June 10, 2009

Here was just one of the many racks of red wine at Codorniu in the labryinth like cellar that was around two meters underground.

Today was devoted to the winery tour at Codorniu. It was a gorgeous winery and one of the more entertaining tours. We have had good luck with getting good tour guides. But the winery tour was beautiful. We got a small tour of the land and where the family that owns the winery use to live. There are two houses on the property and the second one is now used for weddings and other celebrations.

During the tour we got to see some of the old machines used to make wine as well as the cellars underground. While in the cellars the tour guide had us board a vehicle with carts and drove us through some of the cellar. It was like a labyrinth of wine and cava. There were so many corridors that everything started to look the same, but it was so beautiful.

Cava is a sparkling wine made like French champagne but goes under a second fermentation in the bottle in which it is sold in. According to Williams, cava was made commercially from the mid-19th century and in 1872, full-scale production was begun by Josep Raventos, the head of Codorniu at the time. The literal meaning of cava is cellar. Codorniu began in 1551 and has been part of the same family for 17 generations.

At the end of the tour we got to try two different cavas: a brut and a sec. The brut is drier and the sec is sweeter. I am still not sure of what I like more, dry or sweet, but I decided to buy a semi-sec cava from Codorniu. Along with the 5 euro cava I bought two wine glasses with the Codorniu name on them for 2 euros each. What a way to start my wine glass collection.

After Codorniu we had class and dinner. We ordered Dominos pizza, which was pretty good except the cheese pizza was made out of blue cheese or goat cheese, which wasn’t what I preferred. So, for the most part a lot of the American food out here tastes like home but with a slight twist to them.

Tomorrow I fly out for London and will return Saturday evening with a lot to write about. I hope to post my next entry Sunday with an update about London. If not, then I will have two posts Monday with information about London and the Flamenco Show at Poble Espanyol.

Until then, I hope everyone has found these past couple of blogs enjoyable and informative. Sending love to all my friends and family. Besos y abrazos!