My husband and I are planning a trip to Bordeaux and northern Spain. We will spend 8 days there and would like to get the most out of it. Please let us know what are must sees and if driving from Bordeaux to Rioja is a good idea. We are planning to end up in Barcelona for the last two days. Any suggestions on villages, hotels, vineyards and must sees would be very helpful and appreciated. <BR> <BR>Thank you so much in advance, <BR>Jenny

If you're going to be spending any time in Bordeaux itself and want my file on it, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. You can arrange for tours of wineries at either the Tourist Office or the Maison du Vin, both on the cours du 30 juillet in the centre ville. <BR>One thought: If you're renting a car in France and dropping it off in Spain, you'll be paying a hefty drop-off charge. <BR>I've never driven from France to Rioja (though I've drunk plenty of Rioja in Spain - kind of a downer after French wines), but the trip from Bordeaux across the mountains to Barcelona is not such an easy or fast drive. I hope you've allowed yourself some time for this.

while i don't have specific information for you on vineyards to visit in Spain -(it is not something I do when I travel there although I am a huge fan of Spanish wines), when you are in the region of Barcelona, in Catalunya they make cava, which is a spanish sparkling wine (similar to that of champagne) - I believe Friexnet (sp?) has tours and have heard that people enjoy them. Do a websearch and I'm certain you'll come up with something. There is also a "new" region for reds nearby called Priorat which are coming up quickly to be noticed. But some of the best wine in Spain, beyond that of riojas (certainly NOT "downers" after french in my opinion) are the Ribera del Duero's. Unfortunately for you this area is between Madrid & Basque country, so not convenient to your 2-day stay in Barcelona. But anytime you wish to experience an excellent red from Spain, consider exploring the reds of the Ribera del Duero... they EASILY compete with (and many times SURPASS) french wines (forget the fact what you get value-wise). I'm afraid I've been disappointed TOO MANY times by many french wines in my travels to France. I find it ridiculous that when you're in a restaurant in Paris for instance that in order to get a decent bottle of red wine for not alot of money one tends to have to order Cote du Rhones to play it safe - NEVER the house wine, it's generally awful. Where in sharp contrast, RARELY EVER in Spain do you have to go beyond a house wine (although it has been necessary one or two times to be fair). Just felt I had to come to the rescue of Spain's wines, too often way underestimated - but then, that's fine - it keeps them affordable for me! Anyway, have a marvelous trip!

dear jenny, in my rush to defend & praise spanish wines, I realize I hadn't really read your questions well enough. There are 2 ways you can get from the Bordeaux area to either the Rioja region of Spain, or straight to Barcelona to try visiting Cava vineyards OR the Penedes wines of Catalunya. The first is to head straight down the western coast to San Sebastian (which is a beautiful beautiful resort - but you don't mention what time of year you're planning this for, it IS the north of Spain which generally means rain except in summer) then if you head towards Pamplona into the Rioja region, then onto Barcelona. The only possible way to explore the Ribera del Duero region is if you end up in Madrid instead of Barcelona. The 2nd route is down towards Toulouse and to the eastern coastal highway that leads to Barcelona, crossing over the border easily. Either way is possible and has lots to explore. If you want more info on the Spain side, email direct and I'll see what other info I have if you're serious to include Spain in this trip.

I'll 2nd the defense & praise of Spanish wines... if you are planning a trip of hopping from one vineyard to the next, you should be able to do it. <BR> <BR>good luck!

Jenny, <BR>The Rioja topic is one dear to me because we have friends who work in the industry. <BR>Regarding wine tasting in the Rioja region, in the Rioja Alavesa (the part of the 3 Riojas in the Basque Country) the tiny medieval walled village of Laguardia (our occasional home away from home) makes a wonderful base for a visit to the Rioja (the Rioja Alavesa region arguably producing the best wines in the area). Laguardia is a pedestrians only village complete with ramparts and thick gateways with three narrow main streets but also three charming, atmospheric, delightful inns ("Miguel de Migueloa", the "Antigua Bodega de don Cosme Palacios" and the exquisitly decorated, much lauded 8 room gem, manor house called the"Castillo el Collado"-a personal favorite-which was a labor of love, exquisitely decorated and built into the town's medieval walls. (We stay in the "Amor y locura" room in the turret). It was featured in the Spanish Vogue and has a red designated for charm in the Michelin guide (plus lots of accolades from the travel press). It also has a t wine cellar turned bar/disco downstairs. The "Miguel de Migueloa" also has a friendly and atmospheric wine bar in the cellar with an ancient wine press-lots of charm-and the Asturian owner bottles his own label of quite good Rioja. "Restaurante Marixa", same owner as the "Castillo Collado", is highly regarded by the famous Michelin starred Basque chefs for its hearty country Basque cuisine. Fabulous dining here! Laguardia is truly unique because each and every house in Laguardia has a two-story deep wine cellar (which in olden times had connecting doors so that rebellions could be plotted among families underground), and most have huge wine vats the size of small swimming pools where they store their home brew and make their "zurracapote", a type of sangria for the week long annual festival of San Juan/San Pedro y Pablo beginning June 24 with "encierros" Pamplona style every morning and afternoon. (Less dangerous as bulls are smaller and horns are covered with wads of paper, but 400 lbs plus in size nonetheless!) Also worth very much worth seeing are the impressive 14th c covered portal of Santa Maria de los Reyes church at the top of the village inside the walls-its larger than life, perfectly preserved polychrome statues of the Apostles are a jewel. The views of the vineyards of the Ebro valley below are lovely, and from Laguardia you can easily take day trips to the many bodegas of Haro, along the Barrio de la Estación (try Muga for its fabulous "Prado de Enea", Lopez de Heredia for their "Viña Tondonia", and CVNE) or the lovely estate bodegas of Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri in the hills nearby in Labastida, the Marqués de Cáceres in Cenicero, Bodegas Montecillo in Fuenmayor or the Marqués de Riscal bodegas in Elciego, where the Guggenheim architect, Frank Gehry has designed a new, spectacular pavillion to be ready in a couple of yrs. <BR>The most "festive" day in Haro, the capital of La Rioja Alta is June 29 when the famous "Wine Battle" takes place. If you happen to be in the area, be sure to stick around to see the thousands of people wearing wine stained white garb, completely soaked in vino tinto returning from their pilgrimage up to the shrine of San Felices at Riscos de Bilibio, all the while dousing each other with wine along the way from their wineskins (or anything else that sprays liquid). Thousands of liters of red wine are sprayed on the participants that day. It's quite a funny sight! In Haro, "Beethoven" has a fabulous tapas bar, and "Casa Terete" with its long wooden tables is a great place to try succulent roast lamb and the wonderful Riojas of the region. Also the "Catedral de los Vinos" is an excellent place to purchase the best the Rioja has to offer. A couple of books that we used in planning our tours are "The Wine Roads of Spain" (Harper Collins) and "A Traveller’s Wine Guide to Spain" (Interlink Books) <BR> <BR>

Brava Maribel! thanks for coming to the rescue of Spanish wines! (I was wondering where you were!) If I liked visiting vineyards, I would certainly follow your itinerary after those marvelous descriptions! I'll just visit them in my glass. I'm signing off posting any more on this website until or if they ever get registration. I can't take the pettiness anymore, & now post theives... too much a bore & takes all the fun away of sharing your passions. Besides, they're already lucky with someone like you, Maribel, imparting the same passions of this marvelous country. Hasta luego!