Valencian Wine Country!

Vineyard of Hoya de Cadenas

It was our first day back in Spain after the crazy trip to Marrakech, and we weren’t wasting any time. We started the day out early- Bárbara, Nathan, John, and I were on the metro to the airport by 7:30am. Once there, we picked up our rental car for the day. Luckily, they honored John’s American driver license, because he was the only one of us who knew how to drive a manual! I was also surprised at how inexpensive it was to rent a car- it only cost about 40 euros for the whole day, so just 10 a person. We found it through www.europcar.com, I’d definitely recommend using them if you ever need to! After a quick breakfast, we met up with Marissa and Josep, and our car followed Josep’s car out of the city and on the way to the Valencian pueblo of Utiel. It was about an hour drive outside of the city, and there were of course some interesting sights along the way. Finally, we arrived at the vineyard called “Hoya de Cadenas”, and had our introduction to the Spanish wine country. This vineyard offered a guided tour for 8 euros each (with a reservation), and the best part was that we got to ride a little train through the vineyard! We got to see the grapes growing of course, and we stopped at an old casa from the mid 1800’s where the original wine-making family lived. We got to explore a bit, and also got to see these barrels creatively decorated by local artists. The informational part of the tour was given only in Spanish, so we had to translate for John, but he still got the general idea. It was a beautiful day out and we got really lucky with that, the whole area was just so sunny and pretty, I loved it!

The wine train = Best train ever!

Barbara loves the artsy barrel

Once our wine train ride ended, we got to go down to the cellar where they kept the wine aging in the oak barrels. There, we also got to sample a few of the different house wines. Right before our train ride had started, my eye had been bothering me- at this point though, it was having a full on spasm, and all my makeup had come off. My one eye was so little and red that I think I was scaring people, so I had to wear my sunglasses the rest of the day: Even inside a dark basement. Yes, my life is awesome like that. Anyways, after that delicious wine tasting and of course impromptu group photo shoot, we went up to their gift shop. John got a few bottles and they wrapped them up for him in a cool travel box so he could safely fly them back to Kentucky. By this time it was about 11:30am, and we were ready for the next destination on our “Wineyard Tour 2012”!

Ladies loving Life at Pago de Tharsys

We got back into our awesome little European car, and rode through some quaint little Spanish pueblos, passing old ruins and falling-apart farmhouses on the way. About 30 minutes later, we arrived at the next town called Requena. This town is probably the most famous in the region for its wine, and has the most vineyards as well. We had a reservation for a group tour at noon at a place called “Pago de Tharsys”, where Marissa and Josep had been before and loved. Once there, we could see why! It was a lot smaller than the last place, but it’s a family run business and they handpick all of their grapes. We got to walk through a little grape vine tunnel, and got to see the 200 year old wine cellar. Of course the grape vine tunnel made for a perfect photo op! Next up, we got to sample some of their house wines in the main gift shop. I wasn’t a huge fan of any one in particular, but I didn’t dislike any either. The guys in the group bought some Spanish sausage and jamon serrano from the shop, and once we took the final photos of our wine tasting, we were ready for lunch. We drove into the main plaza of town, parked on a side street, and started wondering around. Since it was a Sunday, many places were closed, and it took us a while to find a place with good prices that was open and that we all agreed on. During this time though, we passed by the castle of Requena. I love how in Spain you see castles everywhere just like you’d see Walmarts in the US. Obviously, one is a lot cooler though. We finally picked a place, and sat down outside. The weather was nice, but then an insane wind kicked in. During the course of our mass amount of tapas and drinks, a few of the drinks blew over from the wind. Also, a bird pooped in Marissa’s wine glass. We were there for a few hours, taking our time and enjoying the day. Once were feeling stuffed and tired, we all got back into our cars and headed towards the city.

Marissa picking a grape

Castillo de Requena

Marissa and Josep went back to their apartment, but Nathan, Bárbara and I decided to stop first at Port Saplaya so that John could see that part of Valencia as well. We walked around the picturesque canals, and just relaxed and took in the views. I wanted him to see this little area of the city so he could get a better idea of all that Valencia has to offer! It was getting really hot by this point in the day, and also crazy humid, so we swung by a frozen yogurt place for a little bit. After that we walked along the beach walk, and of course took more photos. Since we were all really tired, we took the rental car back to the airport, and took the metro back home. John started packing his stuff for his flight to the US tomorrow, and I was glad that he was able to see and do so much in Valencia during his brief time here.

Port Saplaya, Always beautiful.

Random building on the country drive

Beach at Port Saplaya