Albariño, Mencía and More: The Wines of Galicia Trip
Santiago de Compostela, Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, Bierzo, & León
This trip gives you the chance to see five different wine regions: four in Galicia and one adjacent to Galicia in Castilla-León. Start off in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia’s most beautiful city and the endpoint of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. Visit the Rías Baixas, where fjords jut inland between fields planted with Albariño. Ribeiro has a long winemaking history and will introduce you to some of Galicia’s lesser-known indigenous grapes. Ribeira Sacra has some of the steepest vineyards in the world, grown on terraces on the banks of two rivers. Heading further inland, Valdeorras is a fantastic region for Godello, an indigenous white grape that produces some of Spain’s best white wines. Your trip will end in Bierzo, just outside of Galicia in Castilla-León, where exciting things are happening with Mencía, the red grape, sometimes compared to Pinot Noir, that thrives here. End your trip in the beautiful and lively city of León.
Galician cuisine combines the bounty of its extensive Atlantic coastline with the hearty flavors of the countryside and the mountains. To go with a distinct cuisine, you need distinct wines, and Galicia has an abundance of unique wine. The coastal areas of the Rías Baixas are home to the Albariño grape, the iconic Galician white and frequent companion of local seafood. The best Galician Albariños are among the greatest white wines available anywhere, with depth, complexity, and the potential to age for years in bottle. The inland regions of Galicia, less known than the coast, are home to several wine regions making truly stunning wines today. Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, and Bierzo form a trio of regions where the red Mencía and white Godello grapes dominate and produce widely varying styles of wine that transmit soil and geography into the glass. The rise of these regions has put Galicia on the global wine map for more than Albariño. Even lesser known Ribeiro, with its rich variety of indigenous grapes, has become a source of excitement. The subtlety of Galician wines is refreshing, but the quality speaks for itself. Galician wines are here to stay among Spanish wine royalty.
Trip At A Glance
9 Days / 8 Nights
Days 1 - 2 in Santiago de Compostela
Start your trip in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela. Discover the old town, the towering cathedral, and the city’s importance as a destination for pilgrims from around the world. You’ll also be introduced to the local cuisine by dining at some of the city’s excellent restaurants serving traditional and updated market dishes.
Days 3 - 4 in Rías Baixas
Head to the Galician coast, where Albariño vines grow along the Atlantic inlets of the Rías Baixas. Visit some of the most iconic producers who helped establish Albariño as one of the world’s great white wines in and around the fishing town of Cambados. Dive deeper with the small growers who are redefining the style of wines in the area, making terroir Albariños and wines from rare local grapes that are awing wine lovers around the world. Dine at the area’s best restaurants, where local seafood provides the perfect pairing for fine Galician wines, including one of Spain’s seafood temples and a waterfront spot famed for its deep cellar of Galician wines.
Days 5 - 6 in Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra & Valdeorras
Head into the Galician interior, tracing the River Sil through three exciting wine regions. Discover the red and white wines of Ribeiro, where blends of indigenous grapes produce delicious wines. Then, it’s on to the stunning slopes of Ribeira Sacra. The near-vertical vineyards of the river banks here produce exceptionally elegant reds and whites that showcase star Galician grapes Mencía and Godello. You’ll see the landscape from the river and the hilltops as well as visiting two elite wineries. End your Galician exporation in Valdeorras, a hilly region famed for the white Godello wines made from its varied soils. Along the way, you’ll enjoy the rich cuisine of the Galician interior at authentic local restaurants accompanied by more superb wine.
Day 7 in Bierzo
Pass through the mountains that separate Galicia from the rest of Spain and enter Bierzo, the land of Mencía excellence. It’s here that this red grape achieves its most varied and deep expression. Bierzo is a land of tiny vineyard plots and winemakers are making wines that express the region’s many terroir differences to beautiful effect. You’ll visit three of the region’s most important producers, allowing you to explore the incredible diversity and quality present in Bierzo wines.
Day 8 in León
End your exploration of northwest Spain in the lively city of León. You’ll have a day to explore the city’s rich history and sample the local cuisine at the multitude of tapas bars that line the streets of the city center.
Albariño, Mencía and More: The Wines of Galicia Trip
Santiago de Compostela, Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, Bierzo, & León
Galicia
The sun is noticeably weaker once you cross the mountains that separate Spain’s greenest corner from the bleached expanse that is the rest of the country. The buildings are always forming shadows that leave you cold even on warm days and the adapted locals can always be seen with a jacket nearby if out for more than a brief jaunt. You can feel winter coming here and get the sense that it is always coming, even at high noon. The covered walkways, stone arches over stone sidewalks, will soon beckon to native and pilgrim alike, but when the sun shines the terraces are teeming with life and no one wants to be inside.
Galicia is made of stone, physically and spiritually. You can see it in people’s eyes, their skin. They’ve been hewn from it, battered against the cold stone faces of the coastal cliffs, hauled boulders on their backs to clear their fields, carved it into blocks and tiles and even wheels. Like granite they’re slow to warm but once they do they stay that way, radiating intense energy that can fill a room. This is an old people, defined most of all by their ability to endure, to persist. The cities and towns and villages and pazos and walls are a testament to thousands of years of stubbornness.
The color that dominates the grey of stone is green. Everything is growing everywhere. Grass with exploding patches of clover. Trees with twisted arms covered in ivy and creepers. Thick underbrush with layers upon layers of saplings and bushes and vines and little plants with no name except in the old tongue. Every Gallego seems to need a stone house and a little piece of green land, a direct connection to the earth and its fertility. The little patches of greenery and the thick forests of the hills and mountains are the most noticeable differences from the rest of Spain, but they also speak to the character of the people. The Gallego has a fundamental mistrust of modernity and sophistication that stems from and manifests through their connection to the land. The fields and streams of the ancestral village are the source of truth and morality here. The great cities of Galicia have risen up with industry and culture, but the heart of each citizen lives in the forest with the pagan deities whose names are lost to time but whose significance has never waned.
Galician cuisine is famous for its seafood. Less well known are the inland dishes using beef, pork, octopus and garden produce. The pride of Galicia is pulpo, octopus caught laboriously in the rocky inlets of the coast but served all over the region, commonly in thin slices on a wooden plate and dusted with Spanish paprika. The coastal towns and cities seem to overflow with seafood that anywhere else would be reserved for the finest restaurants: white and blue fish perfect for grilling or baking; clams and mussels and a galaxy of shellfish with no real English translations; crabs and shrimp and lobsters and delicacies like percebes, alien-looking goose barnacles beloved by locals and visitors. The countryside cooking of Galicia reveres the pig and the cow, featuring sausages and hams and cheeses that change from village to village. The soups and stews of Galician home cooking are hearty and often use local greens and potatoes. It's a totally different cuisine from anywhere else in Spain, perhaps finding more kinship with the tables of northern Portugal, but Galicia is certainly among the best places in Spain to eat great food.
Day 1 - Arrival in Santiago
Arrive in Santiago de Compostela by train or plane
Private transfer to your hotel
Dinner at Abastos 2.0 restaurant
Overnight Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the cultural, political and spiritual heart of Galicia. Santiago became the endpoint of one of Europe’s main pilgrimage routes (The Camino, or Way of St. James) in the 9th century. The shrine of Santiago is the Cathedral, begun in the 11th century. Today the city’s Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site and home to an amazing array of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture.
Dinner at Abastos 2.0
The two young Galician chefs behind Abastos 2.0 have succeeded with a simple concept executed to perfection. When they began in 2009, the central market of Santiago (Mercado de Abastos) didn’t have a place to eat all of the delicious seafood sold there. At Abastos 2.0, the chefs began preparing fresh seafood using traditional flavors with a few new touches to highlight the product. It became a massive hit. Today, there is a bar area where you can get plate after plate of seafood and a restaurant area if you want a quieter dining experience. This is an essential stop for anyone traveling to Santiago.
Day 2 - Santiago Walking Tour
Santiago de Compostela walking tour
Traditional lunch in Santiago
Overnight Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela Walking Tour
Explore the historic center of Santiago and learn about its history, particularly the origins of the city’s name and the source of pride and prosperity, the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) pilgrimage. You’ll visit the UNESCO World Heritage Cathedral, a towering monument whose construction began in the 11th century and the final destination for the pilgrims who walk to the city from across Spain and even Europe.
Traditional Lunch in Santiago
Have lunch at a traditional restaurant in the center of Santiago where you’ll be able to sample the city’s authentic dishes. Santiago cuisine, like that of much of Galicia, combines the flavors of the countryside with fresh fish and shellfish from the Atlantic, with octopus having pride of place among the locals.
Day 3 - Welcome to Rías Baixas
Private transfer to the Rías Baixas wine region
Pazo de Señorans winery visit
Palacio de Fefiñans winery visit
Lunch in Cambados
Dinner at D’Berto Restaurant
Overnight Quinta de San Amaro, Rías Baixas
Rías Baixas
Rías Baixas is the most famous wine region in Galicia, though it is often known simply by its characteristic grape: Albariño. Rías are inlets of the Atlantic similar to fjords. They give the vineyards a very strong Atlantic influence, and the humidity means the vines must be trained on high trellises to prevent mildew. Nearly all wine here is white and dominated by Albariño. These wines are fresh and mineral with lively acidity that makes them the perfect pairing with the local seafood-dominated cuisine.
Pazo de Señorans Winery Visit
Housed in a beautifully restored 14th-century palace surrounded by gardens and vineyards, Pazo de Señorans is an enchanting place. The property was bought in the 1970s by Marisol Bueno, who would become the first president of the Rías Baixas Regulatory Board. Marisol and her family restored the property and planted vineyards there before they began making wine in the 1980s. The wines of Pazo de Señorans have risen to become some of the most famous and sought-after Albariños in the world. You’ll only find stainless steel in the winery, to allow the grape to shine through. The young Pazo Señorans Albariño is a textbook example, often used around the world to train sommeliers. The house specialty, however, is long-aged Albariño. The wine called Collección comes from the same vineyards as the young wine, but spends three years aging in bottle as proof of the aging potential of a wine with just five months on its lees. The flagship is Selección de Añada, sourced from a single vineyard and aged for nearly three years on its lees and years more in bottle before release. Many consider Selección to be one of the finest white wines in Galicia and all of Spain. Pazo de Señorans is also a boutique producer of orujo, a Galician spirit made from grape skins and seeds similar to Italian grappa. Seeing the traditional pot stills that are still used here is like stepping back in time. Both the unflavored Orujo and the herb-infused Aguardiente de Hierbas are among the best in the region and worth trying. Pazo de Señorans is one of the best Albariño producers and a stunning place to discover the aging potential of Galicia’s favorite white grape.
Palacio de Fefiñans Winery Visit
The Fefiñanes Palace occupies half of the main square of the seaside village of Cambados, the most important wine town in Rías Baixas. Part of the beautiful 17th-century estate is home to the Palacio de Fefiñanes winery, which still belongs to a branch of the noble family who built the palace. Fefiñanes is one of the oldest and most storied producers of Albariño. The fresh young Albariño de Fefiñanes is bottled with the same label as in its first vintage in 1928. It ferments in stainless steel today, and is bottled shortly after fermentation finishes, yielding a top quality “vino del año” style. Fefiñanes helped pioneer the aging of Albariño in barrel with 1583, a rounder, fuller wine that exemplifies the versatility of the grape. The most famous wine from this producer is surely the III Año, a stunningly complex example of aged and ageworthy Albariño that spends over two years aging on its lees in stainless steel before release. Between its beautiful location and top quality wines, Palacio de Fefiñanes is a must for any wine lover visiting the Rías Baixas.
Lunch at Ribeira de Fefiñans Wine Restaurant
Right on the waterfront in the fishing town and Albariño capital of Cambados. Ribeira de Fefiñans serves product-focused Galician dishes accompanied by a dizzying array of Galician wines. The cuisine is simple, combining plates of fresh seafood from the ocean that the restaurant overlooks with superb cheeses and other products from inland Galicia. The owners operate a nearby wine store as well as a boutique wine importer and distributor, so the wine list here is superb. Expect a good selection of wines by the glass to accompany the hundreds of selections by the bottle, with a special focus on small, artisan Galician producers.
Dinner at D’Berto
On a nondescript street in the Galician town of O Grove lies one of the greatest seafood restaurants in Spain. The outside of D’Berto hints at the pleasures that await with a tank showcasing stunning examples of crabs, lobsters, and other delicacies from the rías of the Galician coast. This family restaurant has specialized in serving up the largest and rarest pieces of seafood and fish from the region. Everything is seasonal and based on what is available in the market. The best bet is to let Berto, one half of the brother and sister team behind the restaurant, guide you on your journey. Expect to feast on everything from clams and oysters to lobsters and baked fish. You’ll also find a great wine cellar at D’Berto, focused on elite and small producers from Galicia and other wines from Spain and the wider world that pair well with the clean, fresh seafood. This is a good place to try sparkling Albariño.
Day 4 - Rías Baixas Growers
Lagar de Costa winery visit
Albamar winery visit
Wine-pairing lunch in Sanxenxo
Dinner at Quinta de San Amaro
Overnight Quinta de San Amaro, Rías Baixas
Lagar de Costa Winery Visit
Down a narrow road that winds through hamlets down to the coast of the Rías Baixas across from beach destination O Grove, Lagar de Costa is as close to the water as any winery in the region. The old vineyards of Albariño are separated from the sea only by a small strip of virgin beach. They offer a stunning view across the ría and yield grapes with freshness due to the Atlantic influence and sandy granite soils. Lagar de Costa is a family project with generations of history making wine in the area. The property features a small winery and a cozy boutique hotel in one. The whites are a series of studies in quality Albariño. The essential young Albariño is one of the region’s most reliable, while the small production whites use older vines and age extensively in oak, concrete eggs, and stainless steel respectively. Viva La Vid is one of the few reds made anywhere from the nearly extinct Espadeiro grape. It’s a vibrant, fresh wine that showcases the unique characteristics of red Rías Baixas and also helps to preserve this rare grape for the future. Lagar de Costa is a wonderful boutique producer and the hospitality of the family may make you want to stay the night on site.
Albamar Winery Visit
When Xurxo Alba took over the family winery in 2006, the Albariño wines made there were not being bottled; instead the wine was sold in bulk at the family’s humble bar. Xurxo began bottling wines and transforming the vineyards with sustainable practices. Today, Albamar is one of the most exciting producers in the Rías Baixas. Xurxo’s Albariños, which he ferments using native yeasts, have a concentration and minerality rarely seen in a region where very light wines are the norm. Albamar wines have made their way onto the wine lists of Spain’s best restaurants and his rare experimental wines are sought-after and rare.
Wine-pairing Lunch in Sanxenxo
Lunch will be at a seaside restaurant in the coastal village of Sanxenxo. The restaurant offers views of the ocean and fishing boats, but the food and wine are what make this a destination. The menu is based around local seafood, freshly caught and subtly prepared, with respect for traditional recipes and techniques. What takes this spot above and beyond is the wine. The owner is a true wine lover and his restaurant is a destination for wine enthusiasts from all over Spain. He’ll serve you a pairing with your lunch that’ll serve as a masterclass in the wines of Galicia and the Rías Baixas in particular. Rare vintages and small production wines are sure to appear, and by the time you stroll down the waterfront and reflect on your day, you’ll have a broad perspective on the fine wines of this unique part of Spain.
Dinner at Quinta de San Amaro
Quinta de San Amaro is a beautiful countryside hotel right in the heart of Rías Baixas wine country. Peaceful and cozy, it's the kind of place that makes you want to stay as long as possible. The rooms are beautifully furnished and luxurious, and the public areas are full of spots to enjoy a glass of wine and relax. The quinta is also home to one of the area's best restaurants, serving elegant Galician dishes and with a wine list featuring excellent wines from Rías Baixas and other Galician regions.
Day 5 - Ribeiro & Ribeira Sacra
Transfer to the Ribeiro wine region
Coto de Gomariz winery visit
Lunch in Ribeiro
Transfer to the Ribeira Sacra wine region
Sil River boat ride
Adega Algueira winery visit
Visit the Pena do Castelo viewpoint
Transfer to Monforte de Lemos in Ribeira Sacra
Dinner in Monforte de Lemos
Overnight Parador de Monforte de Lemos
Ribeiro
Ribeiro lies upriver from the Rías Baixas, a very fertile area with green hills and rivers crisscrossing the landscape where wine has been made for hundreds of years. Ribeiro produces excellent white wines mainly from Treixadura, typically blended with Loureira, Albariño, Godello, or other indigenous varieties. About 10 percent of Ribeiro is red, made from the indigenous Souson and Brancellao grapes, among others, and the reds can be extraordinarily fresh and lively. The region has long been popular with Galicians, but today the unique wines of Ribeiro are exciting palates further afield.
Coto de Gomariz Winery Visit
The Coto de Gomariz estate’s history dates back to the 10th century. Today the winery is one of the finest producers in the Ribeiro region, sometimes a little forgotten compared to other Galician appellations. This family-owned winery has helped vindicate the native grape varieties of Ribeiro and refined techniques for making fine wines from grapes like red Sousón and white Treixadura that were once almost forgotten. Coto de Gomariz is a benchmark for Ribeiro and Galician wine as a whole.
Lunch in Ribeiro
Stop for a light lunch on the way to Ribeira Sacra, the next wine region you’ll visit after Ribeiro.
Ribeira Sacra
Ribeira Sacra is the most visually impressive wine region in Spain, with near-vertical vineyards sloping down the sides of several river valleys. Making wine here is extraordinarily difficult, but the resultant wines are nearly as incredible as the landscape. The poor slate and granite soils and relatively Atlantic climate of Ribeira Sacra produce extremely elegant, subtle reds from the Mencía grape, as well as reds from other indigenous grapes and occasional white wines. Ribeira Sacra has long been unknown outside of Galicia, but the wines from this remote area are among Galicia's most sought-after.
Boat Ride on the River Sil
Take an amazing hour-long boat journey along the river Sil through an impressive canyon with fantastic views of the vineyards on impossible slopes.
Adega Algueira Winery Visit
Adega Algueira is a luminary in Ribeira Sacra, helping to prove that the dangerous slopes of the region can produce world-class wines. The family behind Algueira has spent decades with the vineyards of this region, and today they make some of the most subtle, elegant wines in all of Spain. Algueira uses the flagship grapes of Ribeira Sacra, Mencía and Godello, alongside rare indigenous grapes that they coax into producing truly unique bottlings.
Pena do Castelo Viewpoint
Take a walk to Pena do Castelo which offers unbelievable panoramic views of the river valley.
Day 6 - Ribeira Sacra & Valdeorras
Dominio do Bibei winery visit
Transfer to the Valdeorras wine region
Val de Sil winery visit
Transfer to the Bierzo wine region
Dinner in Villafranca del Bierzo
Overnight Posada Las Doñas del Portazgo, Villafranca del Bierzo
Dominio do Bibei Winery Visit
Dominio do Bibei is a modern winery founded in 2002, but in two decades they’ve managed to become one of Ribeira Sacra’s most respected names. Even though the winery is young the vines they use are up to 100 years old. Dominio do Bibei specializes in making Mencía reds from the schist and granite soils, releasing some of the most acclaimed Mencías available. They also make white wines from Godello and make use of other indigenous grapes like Mouratón and Caíño.
Valdeorras
Valdeorras, up river from Ribeira Sacra in the deepest interior reaches of Galicia, is a region synonymous with the white grape Godello and slate soils. It’s here that Godello has found its most acclaimed expression, deep and mineral and capable of holding its own against the world’s finest whites. Slate soils, best known in Spain for their prevalence in the Priorat, are the source of many of the finest Valdeorras wines. Like Ribeira Sacra, the vineyards of Valdeorras slope down in river valleys, though not usually at the same impossible angles as in Ribeira Sacra. The uncommon red wines of Valdeorras usually use Mencía, and as in other areas of Galicia rare indigenous grapes are being used to increasing extents.
Lunch in Valdeorras
Stop for lunch upon arriving in the Valdeorras wine region
Valdesil Winery Visit
Valdesil, a family-owned winery in the heart of Valdeorras, is a Godello specialist. Not just any Godello, for Valdesil has among the oldest vines of the grape around, including a single enormous vine dating back to 1885. These vineyards are the key at Valdesil, providing the raw material for several varietal Godellos as well as a pair of Mencía reds. Weather permitting the wine tasting will be outside on an enormous slate table built around an oak tree!
Dinner in Villafranca del Bierzo
Head to a local restaurant for dinner accompanied by delicious Bierzo wines.
Day 7 - Bierzo Excellence
Castro Ventosa winery visit
Verónica Ortega winery visit
Traditional lunch in Bierzo
Bodegas Estefanía winery visit
Overnight Posada Las Doñas del Portazgo, Villafranca del Bierzo
Bierzo
While Bierzo is technically outside of Galicia, its wines are intimately linked to those of the Galician regions. Red Mencía and white Godello are the dominant grapes in Bierzo, achieving their fullest expression here. Varied soils and microclimates alongside a wealth of old vines (over half of vines here are over 60 years old) have allowed Bierzo to become one of Spain’s elite wine regions. Homegrown stars like Raúl Pérez have been joined by outsiders like Álvaro Palacios of Priorat fame in the region, pushing the region upward and towards a Burgundian model of single-vineyard and village wines. Along with Ribeira Sacra and Valdeorras, Bierzo has brought Mencía and Godello to the forefront of Spanish wine.
Castro Ventosa Winery Visit
If there’s one name synonymous with the rise of Galician wine, it’s Raúl Pérez. With his mountain-man beard and beaming eyes, Perez's work as a consultant helped fine wines emerge from the excellent but neglected vineyards of Galicia. Castro Ventosa is Pérez's family winery, where his talent with the Mencía grape is on full display. Castro Ventosa owns some of the best old vineyards in the Bierzo. Here Pérez and his nephew César Márquez, a talented winemaker in his own right, make both deliciously drinkable Mencías and single-vineyard jewels that age beautifully. Visiting the winery with a member of the family and tasting wines that transmit a sense of place is the best way to understand Mencía and Bierzo.
Verónica Ortega Winery Visit
Andalusian native Verónica Ortega’s pedigree includes working with Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Álvaro Palacios, and when she set out to make her own wine she chose Bierzo, prime terroir for Mencía. In just over a decade Ortega has become one of the region's most exciting winemakers. She seeks to express the unique characteristics of each of the vineyards she owns or rents, sometimes using unusual vessels like amphoras to age her wines. Ortega is forging a new style and a new path in the Bierzo that is gaining her more acclaim every day.
Traditional lunch in Bierzo
Stop for lunch in a nearby village in the Bierzo.
Bodegas Estefanía Winery Visit
A vision of excellence on a larger (though still small) scale in Bierzo is Bodegas Estafanía. The winery was founded in 1999 and is housed in an old milking shed which has been transformed using local materials like slate, stone and wood. Estefanía focuses on Mencía and Godello for reds and white respectively from their excellent collection of old vines. They’ve also been fortunate to have Raúl Pérez as technical director. Estefanía also produces some incredible value wines to fill your cellar with.
Day 8 - León
Transfer to the city of León
Private walking tour of León
Free time to explore the city’s history and tapas culture
Overnight León
León
The northwestern city of Spain's central plateau, León is an undiscovered jewel. Home to a rich archictural and historic heritage, León is charming and welcoming. It’s famous among knowledgeable Spaniards for its food scene. The tapas bars of the city center overflow, with each drink coming with one, two, or even three tapas! And the hearty cuisine served in the traditional restaurants features ingredients from the surrounding countryside, with emphasis on local dry-aged beef.
Private Walking Tour of León
Join a local expert guide for a walking tour of the historic center and most important monuments of the city of León, including the magnificent cathedral and the Basilica of San Isodoro, known as the “Sistine Chapel of Spain.”
Day 9 - Departure
Take the high-speed train from León to Madrid to continue your trip
Hotels
Santiago de Compostela Hotel - 2 nights
Rías Baixas Hotel - 2 nights
Ribeira Sacra Hotel - 1 night
Parador de Monforte de Lemos, Monforte de Lemos
Bierzo Hotel - 2 nights
Posada Las Doñas del Portazgo, Villafranca del Bierzo
León Hotel - 1 night
Trip Includes
8 nights hotel, double occupancy
breakfast daily
lunches while wine touring
expert private guides & local specialists
private premium tastings at wineries
deluxe air-conditioned private transport
Epicurean Ways expertise
in-country support
Tour Does Not Include
extras in hotels such as room service, minibars, etc.
travel insurance
tips to guides and drivers (not required but appreciated)
flights to and from Spain
A note on winery visits, restaurant selections and hotels
All tours, experiences and hotels are subject to availability and will be confirmed upon booking the trip.
You will be accompanied by a driver-guide during your wine touring. Your visits and tastings will be private and with the winemaker, a family member or an expert who knows the winery and the wines well. We work with the wineries to make sure that you taste the best and most representative wines during each visit. It is sometimes possible to arrange extended tastings that include old vintages or rare wines. We have an extensive group of wineries whose owners we know and with whom we work regularly, so we can guarantee high-level visits even if a winery has to be substituted. If you have an interest in visiting a particular producer please let us know.
We include restaurant concierge service as part of your trip. Note that our restaurant suggestions are just that–suggestions. Places we love, places to go back to time after time. We recommend these places after years of experience eating in Spain and Portugal together with frequent research and input from our local partners. We aspire to guide your choices with information on the styles of cuisine and restaurants; the choice on where to eat is yours based on your preferences and desires.
We have extensive experience with hotels ranging from 5-star luxury properties to private boutique hotels. Let us know your preferences and we will tailor the hotel choices for you.
Trip Prices
Note that we can customize this trip for you. Add days in your arrival or departure city or in other locations or make changes to the experiences, winery visits, restaurants, or hotels included in the trip. Whatever it is, we’re here to work with you. Once you’re happy with the trip plan and have some idea of your dates we will calculate and send you the price.