Chestnuts, Celts and the Camino Folowing the Wine Routes of Galicia & Northern Portugal’S Minho Valey

Maribel’s Guides - Custom Travel Planning & Small Group Tours DECEMBER 4, 2009 Iberian Traveler Chestnuts, Celts and the Camino Folowing the wine routes of Galicia & Northern Portugal’s Minho Valey The Sophisticated Traveler Let us prepare a customized itinerary for you to discover the very best of Galicia’s most exciting wine regions: the Ribeira Sacra, Rías Baixas & Ribeiro. A three to four-night package based in each of these three D.O.s will allow you ample time to sample their award- winning wines, innovative cuisine and rich cultural heritage, lands filled with ancient Celtic settlements, Romanesque churches and Medieval treasures. Maribel We recently spent 17 days exploring Spain’s lush, misty, and verdant northwest corner: the land of the fierce Atlantic with its spectacular cliffs, of mighty rivers gushing through deep gorges, of chestnut, pine and eucalyptus forests, of Celtic heritage, legends and myths, of bagpipes, dolmens and petroglyphs, of stunning medieval architecture dotting the countryside along the various pilgrimage routes to Santiago. Galicia also offers wild horses roaming the high mountain Serras, stately granite manor homes covered with blankets of moss, lively outdoor markets with bubbling cauldrons of pulpo a feira (octopus), more festivals that one can begin to count and 1,300 kilometers of coastline with unique Rías or low estuaries that supply the region with an astounding bounty of fish and shellfish. Galicia is blessed with a unique mix of favorable microclimates which, along with lemon, orange and palm trees, afford it five principal wine making regions,with their official Denominaciones de Origen, three of which we toured in depth: the Ribeira Sacra, Rías Baixas and Ribeiro. These three wine producing areas encompass the provinces of Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra and are currently enjoying a growing international recognition for excellence. ON THE ROAD THIS MONTH’S FEATURES: • Celtic Galicia, Spain’s Ireland • Meandering the Ribeira Sacra • Navigating the Rías Baixas • Following the Miño and Ribeiro wines • The wines of northern Portugal • Santiago, at the end of the Camino IBERIAN TRAVELER & MARIBEL’S GUIDES PAGE !1 EORUM CLARITATEM VESTIG ATIONES AUGUST 6, 2009 MEANDERING THE RIBEIRA SACRA Using the Parador of San Roman occupation. They Vicente do Pino, a reconverted produce lighter, lively, fruity, Benedictine Monastery, in mineral-rich wines, primarily Monforte de Lemos as a base, we spent 4 intensive days touring the out-of-the-way, exquisitely rural, ancient Ribeira Sacra, or ‘Sacred Bank” (noted as such for its wealth of monastic retreats). Without a doubt, it is one of the most stunningly picturesque wine growing regions of Spain! The rich, rugged canyons formed by the Miño and Sil rivers are covered with steeply terraced vineyards, vines cascading mencía-based reds and down the precipitous slopes to The Sil river canyon the very edge of the meandering rivers below. The harvests here require arduous, back breaking labor to collect the grapes from these plunging slopes. Smaller than the Rioja, but slightly larger and with an even more dramatic landscape than the Priorat, the Ribeira Sacra has been growing wine for 2,000 years, its terraces godello-based whites, along (bancales) dating back to the View from above Vía Romana, overlooking the Miño PAGE !2 EORUM CLARITATEM VESTIG ATIONES AUGUST 6, 2009 NAVIGATING THE RÍAS BAIXAS Road signs in Galicia can be the most charming and be challenging, but navigating welcoming. the Rías Baixas (Lower Both boast stunning Pazos, Estuaries) region proved to be or ancestral manor homes, most difficult due to poor or these usually with private non-existent signage. chapel, garden, hórreo (stone Therefore, when touring the granary built on stilts) and area, the help of a local guide dovecote. And both wineries is strongly advised. produce delicate, aromatic Like the Ribeira Sacra, wines that pare perfectly with this D.O. is divided into 5 sub the region’s superb seafood. zones, the largest being the Val Although we based in do Salnés, Salnés valley, Cambados at the Parador del consisting of rolling fields Albariño, we also recommend laced with stone and wire the elegant, Belle Epoque spa trellises (parrales) used to lift hotel, the 5-star Gran Hotel on A wine tasting of the Albariños at the Agro de Bazán, the vines away from the damp the pine covered island of A Vilanova de Arousa (Pontevedra). soil, towards the sunshine and Toxa as a pampering, relaxing to provide ventilation and base. prevent rot. The vineyards are planted predominately with While in the area one the resistant albariño grape should also visit the 12th (Spain’s most expensive), and century Monastery of these rather feminine wines Armenteira, the 16th century taste intensely fruity- peach, Monastery of Poio and pear, citrus flavors. picturesque village of Combarro with its line up of Along with the Palacio de hórreos facing the river. Fefiñanes, located in the wine capital of Cambados on its handsome medieval square, we found the countryside Pazo de The chapel of the Pazo de Señoráns, Vilanoviña, Meis Señorás and Agro de Bazán to (Pontevedra). PAGE 3! EORUM CLARITATEM VESTIG ATIONES AUGUST 6, 2009 Ribeiro (Ourense At his Viña Mein estate in province), the oldest Leiro, ex-attorney Javier appellation in Galicia, in Alén has been a pioneer in the medieval times, under the renaissance of Ribeiro wines, reign of King García I, saw its returning to its native grapes, wines, the potent tostados, and bringing the Treixadura, exported from the court of called the “queen of all white Ribadavia to almost the whole grapes”, on to the world’s of Europe. Ribadavia’s stage. Adjacent to the winery, thriving Jewish community the owners have created a became rich thanks to the cozy and charming 8-room pre-Inquisition wine B&B from the original stone commerce. In the 16th farmstead, which makes a century Ribeiro wine was delightful retreat for revered throughout Europe oenophiles. Viña Mein also and even shipped to America. owns a strikingly avant-garde, Cervantes described boutique hotel, a member of Adega Coto do Gomariz Ribadavia as Spain’s “Mother the prestigious Rusticae of Wine”. But in the 18th group, in the hamlet of San century the vineyards Clodio, adjacent to the suffered a sharp decline as Monastery. foreign wine merchants Other noteworthy wine moved on to Porto. Then in estates to include on your the 19th century a vine plague Ribeiro itinerary: The Coto devastated the Ribeiro wine do Gomariz and Casal de industry. Armán, an 18th century The vineyards here are winery with atmospheric 8- situated in the deep green room hotel and delightful hills that slope down to four bistro with heavenly views. rivers that irrigate this pastoral land. (Ribeiro in the Gallego language meaning The rural hotel of Adega Casal de Armán “River Bank”). PAGE !4 EORUM CLARITATEM VESTIG ATIONES AUGUST 6, 2009 THE WINES OF NORTHERN PORTUGAL From the Ribeiro we pleasurable in the village’s crossed the Miño river and Solar do Alvarinho wine center, stepped back 30 years in time. a showcase for these fresh The Portuguese Minho, far white wines, along with local more pristine than its Spanish cheeses, sausages, honey and counterpart, is endowed with a handicrafts, including exquisite number of highly photogenic embroidered linens. fortress towns with their And a visit to the northern defensive walls and watch Minho valley wouldn’t be towers intact, filled with complete without an magnificently restored unforgettable gourmet lunch at churches, beautifully Adega do Sossego in Peso. A manicured gardens, quintas tucked- away charmer, it serves (noble estates) and mosaic gargantuan portions of local cobbled squares, along with specialties, such as grilled trout thermal spas. Vila de Cerveira, stuffed with country ham, Solar do Alvarinho Caminha, Monçao and washed down with the house Melgaço all delight visitors alvarinho wine, and ending with with their Old World charm. a complimentary miniature vat In Melgaço, gateway to the of their homemade digestif. Peneda-Gerês National Park, we dropped in to sample the area’s crisp, refreshing, slightly effervescent alvarinho vinho verde. Sampling here couldn’t be more SANTIAGO, AT THE END OF THE CAMINO After two weeks and 3,000 In our Santiago kilometers of explorations, we wanderings, we were lucky to reached the end of our own catch the filming of a crowd Galician pilgrimage on the scene of the Martin Sheen / Road of St. James-with our Emilio Estevez movie, a family final 3 days in spectacular drama, The Way, which was Santiago de Compostela. being shot on the magnificent Preparations are officially Praza do Obradoiro. underway for the Holy Year - While we lodged in Xacobeo 2010, when the city Galicia’s historic Paradors for expects between 8-9 million our country stays, here we visitors. The Jubilee Year of chose the superbly renovated Compostela has been 4- star Hotel Monumento San celebrated since the Middle Francisco, a perfect blend of Ages, whenever the feast day of medieval and modern (with 50 the Apostle St. James, July 25, monks still in residence). Its 76 falls on a Sunday. Celebrations rooms and huge suites combine will begin the eve of Dec. 31, the tranquility of a monastery 09 and end one year later and with all the proper creature will include special exhibits and comforts of today, including a performances by international lovely indoor pool and fine artists (Cecilia Bartoli, Lang, gourmet restaurant. It provided Lang, Zubin Mehta, Cirque du us with true pampering at the Soleil, Merce Cunningham). end of our Camino. A jewel! Mark your calendars! PAGE 5!.

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