By TED LELEKAS
It was an unforgettable wine trip. 5 days traveling along the magical path of the wines and gastronomy of Catalunya.
I had the pleasure of escorting a group of my seminar students and their friends/spouses on our first (of many, I hope) wine trips to Spain.
We arrived in Barcelona on October 28th, a day of national celebration for Greece. The beautiful city of Barcelona served as our base – and I made sure that we had plenty (although there can never be enough) time to explore its own wine and gastronomic treasures.
Our first day trip was in Penedès, the land of Cava. The weather was magnificent, we visited two large wineries in the area, Freixenet and Torres – the two visits separated by a delicious lunch in a neighbouring village. We made it back to Barcelona in time to have an unforgettable dinner at Monvinic, a contemporary « temple » of the modern Spanish food and wine culture.
For me, the key part of the whole trip was our second day trip, the destination of which was Priorat. It was the first organised visit of a Greek group to the area, and it was an unforgettable experience. Our day started with a visit to the excellent winery Mas Perinet, followed by a hearty lunch at a local tavern. Our second visit was to modern winery Buil & Giné, which was voted amongst the Top 100 international wineries of 2009 by Wine&Spirits Magazine. Our visit included an early dinner.
I am very keen to go back to Priorat. I feel that I only started to scratch the surface of this amazing Spanish wine country. Priorat wine is only just starting to take off in the Greek market, and I’m committed to doing everything I can to help. I’m not sure when my next visit to this amazing area will be, but I’m looking forward to it already!…