There is no doubt that one of the key wine making regions in Spain is Ribera del Duero, located northwest of Madrid in Castilla y Leon. Not surprising then that I was pretty excited to be visiting it, particularly as a fair proportion of the wines I had been drinking since arriving in Spain were from Ribero del Duero.
We were staying in the town of El Burgo de Osma just east of the main wine growing area, an ancient town alongside the Río Duero. It is not more than 2 hours from Madrid airport, a dramatic drive through the mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama. It certainly turned out to be more dramatic than we had bargained for: as soon as we started to ascend the mountain roads, thick fog and rain appeared around us so we could barely see a few metres in front of the car. Once we had escaped that, some strange moving orange lights appeared in the distance – it only became clear when we practically on top of them that it was a police roadside stop. It was turning out to be a bit of an epic journey.
However, one sentence from us gave away the fact that we weren’t Spanish and we were sent on our way. Finally we arrived in Burgo de Osma and, after some comic driving up one way pedestrian zones, we found the hotel. It was closed for the night. A call to the pretty sleepy, and less than impressed, proprietor, and we were finally in.
Saturday morning: it was time to start the well earned wine tour. The wine region itself is spread out along the Río Duero and its fertile plains. The majority of the bodegas in the Ribera del Duero are found around Aranda del Duero, which is a fairly industrial town, and Peñafiel. This was where we started.
Like many of the towns in Castilla y Leon, it is perched on a hill, the town spread below a towering castle. In this case, the castle also houses the region’s wine museum, an incredibly comprehensive education on wine, where it comes from, how it is made, aged and served. For me, the best part was a huge selection of jars of essence which represented the most commonly found aromas in wine: you had to take a sniff and guess the aroma. Fun for hours!
From Peñafiel we drove along the river, either side covered in vines variously planted and pruned. On the way, we checked out some of the many bodegas. Although we were visiting after the harvest, the beauty was not lost as the vine leaves had turned orange and the few lone bunches of grapes that had been left on almost glowed purple against the autumnal background.
We stopped off in the village of Peñaranda de Duero, a short drive off the main road. It is a wonderful place with bars and cafes tumbling into each other and onto the main plaza. We arrived at sunset and the whole place seemed to be on fire from the colours in the sky.
The next day was a day for looking around Burgo de Osma itself, a beautiful town with a huge ornate cathedral out of all proportion to the size of the town. Around the cathedral is a misshapen plaza, surrounded by buildings which overhang and are supported by large wooden props. Along the narrow main street are a number of boutique food and wine shops selling the region’s goodies which really show off the town’s true focus.
At the end is a beautiful Plaza Mayor, lined by cute cafes and the former town hospital, dating from 1699. You can imagine that in the summer, this would be the perfect place for a glass of wine on the terrace to watch the world go by.
We finished off in one of the bodegas near Aranda del Duero, Cepa 21, which also has a lovely restaurant with views over the extensive vineyards around the bodega. After a tour of their very modern facilities, we settled in for a 5 course lunch of fantastic food. Luckily, as the non-driver, I could also indulge in trying some of their wines with the food. The drive back to Madrid certainly seemed less stressful!
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