Great Wines of Northern Spain

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Great Wines of Northern Spain

Rioja

Rioja

Great Wines of Northern Spain

22 - 29 October 2007, 13 - 20 October 2008

This new tour in a sweep out of Madrid, takes in most of the great wine regions of Northern Spain: Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Baja; Ribera del Duero, Rueda; Cigales; Navarra; Carinena and Catalyud.

We arrive into Madrid airport and head north to the region of Old Castille. Here we stay in the Parador of Zamora. We visit Toro for highly impressive yet remarkably great value wines, which have emerged as Spain’s super-premium red region, and Rueda, famed for producing some of the best white wine in Spain from the local Verdejo variety.

We continue to the beautiful estate of Dehesa la Granja, which belongs to Alejandro Fernandez from Ribera del Duero, and over lunch we will taste wines from his four estates including the famous ‘Pesquera’.

Moving east, we call in on the upcoming denomination of Cigales before arriving in Burgos where we have time for lunch and exploring. Burgos was once the capital of the Kingdom of Castille and its cathedral, burial place of the kings of Castille and the Spanish hero ‘el Cid’, is a piece of gothic magnificence.

Our journey then takes us through some dramatic scenery until we arrive in Rioja. Our first visit is a privileged invitation to dinner at the hospitable Marques de Caceres, pioneers of the ‘new style’ Rioja. Our next visit, the excellent Muga, are traditionalists ‘with a twist’. As an example a few years ago they bought a new traditional basket press, one that was computer controlled! Our hotel in Rioja is a beautiful 4* in a converted convent, with the attractive central cloistered courtyard.

The smooth wines of Rioja perfectly match the local cuisine with succulent oven roasted lamb, stuffed peppers and thick soups. A particularly good meal will be our lunch at Remelluri, the leading Riojan estate whose elegant wines virtually define the Rioja Alavesa style. We continue to the Rioja Baja where we taste stunningly impressive wines at Baron de Ley.

We cross the border into neighbouring Navarra and at Julian Chivite we have a great lunch and a tasting from 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 unlike Rioja where they have been persecuted as French interlopers, Navarra, once part of the kingdom of Navarre that straddled the present Franco-Spanish border, takes a relaxed, forward thinking attitude. The leading estate of Ochoa, is particularly renowned for its experimental attitude. We taste their powerful red wines. The art deco cellars of Gulbenzu is our next visit, where over a traditional lunch 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 of Cataluyd. Our last night is at the spectacular hilltop Parador de Siguenza, a castle that dates back to the reconquest.