Fast becoming a tradition, the following weekend I took off to Andalucía on another wine escapade. We staying in the beautiful Hotel La Fuente de la Higuera, a 10 minute drive from the small town of Ronda (West of Málaga). The hotel was tucked between orchards of olive trees in the rolling hills below Ronda and surrounded by rocky mountainsthat dominate the landscape around this area of Andalucía. We spent the first day being tourists in Ronda itself, which is the biggest of the Pueblos Blancos (white villages). Its cluster of white washed buildings bustle right up to the edge of the stunningly deep gorge that surrounds three sides of Ronda and cuts through the middle of the town. Some of the ancient buildings even overhang the gorge itself, giving dramatic views of the gaping space below. The two sites of Ronda are joined by its eighteenth century bridge which is supported by huge arches that drop into the vast gorge. Despite its age, you still feel slightly uneasy being on it, particularly as a notice tells you that it has fallen down three times in its history!
Even nearing the end of October, the sun was brilliant and it reached 30°C during the day. It was certainly still warm enough to sit outside for dinner, lanterns lighting the terrace and surrounded by the smell of the lavender bushes cooling down from the day’s sun bathing. And of course, a weekend in my Spain adventure would not be complete without a little wine research, this being one of the great pleasures in my new career choice.
So why wine? Six years in the legal industry had given me the commercial experience I wanted before changing to something completely new and this was the year to do it. However, there was the inevitable question to address: what do I do instead? At the beginning of 2009, I was knee deep in my decision matrix. Anyone who enjoys a good list will appreciate the joys of a decision matrix: it listed all of my aims in life and for my career, my passions, my skills and my priorities. It also listed all the possible career paths that I was considering, how well each one fulfilled my aims, as well as the pros and cons for each one. Having a passion for the industry I work in was top of my list of priorities, closely followed by the need for a challenge. The possibilities of travel and being able to learn new languages were also pretty appealing if I could find a way to make them part of the plan.
Wine has always been present at home where wine was for drinking with dinner, even with a little water for the children. I remember frequent summer camping trips to the Loire where my parents would visit the caves to try some of the Loire Valley wines. We kids were often allowed a little sip too. This seemed entirely normal to the locals. However, it was during various trips to the wine producing regions across the world in the past few years that I really began to look at it seriously as an option. Having put the wine industry through the rigours of the decision matrix and after many months of research, here I am - and now that I am underway, I am excited!
The countryside near Ronda also has a number of smaller Pueblos Blancos, which typically cling to the side of some precipitous mountainside or across a steep ridge. Often the streets wind around each other seemingly without pattern, each building painted a dazzlingly white and each window neatly shuttered. We visited Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra both in the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazelema.Coincidentally, of course, our hotel in Andalucía had a wonderful wine list with a number of different regions in Spain featuring. It also had a good selection of local wines from Málaga DO, and not just sweet or sherry style wines. We made the most of these as it is fairly difficult to find decent examples of this region’s wine in other parts of Spain, let alone outside Spain. Some of the wines come from the region immediately around Ronda, Serranía de Ronda, as evidenced by the scorched vines in amongst the hillsides.
Grazalema lies in the fold of a valley, all of its streets radiating out from the central plaza and up the steep hillsides. Having braved the drive through the Parque, we were glad of the many street cafes and restaurants that cluster together in the small sunny plazas at the centre. The roads themselves are a good couple of feet thick of perfectly laid tarmac, but fall instantly away at the edges leaving the driver exposed to the massive vistas and gorges. Unsurprisingly, it is perfect country for a motorbike and the village was full of riders enjoying the area.
The road out of Grazelema zigzags upwards toward one of the highest points of the area (the Puerto de las Palomas) before falling away to the villages on the other side, including Zahara de la Sierra. As we drove into the village you can well believe that it used to be a Moorish outpost with its fortified walls and its castle looming over the white-washed and red-tiled buildings, designed perfectly to repel invasion. However , getting a car into and out of the very steep narrow streets is another matter!
No comments:
Post a Comment