A travelling tour along the vineyards of the River Ebro, giving an excellent idea of how Spain’s classic viticultural areas are influenced by the prevailing micro-climates created by this major waterway. From the green, wood-hung hills of the Basque coast, through the dramatic sierras of the Ebro valley, the parched semi-deserts of the eastern Ebro, under the mighty Pyrenees and on to the coast, there are vineyards. We shall visit some of the oldest as well as the most recent, but whatever the age differences the quality of each property will be of the highest.
The first part takes in a cross-section of the different bodegas within the two major districts of Rioja – ultra modern, traditional, and boutique – all producing wines of excellent quality. We move on to Zaragoza, with its cathedral and Moorish palace, taking in the vineyards of Navarra. Then it is up into the foothills of the Pyrenees to the new and highly rated regions of Somontano and Costers del Sagre before reaching the Mediterranean coast near Barcelona, the heartland of Cava production – Spain's premier bottle-fermented sparkling wine.
We will be traversing Spain’s Romanesque heartland, with church, abbey, castle, hermitage, church, repeated along the sub-Pyrenean foothills as a triumphant defensive chain against the Moors. Today in various states of preservation, many of the buildings have survived their 900 years well and offer a wide range of fascinating early architecture and sculpture. Vibrant modernity is of course the hallmark of Barcelona, and we set aside a full day for an exploration of this most fascinating of maritime cities.