History, Sherry and Artisan Foods

Highlights

A nine-day food and wine trip through Andalucía and Extremadura–the last great undiscovered region in Spain. Gerry Dawes will guide this journey, introducing you to chefs and winemakers, and to the culinary delights of the two regions.

We begin our journey in Andalucía, experiencing Sevilla’s impressive tapas scene and exploring the twisting streets of the Barrio de Santa Cruz, one of the largest intact historical city centers in Europe. We spend a day tasting sherry in Jerez de la Frontera and eating succulent Atlantic prawns and Andalusian pescaíto frito in coastal Sanlúcar.

This itinerary through western Spain is one of the most rewarding trips in Spain for lovers of Spain’s great cheeses, ham, historic sites and stunning scenery. Extremadura is the cradle of Spain’s New World conquistadors who set sail first from Sevilla and later from historic Cádiz.

We will visit a superb jamón Ibérico producer in the Andalusian province of Huelva and explore the exceptional queso and conquistador country of Extremadura with stops in Roman Mérida, stunning Trujillo and monumental Cáceres. We will end up in Madrid, Spain’s capital city and home to the incredible Prado Museum. 

The culinary highlights of the trip will be authentic Spanish meals in the outstanding Parador restaurants, lunch at Atrio, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Cáceres, and tastings of Iberian ham–Spain’s caviar–and Extremaduran artisanal goat and sheep milk cheeses. All meals except for two dinners in Sevilla are included in the tour, as is the wine accompanying the meals.

Hotels are 4-star historic buildings, many of which are part of the Spanish national network of Paradors, in town and city centers. Transportation is in deluxe minivan or bus.

Expertly Guided Travel

Gerry Dawes writes on Spanish food and wine for Wine News, Decanter and Food Arts. His awards include the 2009 Association of Food Journalists award for second best food feature in a magazine for his story on Spanish celebrity chef Ferrán Adrià, “Over the Foaming Wave”, published in Food Arts and the Premio Nacional de Gastronomía, Spain’s National Gastronomy Award. He is a contributor to the Culinary Institute of America Worlds of Flavor Spain website

9 Days/8 Nights

Sevilla

Day 1 - Sevilla

Arrive Sevilla. We will check into our charming hotel in Sevilla’s Old Quarter. Doña Maria or Los Seises Hotel.  We meet in the evening for a tapas tour in the former Jewish Quarter and an introduction to Andalucía’s renowned Sherry wines, known as jerez. Later we take in an epic flamenco performance. 

Barrio de Santa Cruz

Day 2 - Sevilla

We will spend the day touring magical Sevilla, the city of Carmen, where our guide, Gerry Dawes, lived for more than 3 years. We will have a private tour of Sevilla’s Gothic cathedral, the 16th century Alcázar (Moorish fortress) and the Barrio de Santa Cruz (Old Quarter). We enjoy a leisurely multi-course authentic Andalusian lunch along the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Typical Andalusian dishes we will try use locally raised and harvested ingredients, including fish and shellfish, veal, wild game and produce. Evening on your own.

Sherry and Seafood

Day 3 - Sevilla – Jerez – Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Sevilla

In the morning, we will take an hour’s drive to Jerez de la Frontera and take a private tour of a Sherry bodega: Bodegas González Byass. We will have a guided tour and wine tasting with one of the bodega’s Sherry expert and with Gerry Dawes, who is also a sherry expert. González Byass produces an impressive range of sherries and is like touring a sherry museum, a truly magical experience. 

We then make the short drive to historic Sanlúcar de Barrameda, from which Columbus sailed on his second voyage to the New World and from which Magellan left (and Elkano returned) from the first voyage around the world.  For lunch, we will have a superb seafood feast accompanied by manzanilla sherry from one of the top producers, who will join us at one of the atmospheric Bajo de Guía restaurants lining the Guadalquivir River. We return to Sevilla for a relaxing evening with optional tapas.

Ham, Cheese & Little Sevilla

Day 4 Sevilla – Jabugo – Jerez de los Caballeros - Zafra


In the morning, we will leave Sevilla and travel northwest to Jabugo, in the DO Jabugo ham producing region, where some of the greatest Iberian hams are made. We visit a ham producer and sample the hams, chorizo, and other cured meats.

We will have lunch in nearby Aracena, a mountain town that produces Torta de Aracena, one of Spain’s most unique goat cheeses.

After lunch we will travel through several little visited hill villages before reaching the intriguing Extremaduran town of Jerez de los Caballeros in Badajoz province. Both Hernando de Soto, the first European to discover the Mississippi River, and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the first Western explorer to see the Pacific Ocean, were from this town.  After exploring Jerez, we drive on to Zafra where we will stay in the 15th century palace of the Duques de Feria, now restored as a Spanish Parador de Turismo. We will explore the charming back streets of this lovely town, once known as “little Sevilla.” At dinner, served in the soaring, two-story Renaissance patio, we will sample regional cuisine and some of the assertive and delicious cheeses from the region of Extremadura.

Medieval Heritage and Artisanal Cheeses

Day 5 - Zafra - Medellín - Mérida


The following day will drive through stark, hilly terrain of Badajoz province region and visit a superb Tortita de Barros cheese producer in Vilafranca de Barros. With much the same characteristics as Torta del Cásar, this exceptional cheese is often buttery and spreadable like Brie, but with more intriguing, rustic flavors.  Production of these cheeses operates according to rules similar to those governing wine regions guaranteeing the origins and production methods of the cheese.  These cheeses are made only with leche cruda de oveja (raw sheeps’ milk). Cardo silvestre (wild thistle flowers) is used to produce the vegetable rennet used to coagulate the milk. Cheeses made from this rennet – a practice rooted in ancient Moorish and Jewish dietary laws – often have a Vacherin Mont d’Or-like creaminess and a pleasant bitter almond finish.

After stopping in Medellín, where an imposing statue of Hernan Cortés, the conquistador of the Aztec empire stands in the town square, we will drive on to the monumental Roman city of Mérida and check into the Parador ensconced in a renovated convent on a charming plaza.  We will stroll around ancient Mérida, have a drink in the bustling town square and then return to the Parador for a dinner of regional specialties with hand-selected Spanish wines.

Roman Mérida and Trujillo

Day 6 - Mérida - Montánchez - Trujillo

Mérida (Emerita Augusta) was formerly the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania and was considered to be one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. Today it is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a number of Roman monuments grace the city. We will spend the morning touring Mérida’s splendid Roman theater and amphitheater, Roman circus, fine Roman Museum designed by architect Rafael Moneo and Roman bridge over the Guadiana River.

We then head to the little-known hilltop town of Montánchez. Famous for its hams, Montánchez soars above the Extremaduran plain and has superb views from the hermitage below the castle ruins crowning the hill. We will have an alfresco lunch (weather permitting) at the charming hermitage overlooking impressive views of the village and the surrounding countryside.  It will include the exceptional Torta de la Serena cheese and excellent Iberian ham and embutidos (sausages and cured meats) made from the free-range pata negra breed of pigs that feed on acorns in the dehesa (meadowlands) of Extremadura.

We stop for the night in Trujillo, one of Spain’s most striking and history-steeped towns. Trujillo is a good place to sample local cheeses and plays host each May to the Feria del Queso which is the most highly esteemed cheese competition in Spain.

Trujillo was the hometown of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, and Francisco Orellana, a kinsman of Pizarro who discovered and exploring the Amazon River all the way from Peru to the Atlantic Ocean, a several month’s long Herculean adventure that spanned more than 2,400 miles.  Trujillo is filled with photographic opportunities including Pizarro’s great equestrian statue, the towering San Martín church on the storybook town square, a number of palaces including Pizarro’s, a castle on the hill and many distinguished buildings along steep, winding streets that offer dramatic vistas.  We will stroll the streets of this striking hill town and visit the castle for breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside.  The steeples, bell towers and roofs of buildings are the roosting places for hundreds of storks, who seem to love Extremadura above all places in Spain.

We spend the night at the Parador in Trujillo. Dinner will be at the parador, where we sample the delicious local Ibores goat cheese and a soft, rich tortita sheep’s milk cheese served slightly melted.

Muslim Heritage in Cáceres

Day 7 - Trujillo - Cáceres

In the morning we will set out for the Extremaduran city of Cáceres.  In a village just southeast of Cáceres we will visit an artisan quesería cheese producer highly recommended by Toño Pérez, chef-owner of Atrio restaurant in Cáceres.  We will taste a first-rate Torta del Casar, a flavorful semi-cured cheese made from raw Merino sheep’s milk and is similar in style to the great French Vacherin Mont d’Or or Epoisses (both cows’ milk cheeses). The Spanish cheese is semi-soft or ripened to the point that it becomes molten and is eaten by scooping it out with a piece of crusty country bread.

Cáceres is a city with an exceptional old quarter full of fine classic buildings. A Unesco World Heritage Site, Cáceres displays a blend of Roman, Islamic, Northern Gothic and Italian Renaissance architectural styles. An amazing 30 towers from the Muslim period still stand in Cáceres, of which the Torre del Bujaco is the most famous.

We have lunch at Átrio, a two-star Michelin restaurant. Atrio’s wine list includes 2700 selections and the restaurant has been awarded the Grand Award for the best stocked wine cellar in the world many times by the renowned “Wine Spectator” magazine. Dessert will feature torta del Casar ice cream with membrillo (quince) strips and vanilla oil!  After lunch we will explore the historic old quarter of Cáceres.

Overnight and dinner at the Parador de Cáceres which will include Extremaduran specialties.

Madrid Region Wines

Day 8 - Cáceres - Madrid

We will leave in the morning, stopping in Navalcarnero to visit a D.O. Madrid winery specializing in big red wines from high altitude vineyards. Lunch of regional specialties. Afterwards we proceed to Madrid and check into our 4-star historic hotel. We will have a farewell dinner in a historic Madrid restaurant that specializes in brick oven-roasted cochinillo (suckling pig) and lechazo (suckling lamb).

Prado Museum in Madrid

Day 9 - Madrid

Private guided tour of the Prado Museum in the morning.

Departure. If you choose to stay on, we can arrange private tours to the Reina Sofía Museum whose holdings include Picasso’s iconic painting Guernica, or to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum whose outstanding collection ranges from Quattrocento paintings to 20th century portraits.

Tour Dates

• September 5-13

Tour available upon request for private groups. Customized tours for groups of friends, family groups, or wine clubs available. Group forming now for September 5-13.

Tour Price

• $4520

Prices are per person, double occupancy. Single supplement: $595 Tour requires a minimum of 8 people. Smaller groups and private tours are available upon request. 

What's Included

• 8 nights accommodation
• Meals, tapas and wine listed in itinerary
• Atrio–Michelin starred restaurant
• Visits to artisanal cheese producers
• Winery visits and tastings
• Tour transport
• All restaurant gratuities

Airfare to/from Spain. Travel insurance

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