"Wine tours, tastings and historic sites ...more than wine"                                                                                                               

 Valencian Cellar Tours                                    

            **Requena Winery 1/2 Day**       

  Come with me and discover the wines of Valencia´s "terroir" visiting a leading wine estate.

D.O Utiel-Requena is the largest, highest (600-900m)  & the furthest inland of the Valencian D.O´s possessing great growing conditions.
It´s the rising star of the Valencian wine regions collecting more than 250 international awards in 2020. Good vintages & talented vintners have brought the Utiel-Requena region into a new era. The main grape is the autoctono Bobal red variety.. somewhat abandoned here a long time ago, providing identity and signature wines of structure & also young, fresher styles. The many old Bobal bush vines en secano (without irrigation)  give uniquness to the landscape...withstanding seasons ..seemingly immortal to the passing of time.  You will also encounter  dry herbal rosés,  lively Cavas focusing on chardonney, rich whites tinged with subtle toast of new oak & red wines from noble grapes like Tempranillo, Garnacha, Syrah etc. complimenting  Bobal as single variety or coupage.

 These wines now compete with more well known Spanish  names and often outshine their competition ! 

  We start in the vines looking at the viticulture techniques, differences like hand vs machine harvesting etc. and concept of terroir. Then a fully guided  visit of the winery explaining how they make their wines and Cava (the Spanish Champan) ....more of a mini 101 wine education with interesting facts from grape to bottle .  

We explain each stage from grape selection, destemming or not, fermentation & the various techniques of making the wines. You will learn more about barrel aging and perhaps try a barrel sample. We then move to the Cava cellar & provide real insight into the techniques and may be lucky enough to witness the degorge and final corking . 

You then have the pleasure of tasting a selection of the estate´s  Premium wines & Cava´s  complimented with local cheese, charcouteria and also taste the estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Wines may be purchased at excellent prices directly from cellar.  *Although we have just outlined the visit here it is not a typical wine tour  and I believe this is a unique wine experience....even for a seasoned wine buff.  

I also offer a 2nd bodega visit with historic Cave & 5 tastings/maridaje as 3/4 Day,  pls enquire if interested.
                                                                                   

      Taking a panoramic scenic drive through wine countryside we make a short trip to Requena historic town with a stop at a local artisan shop (cured sausages, honey,pottery etc). Requena has it´s own DOP for embutido with unique recipes like "chorizo marinated in Cava" or "salchichon & walnuts"... local delicatessen at great prices. I confess it´s one of my favourite tapas with a glass of Cava!

 Utiel-Requena with almost 40,000 hectares in vines is 2nd  
largest producer of wine in Spain. Requena is located 70km from Valencia city.

Well connected by autovia it´s a journey of just under an hour from Valencia.

 We offer trips for small groups from Valencia. Tours are guided by myself Toni & the winery in English, so you are assured of  a good understanding of wine & historical knowledge of the region.