spanish winery region(s)
Apr 29th, 2016, 07:28 AM
#21
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Ribeira and Mikel: OP are tourists, so what shall be wrong with tours that are "touristy", how you call it?
Yes, I understand your point. If I, as a European, drive with my car to a family-owned winery and if I get a private tour and a private tasting, then I buy a couple of boxes and everyone is happy.
If a tourist from America buys, if at all, one or two bottles maximum after the tour, the concept of the tour should be different: Efficiently organized, with groups of 20, with reservations and with an entrance fee (which will be reimbursed if you buy a significant amount). What's wrong with this concept if both sides are happy?
Most big chateaux around Bordeaux have completely given up cellar tours, unless you are a wine journalist or a dealer. Other wineries (mostly those with weaker wines have made a business out of hosting busloads of tourists who won't buy anything that costs more than €5 but who have booked a tour from a company which pays the winery a fee. This is how the system works.
Yes, I understand your point. If I, as a European, drive with my car to a family-owned winery and if I get a private tour and a private tasting, then I buy a couple of boxes and everyone is happy.
If a tourist from America buys, if at all, one or two bottles maximum after the tour, the concept of the tour should be different: Efficiently organized, with groups of 20, with reservations and with an entrance fee (which will be reimbursed if you buy a significant amount). What's wrong with this concept if both sides are happy?
Most big chateaux around Bordeaux have completely given up cellar tours, unless you are a wine journalist or a dealer. Other wineries (mostly those with weaker wines have made a business out of hosting busloads of tourists who won't buy anything that costs more than €5 but who have booked a tour from a company which pays the winery a fee. This is how the system works.
Apr 29th, 2016, 11:08 PM
#22
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Traveller1959, it´s the experience that counts...and those at the big wineries are mass produced tours, that don´t add much to a good experience. But to each, his own. I´m a local Basque and appreciate much, very much, the family wineries, and dislike the big companies.
Apr 29th, 2016, 11:41 PM
#23
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Us too. When you live in a region you get to know the ones that are good and the ones you should organise a visit too for your guests.
Wine tours with flags and and 20 followers. It is because this wine region is not so well known.
Wine tours with flags and and 20 followers. It is because this wine region is not so well known.
Apr 30th, 2016, 02:06 AM
#24
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I think that Priorat is a very good place for a wine lover who also wants to explore a great variety of Spanish (or Iberian) history squeezed into a relatively compact region.
First, there is the wine. Priorat is one of the two DOQ/DOC in Spain and the wines are of outstanding quality.
Priorat has a distinctive taste which is not always as easy on the palate as Rioja or other (also very fine) DOs, though.
Priorat DOQ is surrounded by Montsant DO - the latter also a very good quality wine, but less pricey and less "special" in its taste.
So, if Priorat is not your cup of tea, you may still like Montsant and get similar flavors in moderate intensity.
Priorat and Montsant are located in Southern Catalunya which is, thank heavens, a mostly overlooked region compared with metropolitan Barcelona and Costa Brava.
Nevertheless, you find an outstanding diversity of nature and culture there.
- pre-historic cave paintings near Tortosa. UNESCO world heritage which you can visit on your own as hardly anyone goes there
- Templar castles in the hills like Miravet
- beautiful old villages and towns like Prades or Horta de Sant Juan. And Morella and Teruel in neighboring Aragon.
- stunning Ebro delta (flamingo watching in season)
- Modernisme (Reus at the northern edge, but also the wineries in the Priorat wine-making villages)
- sobering 20th century history in Corbera d'Ebre from the Civil War (ruins of Corbera d'Ebre, trenches, etc.)
- Els Ports natural park for hiking
- and nice beaches to relax
First, there is the wine. Priorat is one of the two DOQ/DOC in Spain and the wines are of outstanding quality.
Priorat has a distinctive taste which is not always as easy on the palate as Rioja or other (also very fine) DOs, though.
Priorat DOQ is surrounded by Montsant DO - the latter also a very good quality wine, but less pricey and less "special" in its taste.
So, if Priorat is not your cup of tea, you may still like Montsant and get similar flavors in moderate intensity.
Priorat and Montsant are located in Southern Catalunya which is, thank heavens, a mostly overlooked region compared with metropolitan Barcelona and Costa Brava.
Nevertheless, you find an outstanding diversity of nature and culture there.
- pre-historic cave paintings near Tortosa. UNESCO world heritage which you can visit on your own as hardly anyone goes there
- Templar castles in the hills like Miravet
- beautiful old villages and towns like Prades or Horta de Sant Juan. And Morella and Teruel in neighboring Aragon.
- stunning Ebro delta (flamingo watching in season)
- Modernisme (Reus at the northern edge, but also the wineries in the Priorat wine-making villages)
- sobering 20th century history in Corbera d'Ebre from the Civil War (ruins of Corbera d'Ebre, trenches, etc.)
- Els Ports natural park for hiking
- and nice beaches to relax
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