town, which has been beautifully renovated and it was good to fit in some sightseeing between the food and wine.
Our second base was Haro on the northern edge of the Rioja region and our most northerly point on the trip. As a lover of Rioja, I began salivating as we approached! Out hotel was a 14th century monastery with a 21st century design makeover that worked wonderfully. Our first visit was virtually next-door at Muga (www.bodegasmuga.com) an old family firm with an excellent selection of wines. These got most people’s votes as the best of the trip. this was the only winery making (some of) their own barrels.
One of my personal favourite visits followed, at a gorgeous hillside estate called Remelluri (www.remelluri.com). This was the antidote to Legaris; lots of tradition, little hype and an over-excited winemaker who spoke so fast the translator could hardly keep up – and a wonderful lunch washed down with some great Reservas!
We were invited to dinner at Marques de Caseres (www.marquesdecaceres.com), a large producer with a big presence in the UK. Their Marketing Director turned out to be a lady from Glasgow and she laid on a great dinner with 8 surprising, cleverly selected accompanying wines. We even had a cheese tasting with a semi-sweet to accompany a blue cheese that knocked your socks off (the cheese, not the wine).
Before we left Rioja we visited Baron de Ley (www.barondeley.com) whose winery was built alongside a ruin of a monastery, which they used their first 10 years profits to renovate beautifully but hardly use. They were harvesting so we were able to see the full range of activities including grape selection and de-stalking. They’re aiming at the quality mass market (Mr Parker’s fan club) and as a result some of their wines didn’t seem like Rioja at all. A bit of a disappointment.
We now crossed into our 5th wine region, Navarra, and straight to another highlight at Senorio de Arizano (www.bodegaschivite.com) where architect Rafael Moneo has built a striking new winery wrapped around an old church, tower and house alongside a river surrounded buy 350 hectares of vines. They produced a great lunch with 4 accompanying wines in a lovely dining room with great views of the winery and vineyard.
Our third base was Tudela, our most easterly point and very much a working town whose run-down old quarter is slowly being renovated. The main square was colonnaded on two sides with balconies with crests suggesting it once housed bullfights. From here we visited two wineries. The first was Ochao (www.bodegasochoa.com), a family affair where the winemaking has passed from generation to generation and is currently in the hands of the charming 20-something daughter. This is the first winemaker we visited where the UK was their No.1 market, which just goes to show that we’ve got good taste and an eye for value.
The next visit was by far the most eccentric. Guelbenzu (www.guelbenzu.es) began making wines in 1851 but lapsed and re-stared some 25-30 years ago. The winery we visited was a run-down pink house in the heart of the village; you expected to bump into a Young Mr Grace anytime. They’d opted out of the DO so that they could break all the rules. Most of their wines were blends and I wasn’t too keen; when we got to the 8th it was all a bit of a blur anyway. The rest of the group raved – out-of-synch with the more discerning again! We followed this with a tapas lunch with even more wine; a siesta was the only option after that.
Our final visit was to the up-and-coming region of Calatayud where they mostly use the garnacha grape variety. We were told that the winery at Bodegas del Jalon (www.castillodemaluenda.com) was ugly so they brought 6 wines to a local restaurant for a tasting – followed by lunch, of course! These were amongst the best we’d had and it was a fitting end to the tour. Well not really the end, as we headed to Siguenza to spend our last night at the 12th century castle at the top of this lovely town that is now a parador. I visited here 2.5 years ago, but we didn’t stay, so though it was the only part of the trip where I was re-tracing my steps, it was a treat.
The wines on this trip illustrated how much Spanish wine has moved up the quality scale and how distinctive they can be. My worry is that as they try to satisfy the international market by increasing the use of international grape varieties like cabernet sauvignon and merlot, they will lose this distinctiveness. Let’s hope not – until then, lets enjoy them!
After tasting 76 wines there was just enough time for 4 hours in Madrid to catch some art; in this case the Reina Sofia Museum. The contemporary art collection may be the worst in Europe, the 20th Century modern art is rather dominated by the Spanish (like Miro), but the Picasso’s, and Guernica in particular, made the visit worthwhile (well, and the lunch in their new restaurant washed down with a rueda verdejo to take me full circle!).
There’s a link to some photos below.
You are invited to view Gareth’s photo album: SpainishWineTour2008
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Dear Gareth,
Have just received an email from Jean with your website.
Thoroughly enjoyed reliving such a wonderful wine tour. Was most impressed by your detailed account and photos.
It certainly was a holiday of a lifetime.
Best wishes,
Jenny
Another comment, from Anne Watson:
I am deeply envious of the Spanish trip and have forwarded the link to all my hispanophile friends. Martin and I have stayed in the same place in Haro and enjoyed many happy hours with bottles of Muga. I feel a Rioja trip coming on…..