Wine Supervisor James Greeley is traveling in Spain this month ....

Day 1: The trek across Spain begins: Madrid to Zaragoza

I arrived in Madrid early Saturday morning a little sleep deprived after the long flight but no worse for wear; part of small group of 16 American wine professionals mostly from Florida but also Boston, Chicago and Houston.  We caught up with importer Jorge Ordonez and trip organizer JC Marin at the airport and suddenly learned about the first unplanned wrinkle in the trip itinerary.  It appears we won't be going to Penedes.   

We board the tour bus bound for Zaragoza instead.  It’s quite roomy with comfy leather seats (I didn't know Mercedes made full-sized buses!).  It’s nearly a three hour ride to our accommodations at Hotel Palafox (really nice hotel, but with lousy Wi-Fi service).  It’ll be our base for the first two days of the trip.

We arrive at hotel just before noon and have just enough time to freshen up for a tasting and lunch with Maite Esteve of Cava producer Marques de Gelida.  Due to our itinerary change, Maite came up from Penedes (a 2 hour trip for her!!) just so we could taste her wines.  And they are indeed a treat: all made from the traditional Cava varieties Paralleda, Macabeo, and Xerel-lo.

Perhaps I should mention that Cava is the most important sparkling wine of Spain, like Champagne is to France and Prosecco is to Italy.  The best is made in the Penedes region just outside of Barcelona and in my opinion Maite’s is among them.  We tried 5 sparklers and 1 still wine:  the entry level Cava “Kila”, the Brut Exclusive Reserva, the Brut Ecologico Reserva (from 70 year old biodynamically farmed vines), the “Claror” Gran Reserva (also biodynamic), and a 100% Pinot Noir pink hued Rosado Reserva.   The Gran Reserva was my favorite, but all of them were delicious; a perfect foil, too, for the tasty lunch we were served at the hotel restaurant. 

The still wine was a unique dry white made exclusively from 100% Xarel-lo from a portion of the same 70 year old vineyard that makes the Ecologico Reserva.  Lemony, with a wonderfully mineral character and bright acidity, it was the perfect way to end things.