SPANISH WINE, GOURMET CUISINE AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCE
2017
SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 18
WITH
HOWARD FRIEDMAN – SPANISH WINE IMPORTER
4O YEARS OF WINE EXPERIENCE
Each year that I do this – and this will be the 7th – I think that I have been able to capture the most extraordinary experiences, the most incredible winery visits, and the most wonderful dining experiences imaginable, but at the end of the tour I grow more excited about what we have been able to do and more passionate about making it even better.
Having the tour start in Santiago de Campostela last year provided new opportunities to more deeply explore Galicia and savor its very special cuisine. Visiting with Casar de Burbia in Bierzo for the first time added a perfect glimpse of a small winery passionately producing a very small quantity of superb wines. The boat ride to the ‘bateas’ in O Grove proved to be a delicious prelude to one of the most extraordinary lunches I have ever had at a tiny, one Michelin star restaurant in Cambados.
Join me for a unique and extraordinary 15 day tour of the wine country in Northern and Western Spain. Along the way, we will enjoy the lush countryside of Galicia; tour the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela; taste our way through Spain’s most extraordinary bodegas in Ribeiro, Bierzo, Txakoli, Ribera Del Duero and Rioja; and dine on incomparable regional cuisine. During our stay in the Basque Region, we will enjoy a guided tour of the Guggenheim Museum, learn Basque cooking techniques at a cooking class in San Sebastian, and visit at Bodegas Hiruzta, a Txakoli winery in the lovely village of Hondarribia. We will end our journey in Madrid at one of the world?s finest hotels.
For those who know only a little about Spanish wines and for those who wish to visit the cellars of world renowned wineries, you will find that the learning experience is extraordinary! We will visit the vineyards, taste in the cellars and learn to appreciate the wide variety of flavors one finds in both red and white Spanish wines. All of these experiences amid the lush countryside and storied history of the land and its people.
I have put together a tour that is much more than a time to take pictures and walk through quaint towns. It is a tour where you will be invited into a world of very special people who have created extraordinary wines. You will experience Spanish cuisine at its freshest and in its most amazing settings. And you will visit some of the world’s most astounding cathedrals and exquisite galleries. There will also be time for quiet walks on your own; dining experiences to savor by yourselves – a rich tapestry of encounters in every village and large city. Touring on your own at your own pace with suggestions from Antonio and me will help you get the most from your experiences in a very personal way.
All five of the last tours were a fantastic success for many reasons: the quality of the wineries that were visited; the 4 & 5 star level of hotel accommodations; the wealth of information that was provided about Spain’s fascinating culture; and the superb cuisine and wine tasting experiences that were included in the tour price; and finally the smallness of the group and the personal attention given to assuring that each guest was highly pleased with their experience.
Previous tours have all included a lovely day in San Sebastian in the Basque country, where we will have a gourmet cooking lesson with a Basque Chef; stops in Sierra Cantabria and Asturias at Castro Urdiales and Santillana del Mar where we will stop for lunch. But this year’s itinerary will make your visit to Spain even more special:
We will enjoy a wonderful chartered boat ride in a Galician estuary, ‘ria’ in Spanish, for a visit to a floating barge called a ‘batea’ from which mussels, oysters and ‘vieras’ (scallops) are harvested. Afterwards we will have lunch at Yayo Daporta in Cambados whose chef was the youngest chef to win a Michelin star and was also featured on Spain’s version of Top Chef.
We will travel through the picturesque valley of the river Sil to Carracedelo in Bierzo where we will enjoy a tasting of wines from the vineyards of Casar de Burbia and afterwards, via tractor, we will visit their extraordinary, hillside vineyards along ‘The Way of the Cross’. These wines have received notable reviews from The Wine Advocate; The Wine Spectator and the prestigious Penin Guide of Spain.
You can find all the information in the following links:
