We started today with breakfast at the inn consisting of slices of toast, farmer's cheese, honey made by the innkeeper, Maria, and green tea. As we were leaving for our day of wine tasting, Maria made us a lunch reservation at a favorite restaurant of hers, and warned them that the young American couple was coming.
First stop was Elciego for a tour of the Frank Gehry designed City of Wine which houses the Marques de Riscal winery.
The tour was entirely in Spanish, so at first I was listening carefully trying to catch what I could, but eventually quickly gave up and just took in the visual part of the tour.
We tasted two varieties of wine, a white which we liked very much, and a red which was good, but not as smooth as the reserva from yesterday.
After the tour, we drove to lunch at the restaurant Maria recommended in Fuenmeyor.
The place is owned by a couple who appear to be in their 60s. The husband tends bar, the wife and their 20-something daughter do the cooking and their son waits tables. The waiter had a small translation book to guide us through the available dishes since they don't use menus, they just serve whatever is fresh.
We started with a plate of jamon iberico and a green salad with toasted pine nuts, raisins and fresh goat cheese, dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For our main course, I had lamb chops and Jason had a steak, both were perfectly pan-fried.
We had some time before our next reservation, so we drove into Logrono to check it out. As soon as we pulled in to town, we went around the nearest traffic circle and drove right back out. We weren't expecteing to be a bustling modern city and it was a sharp contrast to the serene villages in the surrounding area.
Next stop was Dinastia Vivanco wine museum in Briones.
They have an impressive collection of all things wine-related, from ancient grape presses dating back to Roman times, to corks and leather wine skins to religious wine-related artifacts like Kiddush cups, two Picasso paintings and a collection of thousands of corkscrews. The museum tour ended with a tasting of the winery's crianza.
We then drove up to the village of Briones, just above the museum/bodega. Its a very sleepy village, even smaller than LaGuardia, but with equally stunning views.
On our way back to LaGuardia, we followed a path through the vineyards to see the Castle (can't remember the name?), the last remains of a town of the same name. We made it about halfway up towards the castle by foot. Finally a hike, after our previous failed attempts, but of course neither of us were in the right shoes. Even still, more beautiful views followed by a scenic drive back to Erlexte.
First stop was Elciego for a tour of the Frank Gehry designed City of Wine which houses the Marques de Riscal winery.
One thing interesting thing we learned is that for every vintage year, the vineyard keeps 300 bottles from that year. They are kept locked away in a vault, until someone wants one. The bottles are opened by touching a hot iron/welding tool to the neck of the bottle quickly followed by cold water, this way the old cork and the grime on the bottle doesn't fall into the wine.
We tasted two varieties of wine, a white which we liked very much, and a red which was good, but not as smooth as the reserva from yesterday.
After the tour, we drove to lunch at the restaurant Maria recommended in Fuenmeyor.
The place is owned by a couple who appear to be in their 60s. The husband tends bar, the wife and their 20-something daughter do the cooking and their son waits tables. The waiter had a small translation book to guide us through the available dishes since they don't use menus, they just serve whatever is fresh.
We started with a plate of jamon iberico and a green salad with toasted pine nuts, raisins and fresh goat cheese, dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. For our main course, I had lamb chops and Jason had a steak, both were perfectly pan-fried.
We had some time before our next reservation, so we drove into Logrono to check it out. As soon as we pulled in to town, we went around the nearest traffic circle and drove right back out. We weren't expecteing to be a bustling modern city and it was a sharp contrast to the serene villages in the surrounding area.
Next stop was Dinastia Vivanco wine museum in Briones.
They have an impressive collection of all things wine-related, from ancient grape presses dating back to Roman times, to corks and leather wine skins to religious wine-related artifacts like Kiddush cups, two Picasso paintings and a collection of thousands of corkscrews. The museum tour ended with a tasting of the winery's crianza.
We then drove up to the village of Briones, just above the museum/bodega. Its a very sleepy village, even smaller than LaGuardia, but with equally stunning views.
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| From spain 2010 |
On our way back to LaGuardia, we followed a path through the vineyards to see the Castle (can't remember the name?), the last remains of a town of the same name. We made it about halfway up towards the castle by foot. Finally a hike, after our previous failed attempts, but of course neither of us were in the right shoes. Even still, more beautiful views followed by a scenic drive back to Erlexte.
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