Mary had a meeting in Madrid, and we
made a mini vacay of it by building in some time on the front end to visit the
Rioja wine region with a group that one of Mary's colleagues expertly arranged. All we had to do was write a check and show up! It. Was.
WONDERFUL.
Our jumping off point was Bilbao,
which was as lovely as we remembered it to be. Our hotel was situated just along
the riverfront, and after a short nap and freshening up from the long flight we
took an early evening walk along the river and enjoyed watching
a SUP race taking place. We strolled over the bridge to the Guggenheim, had
some gelato (claro que si!), and as night fell and our neighbors for the evening
began coming out in droves, we joined them in sampling pinxtos from a few bars in
town before calling it a night.
Our tour bus (which we lovingly coined
the #bodegabus), rolled out of Bilbao around 10 am Sunday morning, bound for
wine country. After picking up the rest of our group from the airport, we drove
a couple hours to wine country! Our first stop was the well-known CVNE
winery. CVNE was founded by two brothers in 1879. One brother suffered from
asthma and moved to Spain's Atlantic coast for a drier climate at his doctor's suggestion.
Educated in Bordeaux, the brothers began blending young wines and eventually
producing their own single vineyard wines. The rest is history. After a tour where we learned all this
and more, we had a tasting, a lovely lunch on site. That evening, after settling into our hotel in
Laguardia, we had dinner in our hotel and relaxed together as a group.
The next day, it was time for – you guessed
it – more wine. We started at Marques
de Riscal, where our adorable tour guide, Oscar, led us through the
grounds, including the famous hotel designed by Frank Gehry, and through the
old cellars, and finally – to the tasting room. At 11 am. #breakfastwine. No
complaints. Marques des Riscal was
created in 1858, and today, their wine is distributed in over 110 countries to which they export 65% of their production.
The winery is best known for its gran reserva - which
are made with grapes from old vines over 80 years old (Tempranillo, Graciano
and Mazuelo) and aged in American oak barrels for 2-3 years, plus another 3
years in the bottle before being sold.
From there, we went into the small
village of Laguardia, where we visited the quaint winery of El Fabulista, where our OTHER adorable
tour guide led us through their wine production methodology in this very old,
very small winery in the walled city. It sits seven meters underground, and its cellars go deep into the heart
of the city. It is one of the last wineries in the region that still makes wine
using the artisanal method of carbonic maceration.
Each wine label is beautifully illustrated with a famous Spanish fable. We enjoyed
a lovely tasting, and probably our seventh helping of jamon (again, not
complaining), before strolling through the lovely cobblestone streets to our
lunch destination, Amelibia,
where we enjoyed gorgeous views of the valley and a gourmet lunch. Oh, and more
wine.
Our final stop of the day was YSIOS,
a high-end boutique winery designed by Santiago Calatrava, which attracts oenophiles
and architecture lovers alike. Its silhouette against the mountains was
certainly striking, and the tasting did not disappoint. Despite our pleas for
#nomorejamon, our guide insisted it would enhance our tasting as the wines
continued to open, and we acquiesced. And maybe almost died. But #worthit. The
views were gorgeous, and we settled in for a little rest, getting a little bit more
than relaxed from all that wine, and opted to walk back to the hotel rather
than ride the #bodegabus to try to burn off some of the calories from all that
wine and jamon. But then, there was dinner. We probably could have done with a
light salad and called it a night, but that’s not how we rolled. No, we rolled the
#bodegabus right on over to Eguren Ugarte
for what felt like 27-course meal, with even more wine, and then rolled our
bodies to bed.
The next morning, we departed for our
final stop of the tour, Burgos. We wish we’d had more time to explore this quaint
town, but alas, our guide led us expertly through the old town, the cathedral,
and right up to our lunch destination, Cobo Vintage. What a
meal! Cobo received a Michelin star last year, and we can tell you it is very
well deserved – that meal was a highlight of the trip for sure. The chef even
came out and chatted for a bit, which was very cool. After lunch, we drove the
last few hours to Madrid, checked into the hotel and CRASHED. Work started the next
day, and Shannon explored the city and got the lay of the land, so when we
ventured out, we could really make the most of our time together. He did a great bicycle tour that he really
enjoyed and helped him map everything out in his very map-oriented mind, too.
Here’s what we did/saw/ate in Madrid (details to come):
o
Plaza del Sol
o
Palace
o
Cathedral
o
Gardens
o
Prado
o
Goya Cathedral de
Florida
o
Temple of Debod /
Cuartel de la
Montaña Park
o
Archaeological
museum
o
Restaurants
§ Bodega de la Ardosa (Malasana) - vermouth on
tap
§ Ramses
§ La Venencia (sherry)
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