“Nothing Catalan please.” is my chorus as I ask for wine suggestions in London, Paris and Bordeaux this summer season. “However it is a Xarel-lo!” they exclaim “Pronounced Sharelloo.” they are going to delightedly insist. I do know Xarel-lo and its distinctive Catalan spelling and I do know in regards to the ubiquitous Macabeo. I need to attempt one thing completely different. It’s tough, nevertheless when Catalan wine is having a second.
And so whereas the world clamours for Catalan wine generally and Xarello – the principally natural wine-growing area of Penedès is a brief 1-hour drive from Barcelona. The cityscape abruptly provides method to light hills with rows of vines. In the event you time it proper, you would possibly get caught behind an open truck piled excessive with grapes, its load quivering precariously with each bump within the street.
The Penedès wine area includes small producers and Catalan blockbuster names you’ll acknowledge like Freixenet Cava and Torres. What’s notable in regards to the Penedès is that a lot of the vineyards are natural. One thing they’re required to do by 2025 to qualify for the DO Penedès certification. (Decanter)
Listed below are 5 Penedès Wine Experiences that I’ve been to and suggest.
Jean Leon
Chateau Leon, s/n, 08775 Torrelavit
(+34) 93 817 76 90
Jean Leon weaves a compelling story of a younger man who suffered household losses throughout WW2. Leon escaped to France through the Franco years, retaining his promise to his father to by no means serve underneath Normal Franco. He then went on to the US the place he labored as a dishwasher, and a taxi driver and improbably grew to become one in every of Frank Sinatra’s most trusted assistants. A restaurant with James Dean adopted. In 1969 Jean Leon purchased 150 hectares in Penedès and the remainder is historical past. Historical past that’s nicely documented and makes a tour at Jean Leon at this time
Jean Leon runs excursions, pairings and workshops which you’ll e-book simply (and in English) via their web site: (tickets.jeanleon.com/en).
In 2017, I went on a tour with them that included a bicycle trip via their vineyards. You possibly can learn extra about that right here: (foodieinbarcelona.com/jean-leon-wine-tour)
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Mont Rubi
L’Avellà, 08736, Font-Rubí. Alt Penedès
(+34) 93 394 64 78.
Mont Rubi is a lodge and restaurant set in opposition to a softly undulating winery. The younger thirty-something offspring have taken up the operating of the property. Mont Rubi affords a tour of their property and grounds. It’s right here you can be taught in regards to the grapes used within the wines they produce. Fifteen of them on my final depend and an olive oil. They’ve a scrumptious candy wine made with the Xarel-lo grape that I really like.
Mont Rubi affords a variety of actions that are priced accordingly. From a 5-hour tour and connoisseur meal with wine pairing of their elegant, well-restored foremost home for 90€. To an reasonably priced 1.5-hour tour with a pairing of wine, charcuterie and cheese. This takes place on the well-appointed terrace underneath the dappled gentle of a trellised overhead grape vine. Or maybe you fancy a picnic for 2 priced at 38€. MontRubi affords one thing for everybody.
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Mastinell
Ctra. Vilafranca a Sant Martí Sarroca, km 0.5, 08720 Vilafranca del Penedés
(+34) 931 156 132
For a high-end wine expertise in Penedès, I like to recommend Mastinell. Opened in 1980, in 2013 Mastinell opened its 5-star lodge and the distinctive Rima restaurant. The lodge was impressed by the Trencadís mosaic strategy of Gaudi in Barcelona. Head on, the constructing appears to be like like a collection of related spherical honeycombs and from the facet, like a stack of bottles. Though, there’s the choice of reserving an a la carte lunch at their placing however intimate En Rima restaurant.
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Albet I Noya
Can Vendrell de la Codina, 08739 Sant Pau d’Orda
(+34) 938 994 812
A small winery that goes again 5 generations (initially as farmers) who put sustainability first. The Penedès wine-growing area suffers from a wide range of fungal ailments. Being licensed natural means chemical substances are out of the query and even the pure software of copper and sulphur is capped at a certain amount. They’re engaged on a undertaking to cross-pollinate naturally resistant grape varieties to give you one that may thrive within the circumstances of Penedès.
Albet i Noya supply 3 foremost excursions. A normal one includes a tour of the grounds completed off with a tasting of three wines, native cheese, and charcuterie for (22€). The identical with a lightweight lunch at 28€ per individual. After which a extra elaborate brunch providing (40€).
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5 Penedes Wine Experiences
Associated Studying on Foodie in Barcelona
Jean Leon Wine Tour
Padro Vermouth Tour, Tarragona
On my listing to attempt
Can Rafols dels Claus
For additional studying on Penedès Experiences: penedesturisme.cat
Wine Alphabet is an effective supply of details about Spanish wine.
Can Feixes doesn’t supply excursions however the property is attractive and price a detour.
