Wine Tours - Day 2
Our second day in Logrono starts much like the first. We are met by Robert for a wine tour day. This time we will visit one very old school style winery (wine carried in a goat) and one very modern thinking winery (it is ran by a woman)
Our first stop is to visit one of the only female wine makers in the Rioja region. Barbara at Barbarot has taken over her father's vines and has started to produce her own wines. Her company name comes from combining her name with her dog's name, Barbara + Merlot = Barbarot.
She currently makes two wines. One of the most interesting things about her wines is that she grows Merlot grapes along with the traditional tempranillo grapes.
To start our tour we meet her out at her fields so that she can show us what is growing and also let us walk the field with her as she checks on some of her plants.
Her vines are at the base of one of the mountains, so the cliffs raise above in a commanding way. The soil here is similar to what we saw yesterday. Rather dry and rocky.
Along with walking the fields she discusses with Jamie and Duane the best way to prune the vines once they do start to grow. This should help Jamie with Merlot plant he as been attempting to grow in his back yard.
After walking the fields, we headed to her wine making facilities. Unlike the others, she is fairly new so she did not have an actual retail shop or bodega.
Where the Magic Happens
At the warehouse, she explains her blending theories and we were able to try two of her wines straight from the barrel. From there we tried her two wines available for sale, Puppy - a young red and Barbarot, a blend of Merlot and tempranillo.
Her dog, Merlot, tired from all the running in the fields catches some zzzs on the floor, never to far away.
The warehouse where she works reminded us a lot of the wineries in Washington State. Many oak barrels, a few stainless steel vats and not really a place to sit and relax... this is meant to be a working space and work it is!
Duane and Barbara are discussing the nuances of different wine making techniques.
While the guys are wrapping up the shipping of our purchases, Kelly enjoys the rest of her wine.
Stop #2 - Bodega Lecea - An Old School Winery 
Located in a little village named, San Asensio, is Bodegas Lecea. This winery has been around for centuries and is the last remaining winery in this village to utilize the underground cave systems located here to make and store their wines. All the other families have moved their operations down to the bottom of the hill to more modern amenities.
As part of our visit, we were able to tour down inside the caves. There were many different cave paths with the oldest being from the 16th century. The hole shown in the picture above is the cave ventilation shaft that was used prior to more recent times. Back then, they would place a hand cranked fan (pic below) above the hole to help pull the carbon monoxide out of the caves when people were down there working.
The caves were the home of the concrete vats that held the wine as it was fermenting. The vats are still used today wile they keep some of the older barrels and equipment down there for tour purposes.
As years wore on and family grew, the caves expanded to include more caves that previously had been owned by the other families. This allowed them to turn some of the concrete vats into places that currently store barrels of current wine waiting to be bottled.
Some examples of older vines and on display in the caves. Tari is all smiles as she stands in a cave of wine bottles.
Duane looks as startled as I am to see what our guide is holding...it looks like a sea lion but is really a hide of a goat turned inside out. As recent as a few generations ago (our tour guide's grandfather), the villagers would use goat hides turned inside out to transport wine from up the hill down to the village center and the surrounding towns for selling. Yes, the hair of the goat would be inside with the wine! I have heard of having chunky wine when you are getting down to the last of an older bottle, but hairy wine is a new concept!
From the caves we travel back up to ground level and walk across the property to where the grapes are brought in for crushing.
To this day, it is still a family affair when harvest time rolls around. The entire family as well as the village pitches in to crush the grapes. It is turned into one big party that goes on for an entire weekend. Sticking true to their history, they still use some of the old time equipment for pressing grapes and use the giant tubs to crush with their feet.
Back in Modern Times
Once the tour is completed we go back to where we started at the wine shop to taste a few of their wines and have a small snack of meat and cheese.
Once done with our tasting and purchasing, it is time to load up in the van and go to our next stop, lunch in La Guardia. Just as with the village of Priorat, the streets are narrow and trying to navigate them can be an entertaining challenge.
This village was small! Less than 100 people lived in the entire area and it was probably the most remote place we had been. While we were there the water in the entire village stopped working. No one at the winery seemed shocked by this and just shrugged a shoulder when we mentioned it, as if to say "oh well, it will come back sooner or later"
Going to La Guardia - Nope Not That One
For lunch today we were going to have an authentic Spanish meal at a local restaurant in the walled village of La Guardia. It is the only remaining walled city in Spain that is still fully in tact and still use the gates in the wall to keep the town protected. Not sure what it being protected against today, but protected it is.
Views from the top of the wall:
The wall is clearly seen to the right of the "new church" New since it was built in the 12th century. The other church at the opposite end of the town is the "old" church as it was built in the 9th century.
Lunch at El Collado
Our table was set up in one of the wine vaults as the restaurant was part of the castle that sat on top of the wall so the vaults were actually inside the walls of the city.
For our actual lunch we had several typical tapas items:
Cheese, because who can have a meal without cheese?
Jamon and cheese croquettes, because as Kelly says " they are like little puffs of goodness"
A new delight - Patatas Bravas. Potatoes, with sour cream, a little spicy rojo sauce and jamon. YUM!!
Stuffed peppers and calamari to finish!
After eating all of that, we need to burn off some calories so we climbed to the top of the castle and then walked the streets of the town.
The "old" church"
The entrance to the castle, now a hotel. They have a turret that you can walk up to and see the entire town.
The climb to the top of the castle takes quite the amount of stairs, but the views from the top are worth it. So is the dizziness you get walking back down.
A little windy at the top of the castle. Robert gives us a brief history of the town as we take in the views.
The "mean" streets of La Guardia
Walking around inside the town was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. It is such an old town that the history was all around you.
And it was very peaceful, plenty of places to grab a park bench and watch the day go by.
Among the quiet streets there are also sunny courtyards full of flowers, flags and locals
As with all Spanish towns there were plenty of tapas bars. The population of the village is around 1500 people, they have approximately 82 places to get food and beverages!
Architectural Elements
Walking around the town, there were so many elements to take in. Many of them from medieval times.
The vent holes are left over from when caves were used in this town to store wine and protect the village people from invaders. Looking up many of the homes still had wood beam roofs, like the one in the picture above.
They also had second stories that hung out over the street to provide more room for families without having to pay taxes on additional floors of living space which was a common practice in medieval times.
One of the old noble homes they turned into their city government offices and left the grape press where it had resided....now that is a waiting room to see government officials.
Robert stops to point out some of the extra special characteristics of the town. The door he is standing by is split meaning that by his elbow the door is cut in half so the bottom can stay closed while the top is open or vice versa. The doors had to be wide enough to allow their animals to come in at night...even the horses or cows. This protected them from being taken and also helped warm the house.
There were several doors that had small holes cut out of the door down at the bottom. These were cat doors back in the day! Almost every door had one. Some were still functional, but others had been wired closed or had a piece of wood covering it from the inside.
Majority of the first floors of these homes sat with the doors open as it was an entry hall that led to the stairs to take you to the apartments up above. There were a few that had the original river rock floors still in place. The designs were pretty intricate for that time in history.
Pamplona is not the only town that has a running of the bulls. They also do this in La Guardia, just on a much less known scale. To help protect the store fronts along the running path they have black steel gates that will be slid into place prior to the race starting.
Something funny we have seen in several Spanish towns are Irish taverns. We are not sure what the reasoning is....does Spain have a lot of Irish tourist? Or maybe Spain likes bacon and cabbage and Guinness? whatever the reason you see the everywhere, even in little ol' La Guardia.
One more look at the country side before we leave La Guardia. It was funny, as we were looking over the wall to the valley below a couple of bicyclist were doing the same thing. They started talking to us. They were from Bristol England. Very cute couple around their 50s who decided to bike and camp for their holiday. He was the biker and talked her into doing this.. she did not seem to be enjoying the hills. As she said, it is way hillier than it looks down there!
Making our way back to the van to head back home for the night. Another good wine day in the books!
On the way home we drove by Muga winery who is pretty well known in the States. It is a large beautiful building. Outside they have one of the old wine trains set up outside.
Once home we had a picnic dinner at our dinning room table with some fresh local ingredients like more jamon, bread, peppers, and anchovies.
Tomorrow we are on the move again, this time we head to San Sebastian and stop for a lunch of a life time along the way!
