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Home , Andalusia, Douro, Extremadura

C A S T I L E & L E O N , E X T E M A D U R A , A N D A L U S I A , M A D R I D I N S I D E R ' S G O U R M E T S P A I N

O C T O B E R 2 4 - 3 1 , 2 0 2 0 Lead by expert insiders, this 7-day tour is your gourmet overview of central and southern . We visit the landscapes of Castile and Leon, , and , beginning and ending in .

Insider's Travel offers you a unique blend of Spanish cultures and their cuisines, all in one impeccable, specially arranged trip.

A love of and the stories that surround it, are the key elements of

our journey. We get to know Spain through its people, be they

winemakers, curers, cheesemakers or expert guides as we explore

Spain’s rich cultural heritage with long lazy lunches in between.

Co-hosted by Joanna Wivell, owner of Insider’s Travel who has been

uncovering the heart and soul of for many years, together with

long-term Spanish resident, friend and hispanophile Gerard McCullough.

Join them to take the inside track to meet and taste the very best of

Spain. HIGHLIGHTS

Gourmet tour of

Madrid,

prize-winning tapas with a

southern Spanish twist

Long lunches at the wineries

of La Granja, Vinos

La Zorra, & Viña Santa

Marina Prize-winning

Iberian ham

tasting at

Guijuelo, one of

the world’s great

ham locations

Jabugo ham tasting & dinner

at the historic

Taberna del

Alabadero, in

Seville

Taste of

Andalusia;

tapas &

pairing in Jerez Visit the UNESCO World Heritage cities of

Avila, , Caceres, & Merida

Tour the fantastically preserved Roman ruins in Merida

Go golden eagle

spotting on a

boat trip along

the Duero River Enjoy in

its spiritual home city of

Seville

Farewell dinner at Madrid’s Michelin star restaurant, Club Allard, lead by Chef Jose Fuentes A word about the wine on this journey...

We visit contrasting wineries to taste some excellent :

*** Dehesa La Granja, the Fernández Rivera family's country estate near Toro, produces what Robert Parker described as one of the best wines in the world, Tinto Pesquera.

*** Alma Roja, an artisan producer of wine made from the little known Juan Garcia grape

*** Vinos La Zorra produces quality wines from the Rufete grape (93 Parker points)

*** Viña Santa Marina, spectacularly situated on the site of an old Roman in Extremadura (91 Parker points)

*** Lustau, renowned sherry producer since 1896

*** Fernando de Castilla, one of the oldest bodegas in Jerez (93- 95 Parker points) ITINERARY

Douro River, ... location of boat ride on Day 3 M E E T I N M A D R I D , 1

T A P A S & W E L C O M E T O A S T Y

We meet in your lobby, 5* Palacio de Tepa in

Madrid, to start our GOURMET TAPAS TOUR. The route takes us through the bustling streets of the A historic centre as we visit both the classic and the newest, hottest Madrid tapas bars, introducing a range of wines and dishes from across Spain. D

Learn about the cultural importance of tapas hopping while receiving an overview of the Spanish culture, geographically and historically, with each delicious bite.

A V I L A ’ S W A L L S L O S D D O M I N I C O S , S A L A M A N C A

We depart from the hotel to the medieval walled town of A Avila. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985,

Avila claims to have more Gothic and Romanesque

churches per capita than any other city in Spain and is Y also the birthplace of Saint Teresa of Avila. We stop here

for our first tasting of high altitude grenache from the

Sierra de Gredos DO and then continue our journey to the

small village of Fuentesaúco, home to the private family

2 estancia of one of Spain’s most famous winemakers,

Alejandro Fernandez, also known as the KING OF

TEMPRANILLO.

Lunch at Dehesa La Granja, one of the Fernández Rivera

family's wineries, is a selection of local products from the

estate; CHEESE, HAM, OIL, JELLY,

and SUCKLING , all accompanied by the family's

wines. A member of the Fernández family will host the lunch and if Alejandro is in town it’s likely to be him. This

memorable lunch in a PRIVILEGED LOCATION is certainly one to remember.

We depart for SALAMANCA and check in to the Palacio de

Castellanos, a former 16th-century palace, located in the heart of the old city, in the square across from Los

Dominicos monastery where COLUMBUS developed his

pitch to PERSUADE the royal family to send him to the

AMERICAS in 1492.

We finish the day with an evening guided walk of the city

with wine and tapas in the main square. D W I T H C H A R L O T T E A L L E N O N

H E R V I N E Y A R D S , L U N C H I N A P O R T U G A L , A F T E R N O O N B O A T

C R U I S E O N T H E D U E R O R I V E R Y

We head north to the small town of to meet an

artisan cheesemaker and Harrods supplier, Vicente Pastor, for a tour and tasting of his award-winning zamorano cheese. 3

We then leave for the rugged terrain of , the ONLY area in the world to produce the Juan Garcia grape. Here we visit British winemaker Charlotte Allen. With a fascinating backstory, Charlotte has been making wine here for the last 10 years, inspired by her mentor and oenologist Didier Belondrade. She has also stood for in the local elections but that’s another story.

After our tour and tasting in her wine cellar, one of over 1000 cellars in the small town of , we CROSS THE BORDER INTO

PORTUGAL for lunch in Miranda do , a very pleasant town that overlooks the river Duero where it forms the border between Spain and Portugal.

We have lunch at O Mirandes giving us a chance to SAMPLE

PORTUGUESE CUISINE in the form of the regional specialty ‘posta a

Mirandesa’ steaks, washed down with some of Charlotte's wine.

After lunch we take a tranquil BOAT CRUISE along the meandering

Douro River, where the very steep gorges create a dramatic and hushed environment. This is an area of exceptional beauty with birds of prey such as the GOLDEN EAGLE often flying above.

At the end of a stimulating day, we make our way back to the hotel before heading out to explore the classic and the new emerging stars of this historic university city’s tapas scene. I T ’ S A H A M ’ S W O R L D I N

4 G U I J U E L O , T O U R O F

L A O R R A W I N E R Y , &

Y H I S T O R I C C A C E R E S B Y E V E N I N G A D

After we leave SALAMANCA for a short drive south to

GUIJUELO. Rivalled only by in Andalusia, Guijuelo enjoys a long-lasting tradition of producing the Iberian ham, the climate being ideal for its aging and curing. Our first stop is Simon Martín, a producer of the finest jamón iberico since 1907 and 2012 winner of THE BEST JAMÓN IN SPAIN.

We learn about the significance of the blackfoot, acorn feeding and the dry Castilian winter to the end product before tasting a range of Simon Martín’s jamón, chorizo and salchichón. Ham heaven!

We arrive at MOGARRAZ to visit VINO LA ZORRA, followed by lunch in the Mirasierra restaurant that OWNS THE BODEGA.

These interesting wines from the recently demarcated DO

SIERRA DE SALAMANCA have received several awards including 92 PARKER POINTS and 93 POINTS in the PENIN

GUIDE. The regional Rufete grape plays a starring role. The restaurant looks onto the and offers dishes, cooked on the open grill.

After lunch we make our way to EXTREMADURA and the historic walled city of CACERES. A UNESCO World Heritage

Site since 1986 this city has had many influences including

Roman. Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance. Caceres is listed as being the 3rd most important historic and artistic urban centre in . It still has 30 towers in existence from the

Moorish period, including the famous Torre de Bujaco.

We stay at the , a refurbished 14th and 16th century mansion house, situated inside the protected historic centre.

The day finishes with a short GUIDED EVENING WALK and an excellent, light gourmet tapas in the main square. R O M A N T H E A T R E , M E R I D A , V I Ñ A S A N T A M A R I N A W I N E R Y After breakfast we drive to MERIDA, another World Heritage

Site. As former capital of the , , this 5 town hosts

more important ROMAN REMAINS than ANY OTHER

CITY IN SPAIN. Our GUIDE takes us through the streets of

Merida, where the ancient and modern live side by side, and

onto the focal point of the city, the and Y amphitheatre.

After coffee, we leave Merida and head southwards for the

Santa A

Marina winery. Spectacularly located on the site of an old

Roman vineyard at the foot of the Sierra de la Moneda, the

winery spans 58 hectares in the DO Ribera del . D

We taste a range of their wines including the Miraculus and the

Gladiator (both of which received 91 Parker points) and settle down to lunch before continuing our journey further south.

We arrive in the majestic, Andalusian city of SEVILLE at our hotel for the next 2 nights, Vincci La Rabida, a charming

Moorish style hotel located in the centre of Seville, 7 minutes’ walk from the Cathedral & World Heritage Site, the Archive of the Indies. An optional orientational walk before a free evening for dinner. S H E R R Y S O L E R A S I N J E R E Z D E L A F R O N T E R A

After breakfast we leave for the home of Sherry, the town D of . Jerez is the first and oldest DO

in Spain with a history of winemaking dating back to the 15th century. A

Our first visit is to Lustau, producers of highly rated

since 1896. Lustau is known for its “Almacenista” Y tradition of bottling sherries from small family bodegas in

the region and its Reserva range.

We take a walk around the bodega and a tasting before 6 leaving for our 2nd bodega of the morning, Fernando de

Castilla, one of the OLDEST BODEGAS IN JEREZ. Owned

by Jan Pettersen, hailed as one of the champions in the

region for producing wines in keeping with the old-

fashioned style of production, with a quality that has

earned their range of aged sherries, between 93 and 95

PARKER POINTS. We enjoy our tasting with tapas from

the region and some of their prized to give us a

true taste of Andalusia. F L A M E N C O R O O T S , H A M 7 T A S T I N G , D I N N E R A T

H I S T O R I C T A B E R N A D E L

A L A B A D E R O Y

We leave Jerez for SEVILLE where guests have the

rest of the afternoon to explore more of the city. A

We visit the Flamenco Museum founded by one of

Spain’s most celebrated dancers, Cristina . D After a short tour of the museum for a brief introduction into the history and roots of flamenco we sit down to see a performance of this fascinating art, with a guitarist, singer and dancer. It is located in an 18th-century building in the highest part of the city, a mecca for those in search of the duende.

Jabugo HAM TASTING and dinner at the historic

Taberna del Alabadero, headquarters to the prestigious Sevillian school of , the

Escuela Superior de Hostelería de Sevilla.

T I M E T O S A Y G O O D B Y E , F O R N O W . . .

Group breakfast before we go our separate ways. D A Y

8 Price of trip: 3600€ per person, 1 night at the 5* Palacio de Tepa, all applicable sales taxes included MADRID

Deposit: 500€, fully refundable, up to 2 nights at the Palacio de Castellanos, a 30 days prior to the trip if cancellation former 16th-century palace, SALAMANCA is due to public health reasons 1 night at the restored 14th & 16th

Single supplement: 800€ century Parador Mansion House, CACERES

Includes: 2 nights at the Vincci La Rabida, a 6 nights hotel accommodation charming Moorish style hotel, SEVILLE 6 dinners, 5 lunches, all guided Private transport by luxury coach tours mentioned in the itinerary, Tour hosts entrances, transport, tour host & Breakfast daily, 6 lunches, 6 dinners sales tax where applicable Visits & activities as specified

To book and to consult about the trip, please go to our website link: Insider's Travel: Insider's Gourmet Spain DETAILS