WINE TASTING
near BARCELONA
WINE TASTING
near BARCELONA
WINE FROM CATALONIA
WINE TASTING near BARCELONA
I went on an exceptional tour this early summer! A wine tasting tour from Barcelona.
And I travelled to the most important wine region in Catalonia, or Spain you could almost say – the Penedès region!
The practical thing: the bus journey there and back! 😀
I did a wine tasting in the region at the Torres winery many years ago and remembered it very well. The sparkling cave producer Freixenet can also be found here.
But now you can find out where the new tour took me!
Your Céline
The details
at a glance
Times: Bookable daily
Start time: 9 a.m.
Duration: around 6 hours
Languages: English, Spanish
What is included:
Minibus from/to Barcelona
3 wine tastings at a unique local winery
4 cava tastings in a family-run winery specialising in cava
they say they serve tapas, but it’s more like canapés
Price:
EUR 109.99 per person
There are no discounts or children’s rates
Book a
Wine tasting tour
Wine Tasting Tour
EUR 110Wine and cava tasting at 2 wineries, transport there and back, duration approx. 6 hours, language EN, small snacks
book tour
EXPERIENCE REPORT
WINETASTING AT the PENEDES
Our tour started at 1 p.m. in June 2023 – it is unclear to me why it can now only be booked at 9 a.m. now. But the good thing for you is that you set off with breakfast in your stomach. I started without lunch back then… Fatal! Because the advertised tapas were more like snacks. That in combination with 7 glasses of wine… You can imagine what happened 😀
The meeting point is in the centre of Barcelona, near the “Diagonal” metro station. From here, we took a minibus to the Penedès region. The journey took around an hour. Time to relax once again. Time to possibly get to know your fellow travellers.
We were a group of around 15–20 people: the majority on this English-speaking tour were from the UK, USA and Canada.
The bus headed for the Can Bas winery in the middle of nowhere. As the bus drove down the avenue, and you could see the vines to the right and left, you were already in an entirely different world. A great start!
The winery is a family business and relatively small. Only a few bottles of a very exquisite wine are produced. The lady who welcomed and guided us is part of the family and happily mentioned the latest US wine award. Can Bas came 8th out of the 400 best European wineries! Not bad. That’s why the bottles cost around 30-60 euros – yes for a bottle!
PART 1
After the initial introduction, we decided to take the jeep tour of the winery first due to the weather conditions. This was absolutely the right decision, as it was pouring with rain while we had the wine cellar tour later on 🙂
There were 2 jeeps, we all got in and off we went on the bumpy drive across the estate. We stopped at a viewpoint, and she told us more about the vines, when you can expect the first wine from a new vine and which granny vines grapes make the best wine.
After the jeep tour, we went to the wine cellar. As it was not harvest time at the time, the large wine tanks were empty and there were no other grapes to be found. However, it was exciting to learn how the process works and that the tanks for the red wine have extra large openings. Why – well, take the tour and if you listen carefully, you’ll have an aha experience 😉
In Can Bas, I also saw something I hadn’t realised before. Some wines are not stored in barrels, but in amphorae, an idea that originated with the Romans. These amphorae give the wine a wholly different flavour. Unfortunately, some of it evaporates (I didn’t remember the percentage), but that’s what makes the wine so special.
After this tour, the wine tasting finally began!
There was always room for 4 people at each bar tables. You could already see the small appetisers on display and I wanted to dive straight in. But stop! Each canapé goes with a wine 😉
Here we tested 3 wines: You could choose whether you wanted to try 2 red or 2 white wines. I opted for 2 white wines – but all the red wine fans on site thought the additional red wine (which I didn’t have) was the best 😉
PART 2
After this first tasting, some of the group were already very “relaxed” and we continued on to the next winery, or cava estate. The journey only took a few minutes. And this estate also belongs to Can Bas – or vice versa.
The Pere Ventura cava estate is huge! The family has been involved in cava production since the 19th century – they were supposedly there when the first cava was bottled in Spain. This site has been existing since 1992, with its huge underground cellars in which 100,000s of bottles are stored. And that’s precisely where our tour starts!
And I found it incredibly exciting. Firstly, because we were in a dark cellar with a maze of bottles, and because the tour itself was somehow better.
We were partly 3 storeys underground – 15 metres – and even visited an underground chapel with the family’s wines and cavas. However, we were not allowed to take any pictures in here.
The question of champagne – cava was of course, also clarified here… Because since the 70s, Spanish cavas are no longer allowed to be called champagne…
After this exciting tour, we started our second tasting. There was a little more, but again only small snacks – my stomach was growling!
We tasted 4 great cavas here! And these are also in the upper price range (from EUR 36 a bottle). So you get to try expensive and good wine/cava both here and in Can Bas.
Afterwards, you have the chance to buy some of both. And I also treated myself to a bottle of wine to celebrate the day – or simply because I was too tipsy!
The minibus was already waiting for us and took us safely back to Barcelona in another 45/50 minutes.
CONCLUSION
The price of the tour is really high, but I’ll tell you why it’s certainly worth it – despite the limited food.
- The transport: I’m telling you, you can’t drive yourself afterwards. The place is so remote that the train can only be reached by taxi.
- The wines and cavas are high-end. Because, as previously discussed, the bottles we had cost between 30 and 60 euros.
- It is something special. You get out of the city and into the beautiful Catalan countryside.
- The jeep ride and the second wine cellar – these were my personal highlights apart from the wine.
My conclusion: a must-do!
Important tip: EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST! And pack a snack just in case! 😀
Your Céline
Book a
Wine tasting tour
Wine Tasting Tour
EUR 110Wine and cava tasting at 2 wineries, transport there and back, duration approx. 6 hours, language EN, small snacks
book tour
ALTERNATIVES
IN THE PENEDES
However, I would still like to give you some alternatives.
1. The Torres winery
Just outside the town of Vilafranca del Penedès is the Torres winery. You can easily organise your own journey here. Vilafranca is easy to reach by train. You can then take a taxi from there – which is what I did. But it’s still a 1-1.5 hour journey – depending on where you are in Barcelona.
Bookings via the official website.
2. Freixenet
I haven’t been here yet, but I’ve seen this colourful building several times! And Freixenet is well known to us Germans! You can also take part in a cava tasting here. Getting here is super easy: The train stops right outside the door! The R4 is your way to cava paradise 🙂
Bookings via the official website.
3. Anna Codorníu
We also have this cava at home, and it can be found in almost every supermarket. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t taste good compared to the EUR 36 cava from Pere Ventura Cava. It is simply made for a broader market. The estate is definitely worth a visit. Beautiful modernism stil included!
You can book a guided tour with 2 cavas or one with 3 cavas with the usual providers. But beware: you have to travel on your own.
Booking via GetYourGuide
Alternative
guided wine tasting
Guided Wine tasting tour
EUR 84Return journey from Barcelona + guide (EN/ES) + wine cellar + Wine and aperitif tasting at Sumarroca winery
Bookt tour
ALTERNATIVES
IN ALELLA
But there are also small wineries on the other side of Barcelona, in the north region. In Alella, for example. The wine-growing region is not as famous as the Penedès, but it is only a stone’s throw away from Barcelona.
Of course, I’ve already tried something here too: a visit to a winery followed by a picnic in the vineyards! That was also something completely new for me! (Price: EUR 66 for adults, EUR 30 for children)
And you can visit the same winery with a tour from Barcelona: including a sailing experience! Price: EUR 103
The same is also available in the combination wine + sailing + e-bike tour: price: EUR 127
Text- und Bildrechte: © Céline Mülich, 2023 – 2024
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