Rioja

Rioja

Great Wines of Northern Spain

27 September - 4 October 2010

This great tour takes in some of the great regions of Northern Spain: Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Baja; Ribera del Duero, Navarra and Catalyud. From Madrid airport we head north to the region of Ribera del Duero, where we stay in the village of Penafiel under the shadow of its Castle. We begin our wine visits with dinner at the estate of Condada de Haza, which belongs to Alejandro Fernandez and over dinner we will taste wines from his four estates including the famous 'Pesquera'.
Moving north from Ribera del Duero we call in at Burgos which was once the capital of the Kingdom of Castille, it's cathedral is a piece of gothic magnificence.

Our journey then takes us through some dramatic scenery until we arrive in Rioja. The smooth wines of Rioja perfectly match the local cuisine especially the succulent oven roasted lamb. A particularly enjoyable meal will be our lunch at Remelluri, whose elegant wines virtually define the Rioja Alavesa style. We also have a privileged invitation to dinner at Marqués de Cáceres, pioneers of the modern style Rioja.

We continue to the Rioja Baja where we taste stunningly impressive wines at Baron de Ley. We cross into neighbouring Navarra where we taste the traditional thunderous Reservas to more modern elegant wines from their new vineyards and their bench-mark Navarra Rosé. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have been planted for a long time and produce powerful red wines such as at the art deco cellars of Gulbenzu where we sample their great wines including the award winning 'Evo'.

We head west towards Madrid, where we explore the wines of the relatively unknown but definitely rising star region Cataluyd. Our last night is at the spectacular hilltop Parador de Siguenza, a castle that dates back to the re-conquest.