Ribera del Duero occupies the position of challenger to Rioja’s dominance in Spanish red wine. Learn about some of the most important producers to visit to see the best of the old and the new in Ribera del Duero.
Madrid’s Best Cocktail Bars
Craft cocktails aren’t as popular in Spain as in some other countries, with many Spaniards sticking to beer, wine, or the ever-popular gin and tonics that dominate evenings and weekends all over the country. Madrid by contrast has developed a strong cocktail scene s for any cocktail enthusiast traveling to Madrid.
World-class Restaurants in Rías Baixas: Seafood in Galicia’s Albariño Wine Country
The Rías Baixas in Northwest Spain's Galicia has to crystalline white Albariño wine, tranquil beaches and picturesque villages. It’s also one of the best places in Spain to eat a wealth of Atlantic seafood. Expect mussels, clams, oysters, lobsters, crabs and much more. Here is a small selection of fascinating restaurants, from seafood temples to creative Michelin star restaurants.
Eating in Rioja: The Best Wine Country Restaurants
The two most important things when visiting wine country are good wine and good food. In Rioja the confluence of local and regional ingredients and refined cooking techniques trickling in from the nearby Basque Country has created a culinary landscape that matches the depth of the local wine culture.
Madrid Wine Bars
Bistronomía: Casual Fine Dining in Madrid
From Field to Fire: The Art of Grilling in Spain
You may not think of Spain as one of the best places in the world to eat meat, but it is. Spaniards are carnivorous at heart, eating all parts of the local domesticated animals with enthusiasm and in various preparations. There’s one kind of meat cooking that stands above all others in Spain, however: fire cooking.
Traditional Restaurants in Madrid
All About Iberian Ham, Spain’s Iconic Gourmet Food
Spain’s greatest contribution to the world’s food may be jamón ibérico, the salted, cured ham made from the Iberian pig. This is the delicacy par excellence of Spanish cuisine, beloved in Spain and abroad, sliced razor-thin by hand and presented on fractal platters, meltingly tender. Many consider Iberian ham to be the world’s greatest ham. But Iberian ham differs from other ham.
Seafood Conservas: Spain and Portugal's Gift to Fish Lovers
Mussels, razor clams, cockles, barnacles, baby sardines, squid, octopus, tuna belly, anchovies. Packed in olive oil, preserved in escabeche sauce or simply canned in brine. Some people claim that the conservas can surpass fresh seafood in concentrated flavor. And they say that the seafood ages in the can and improves over time, much like fine wines.
Barcelona Cocktail Bars
Barcelona Wine Bars
What Happened to Fine Dining in Barcelona?
Barcelona’s casual ethos and market cuisine have birthed a new version of haute cuisine. For years, some of Catalonia’s best chefs have been serving diners at the bar, no tablecloth, and by now names like Gresca and Dos Palillos are legendary in Spain. It’s now the most exciting time to eat in the Ciudad Condal (City of the Counts) in years.
Paul Richardson’s Guide to Eating in Madrid
With so much variety to choose from, navigating Madrid’s restaurant scene can seem like a daunting task. Before you even set sail, it’s worth taking stock of the city’s idiosyncratic dining customs. Most notoriously, the timetable. Madrid eats late: lunch is commonly taken between 2pm and 4pm while dinner is not much earlier than 9pm and often (especially in summer) as late as 11pm.
Barcelona Today: Updates From the Road
Rioja Growers & Vignerons
A new generation of Rioja winemakers is bringing vineyard, varietal and terroir focus to the region. What these innovators in Rioja have in common is a focus on single vineyards, some planted with old vines. Young winemakers are searching for an expression of terroir–the essence of the vineyard, soil and climate. Vignerons, grower-producers, artisan winemakers or terroiristas are commonly used terms for these new producers.
