Taking the Train to the Penedes Cava & Wine Country

Our trip to Spain would not be complete without a visit to the local wine region nearest to Barcelona called Penedes. I researched and signed up for a one-day tour of the region, complete with three winery visits & tastings, as well as lunch at a local Penedes restaurant via El Moli Tours (www.elmolitours.com). We got up at 7:30a to catch the 9:05am Renfre train to Penedes from Placa de Catalunya. After our Sitges trip days earlier, we were now professionals on the Renfre train. The 1-hour ride took 20 minutes longer due to unanticipated construction-related issues, but Paddy Minion (owner of El Moli tours) greeted us at the Villafranca de Penedes train station once we arrived. A native Dublin, Irelander, Paddy has lived in the Barcelona/Penedes area since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He has owned and operated El Moli Tours for the past 4 years. His company specializes in bicycle tours throughout the Penedes wine region. Maria and her husband Hercht, who drove down from Holland and just completed a 7-day bike tour of the 3 main wine regions near Barcelona, joined us for the first part of the day.
Our first stop was Albet I Noya, the first 100% organic wine producer in the Penedes region. Txielle, a native from Villafranca was our tour guide at Albet I Noya. During the 2-hour tour, she took us to see every part of the operation that produces 14 different wines and 8 different cavas (Catalonia’s sparkling wine and one of its most well known exports). It was interesting to learn how different the maturation process is for cava vs. wines. At the end of the tour, we were brought into the tasting room where we enjoyed their Brut cava, Lignum vino blanco, and the Marti Reserva vino tinto. By the end of the tasting, all of us were feeling really good. We bought three bottles, and interestingly enough, Spanish wines are relatively cheap compared to what we’re used to paying in Napa. Unfortunately, due to all of the luggages that I brought with me, we weren’t able to buy more to transport them home.
Our second stop was at another quaint, family-run winery in Penedes called Mas Comdal. Mas Comdal’s claim-to-fame is their big Rosado (rose) wine. There was no formal tour (just how we like it, straight to the wine tasting). Instead we were seated at the courtyard table, where we enjoyed the outdoor ambiance of the winery estate. The Rosado wine was really delicious, as well as the vino blanco, but we couldn’t buy anymore wine. Mario and Hercht enjoyed the winery as well and bought another three wines because lucky for them they were driving back to Holland. Boyd and I liked both wineries, due to their quaint nature and smaller family feel. The wines also were unexpectedly good, despite their relatively inexpensive pricetag.
Paddy drove us all back to his home in Penedes, where we said goodbye to Maria and Hercht (they were going to drive into Barcelona to spend 4 days there). By this time, it was already 3pm and Boyd and I were completely starving. Our croissant and bocadillo (baguette with Spanish tortilla filling) breakfasts were not cutting it. Paddy took us to a local Penedes restaurant where we had a complete pre-fixe meal for 10 euro. It’s crazy how much more expensive Barcelona is, but the meal was included in the price of the tour anyways. The mussels appetizer and grilled cod eased the growling. Paddy ordered a vino tinto blend from Priorat (another famous Spanish wine region). After our delightful lunch, we were ready to visit the final winery, Torres.
Torres Winery is the largest single winery in all of Penedes and also has another location in the Sonoma Valley. The tour felt a little like we were in Disneyland, complete with a tram to take us from the Receiving Building to the Wine Cellar. In their movie theater, they played a15-minute movie to explain the family’s history and its winemaking tradition. After that, we boarded the tram for a ride around the enormously vast grounds. Our tour ended with a tasting of one of their famous red wines, Coronas. Overall, we weren’t as impressed with this big winery, as we were with the smaller, family-owned wineries of Albet I Noya and Mas Comdal. The day came to an end when Paddy dropped us off at the Villafranca de Penedes train station for our 6:50p train.
Although there is so much to see and do in Barcelona, I’m glad that we’ve spent half of our time taking day trips to other nearby areas to experience both the beautiful coast and the picturesque wine country. Barcelona is a city full of energy, from the multitude of tourists to the lively locals. The culture is undeniably Spanish, the architecture uniquely Art Nuveau, and the cuisine distinctively Catalan. It was difficult to see and do everything we wanted to do in the short 6 nights we stayed there. Although we wanted to take a day trip to Ibiza, we weren’t able to this time around. That’s okay though, because it gives us another great reason to return to Spain again.
Having grown accustomed to the late night meals, we didn’t eat our last dinner until close to almost midnight. The concierge recommended L’Arros (specializes in rice dishes - because I wanted to eat paella one last time), but we couldn’t easily find it. We ended up going to another waterfront, seafood restaurant which ended up being our worst meal during the entire trip. By the time we got back to the hotel, we only had a couple of hours until our early morning wakeup call.

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