As a lover of Spanish wine, I picked the perfect day to blog about. We started the day off by taking the quick trip from Segovia to Vinedos de Nieva in Rueda, the winery that makes the Verdejo Blanco Nieva that we sell by the glass. Blanco Nieva is one of my personal favorites, and one I had been looking forward to learning about for months.
Pie Franco vineyards of Verdejo at Blanco Nieva in Rueda.
The winery was beautiful, simple and rustic, yet comfortable at the same time. It was like being in the home of someone who just happened to also make delicious wine. Our guide was Manuel Gonzalez, the winery owner’s son. First we did a tasting and then a tour of their Pie Franco vineyards, which has 150 year old pre-phylloxera vines..amazing!
It was clear that, for them, it was all about the vineyards. For wines that are so expressive, their vinification process was surprisingly simple. Manuel explained that they focus on getting better every year and making the most perfect quality of grapes at a low cost, so that everyone can enjoy them. No wonder we love their wines so much at Barcelona, it all sounded very familiar. After the tour we sat down to a delicious lunch, with probably the best suckling pig we had all trip.
Tradtional suckling pig roast at Blanco Nieva in Rueda.
Next, we took the beautiful drive towards Madrid and our next winery Bernabeleva… we almost made it. A driver-who-shall-remain-nameless got into a slight fender bender when we were about a minute away. When we called to let them know we would be a few minutes late, they insisted on coming to meet us to help out. Our friends at the winery showed up within minutes, and while it was not the most ideal way to meet our hosts they were happy to help out.
Most of the group headed over to the winery while the accident was being sorted out. Within minutes of arriving, Marc the winemaker went to a mini fridge and cracked and distributed a couple of 40s…I knew it was going to be an interesting visit!
This is what bio-diversity looks like, at Bernabeleva.
Bernabeleva is mainly a garnacha producer, although they also produce albillo and some moscatel. Their 35 hectares of vines are fairly spread out, so we divided up to take the tour. We got into three vehicles, a BMW SUV, an old pick-up truck, and a converted ambulance that they got from an old insane asylum. These vehicles represented the three guys well, to say the least.
The vineyards at the winery have crazy names like “kung foo” and “taxi driver,” and are covered in wild flowers and herbs. They tend their plots according to moon phases and every one is vinified separately to make wines that express their specific terroir. After our tour they “condemned us to the eternal barrel tasting” where we got to see the variation from plot to plot.
The gang of Bernabeleva
They set up an enormous spread of meats and cheese on a big foldout table in the middle of the winery, while grilling up morcilla and aged steaks on a charcoal grill. We hung out for the rest of the night and ate and drank while listening to Led Zeppelin on an old boombox.
For how vastly different the two visits were, I will remember the genuine hospitality most.