Visiting Galicia always means enjoying its wonderful cuisine. And if you are also a lover of good wines, there are many routes in the community that mix wine tourism with its rich culture and incredible landscapes.
Galicia is a community that stands out for a myriad of aspects: its incredible green fields, its monuments, its small villages with a special charm, its coast, its rainy climate … But something that clearly distinguishes it, apart from its seafood, are its wines . The wine in Galicia is culture and art, it is the result of an ancient tradition that is why Rías Baixas, O Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras and Monterrei are the five denominations of origin that currently cover some of the best wines from around the world.
There are different ways to visit Galicia, and one of them is to visit the strengths of each denomination of origin of Galician wines. Each place has its charm and also enjoy the special flavor of each wine is a pleasure. A good route would be as follows:
Rías Baixas: when thinking about Rías Baixas wine, it is impossible not to think about Albariño, and this grape is 96% of the production under the Designation of Origin of the area. Cambados would be the seafood town cradle of seafood and albariño. In this municipality you can see the old Pazo de Bazán, built by the ancestors of the Galician writer Emilia Pardo Bazán; the Paseo da Calzada, a flirtatious poplar and poplar mall that hosts the traditional Festa do Viño Albariño in the first week of August; crossing the mall you can reach the promenade, where you can enjoy a pleasant walk with the sea breeze present.
From the Paseo de la Calzada you can see in the distance the islands of A Toxa and Arousa and the peninsula of O Grove. Other monuments of tourist interest are the Church of San Benito, the Tower of Homage, the Pazo de Fefiñáns and the ruins of the tower of San Sadurniño. If you want to inquire about wine in the Rías Baixas, the ideal place for this is the Ethnographic Museum and do Viño.
Or Ribeiro: it is present in the valleys of the Miño, Avia and Arnoia rivers, in the province of Ourense. To Arnoia it will be the point of the game of the route, it is a small town of Ourense on the banks of the Frieira reservoir and has a hypothermal water spa, and at its feet is the wooden jetty where you can catch a catamaran to Take a tour of the Miño River. During the tour you can enjoy the calm waters of the river and views of the vineyards, accompanied by other vegetation such as oaks, willows or birches. Near the city of Ourense, worthy of a quick visit, is the town of Santa Cruz de Arrabaldo, where you can visit the Pazo de Casanova winery. You can reach other villages such as Ribadavia, O Carballiño or Leiro.
Ribeira Sacra: in the interior of Galicia, a variety of wine is produced between an area of steep canyons mixed with native forests. Monforte de Lemos is the capital and geographical center of the Ribeira Sacra. In the city, the neoclassical monastery of San Vicente, the Palace of the Counts of Lemos, the convent of the Madres Clarisas and the Torre da Homenaxe stand out. You can take a tour by catamaran or tourist train through the canyons of the Sil River to discover the typical landscape of the Ribeira Sacra.
Valdeorras: the region of Valdeorras, near León, is an area of great geographical contrast, which combines the proximity of Peña Trevinca, known as “the roof of Galicia” with its deep river basins, through which the river Sil flows as well as its tributaries. The slate not only adorns the roofs of the area, but also composes the best soil for the ripening of the grapes. Both in O Barco de Valdeorras and in the City Hall of A Rúa you can enjoy a visit with the wine as the protagonist. The abundance of wineries is what characterizes the area: the Pazo de los Flórez, the Joaquín Rebolledo Winery or the Alán De Val Winery, among many others. Another tasting in the area should be the bottle, chestnuts and mushrooms.
Monterrei: Monterrei Valley has great beauty and monumentality and is located in the southeast of the province of Orense. They emphasize the baroque parish of Vilaza and the one of San Salvador, the town hall of Monterrei, the Pazos de Espada and de Limia, as well as the Castle of Monterrei. Nearby, the town of Verín is the land of the ancestral carnivals and where the Convent of A Mercé and the Casa Do Asistente stand out as monuments.
Iberinbound Travel, iberinbound@iberinbound.com incoming travel agency specialized in Educational and leisure groups in Spain & Portugal, Shorex, Groups ad-hoc, MICE, will be pleased to organize your tour, arrange wine tastings, vineyard and winery visits or complete wine tours, in order to be really sure it will be a success.