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Published: December 29th 2015
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his great grandfather, grandfather, great aunt and great grandmother We woke up feeling so much more alive. Susan and I took off to find breakfast and a bank. The bank was across the street but Susan’s card didn’t work. Turns out she didn’t get up with the bank before coming. We then walked and walked looking for a bakery and finally found one. This was great with wonderful pastries. We then took off wondering the city and saw one of the churches from last night. It was now time to head back towards the hotel but it didn’t look right so we just retraced our track and got back. It turned out we had been just over a block away but…. It’s easy to get lost in the town as it has several central areas with spokes radiating from each and intersecting at odd angles… ie, it’s not grid’d at all.
Hector picked us up at 11:30 and drove us to the vineyards. The vineyard area was about 55 Kilometers away and there were MANY vineyards that we passed. After rounding one curve, we see the “Emilio Moro” winery. Hector’s brother, Alberto, was there and was our tour guide thru the winery. We saw early pictures of his family.
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the winery His great grandfather started making the wine and his grandfather was the one that started the winery. This is his mother’s father. We saw their wine making process from the 3 types of soil their grapes are grown in and the different characteristics of each type of the soil. All there wine is made from tempernillo grapes. Their winery is unique. Their wines are made the way they want to make them not, the proper, typical way. I think that is what makes their wines so unique. They also take a portion of the profits and donate them. They used to do international projects but with the Spanish crisis, they are doing more with the food banks and local charities. If you live in the area, you can buy one of the vines for the year and you get to visit the winery free each year and one reservation at the restaurant. You also get a bottle of wine made from the grapes on your vine.
The wine area their 2 vineyards are in is the Ribera del Duero. The river is cross the road from the winery. After the wine tour we went into the tasting area which
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i found my bottle to ship home was also the lunch area. We sat down for our Cocido. This is a typical Spanish lunch. It starts with soup, followed by a course of chickpeas and cabbage, followed by a plate of a variety of Spanish meats. We even had the pig’s blood rice dish again. It was all great and paired with more of the wonderful wines.
After lunch we went to the Monastery that had been converted into a hotel and had coffee and tea. This was relaxing. After that we went and saw the longest wooden bridge in Europe and then to view the Cepa 21 winery and toured it. It is the modern winery of the Moro family. Next we went to one of the growing areas that had a hill with a building on top. The view was lovely but it was WINDY and cold. We didn’t stay there too long. Next we headed to the bull ring. This is a series of connected houses with balconies that overlook a rectangular court yard. When they do the bull fights, the inside ring is installed but bulls can jump it at times. The doors into the court yard are either VERY skinny or
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The 3 charity barrels. The wine is expensive and all the money from the charity wine is donated to the foundation have bars over them so that the bulls can’t crash into the house. From the bull ring you can see the Castle on the hill. It is a beautiful view. We next drove up to the castle. The view of the village is great but again, very cold and very, very windy.
Next we went back to the vineyard and had a traditional Spanish Chuletillas Con Sarmiento. This is where they cook lamb over the coals from the grape vines. Hector built the fire with the dried vines then placed the lamb chops on the grill and cooked them. They were wonderful and of course they were accompanied by more of the great wine. Hector then drove us back to the city and to our hotel, where we crashed.
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