Penedes
By Nancy Todd Comments: Negu, The Blogdog
I love Barcelona. But, I long to breathe air that doesn’t sting my nose and yearn to see something Green. Anything Green. More Color. Stare at bees with their jodphurs of pollen and watch animals with flapping wings. Toss down a few copas de vino, watch the red poppies sashaying, and it is a perfect day. The rolling wine region of Penedes is on my list for Green and here are 7 reasons why.
Wine in Penedes
1. Penedes is the beautiful, hilly wine country near Barcelona and only 20 miles away. Speckled with traditional farm houses,villages, castles, and wineries, it is a great day trip.
2. There are over 270 wineries surrounding the city of Vilafranca del Penedes and the l’Alt Penedes region. Many are open on Sunday.
3. Take your pick of the big guys like Torres or Cordorniu or the small bodegas that are less commercialized. Taste your way down country lanes. Cava, which is what the Spanish call champagne, is also made in Penedes.
4. Learn more about wine making at Vinseum, The Museum of Wine Cultures of Catalonia. Housed in an a palace in Villafranca, you can conclude the trip with wine and tapas in a local restaurant.
5. Stroll the historic center of Vilafranca with it’s Gothic Basilica of Santa Maria and two palaces. Art nouveau buildings steal the show for me. Always have, always will.
6. Fireworks, human towers, and lots of food are part of La Festa Major, The Big Festival. Parades consist of noisy medieval bands, the giant people and huge dragons. Held in late August in the plazas of Vilafranca del Penendes.
7. The Castle Route takes you on a road tour of Christian and Muslim castles from the 10th and 11th centuries.
Bike, hike, or by car, Green calls in Penedes.
The Blogdog
Related posts on The Spain Scoop: www.enoturismepenedes.cat
Where are you favorite wines and wine regions in Spain?
4 Comments
I’m looking for a few Penedes bodegas that give tours in English, or perhaps have an English speaker. Do you know of any? Thanks!
Call up Paddy at El Moli tours, he speaks English and has that info!
Air that stings your nose? Barcelona? I’d give a quart of my testicle to be there!
Not that I’m doing too bad breathing the earthy Extremaduran air here in Caceres.
Still Penedes looks bloody good though!
it’s lovely, but polluted, that’s the truth!
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[...] 2.50. Beats the prices in the States and one more good reason to drink wine and live in Spain. Penedes, a beautiful region only a bottle of wine drinking time from Barcelona, continues to be a productive [...]