Bob & Bernie's Wonderful Wine Tour

La Dolce Vita Spain and Italy Wine Tours
By
Bernie and Bob

We flew into Madrid, Spain then went by Express train to Valladolid where on Monday we began our tour on Rioja Wine.

It was 2 wineries (at least) each day with the winemaker or someone on his/her staff.

We tramped over vineyards, thru the fermenting rooms, barrel rooms, bottling lines and saw HUGE amounts of wine in storage. The wineries we saw produced from 30,000 bottles per year to nearly 2,000,000!




The first day we were introduced to syrah and petit verdat at the winery Abadia Retuerta then it was on the Emina winery museum.

The afternoon was spent at an enjoyable winery, Rento. Terrific wine! This was the start of our tastings of the tempranillo grape.

Day 2 we went to the smallest winery in the Rioja which has outstanding wines.

As the days passed we went to more modern wineries to see their interpretations of how to make wine. We saw wine fermenting in American Oak, French Oak, stainless steel, and concrete.

Night time found us staying in converted convents and monasteries. Dinner started around 10 p.m. Well past our bedtime, but it was exciting and we had new foods from what we usually eat.

In Italy we really had our fill of Chianti and Chianti Classico. We learned all about the rules that have to be followed to get the Classico stamp. We also found the different approaches being taken by the individual wineries. One, Donatello Cinelli Colombini, is operated by all women.

The wine was well done with many in our group buying cases to be shipped home. This is a very expensive endeavor. They felt it was a bargain paying around $146 to $160 per case for shipping for the value of the wine. We decided to try and find the wines here because there is no guarantee it will ever arrive (especially watching them load the planes). The wineries on the north and south sides of Montalcino are well known for their Brunello wine.

These tours also covered famous museums, cathedrals, cheese shops, and an evening cooking class. We were also able to spend some time on our own in Florence and Rome. Needless to say we had a great time. The 2 days we spend in Florence were a good chance to transition from Spain to Italy before we did the Italy tour portion.


After the tour we spent 3 days in Rome doing the tourist things at the Coliseum, the Vatican and all the fountains and ruins.
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And, as if that was not enough to keep her busy,

Bernie also made a beautiful quilt this summer.

We won't be able to appreciate it in person 'cause she sold it! Gorgeous, Bernie!