Ribera del Duero Wine Region

We left our favorite cala Egos on Mallorca at 6:00pm for our overnight to Valencia on the mainland. It was a really calm crossing and the sliver of a new moon set bright orange into a smooth sea. We do 3 hour watches (1 of us up 3 hours and then sleep for 3 hours) on our overnights and I (willow) had the sunrise watch. And just as Brother Sun sizzled out of the water into the sky, one lone dolphin jumped out of the water to celebrate another day. What a privilege to witness the beauty...

When we arrived in the Marina of Juan Carlos in Valencia, we noticed a big ship with these words written on the side "Open Arms". It was just leaving port so we looked it up on the internet. It is a non government vessel used to pick up immigrants in the Med. Of course, their goal is to reduce the number of lives lost at sea. Sadly, thousands of immigrants lose their lives every year at sea as they try to find refuge in Europe. Amidst the controversy on immigration, it is so refreshing to see a statement of "Open Arms"...

We decided to do something a little different this summer--since the weather has been cool and rainy, we left Ecstasea on her own in the Valencia marina, rented a car and headed north. We spent the night with our dear friends, Ann and Franco Volli in their lovely home in Madrid. And since we have such a sweet and deep heart connection with them, it is always special.

The next morning we headed north into the Ribera del Duero wine region. This region has always been our favorite of the Spanish Reds and we wanted to tour the wineries and understand more of it. The Captain loves wonderful and interesting hotels, so he booked us into a 15th century monastery turned hotel. It was rich with history and they did a great job of turning the rooms into comfortable, elegant accommodations. And it was right in the heart of the wine country!

Our monastery/hotel in the distance with a vineyard in the forefront...

A closer view...

And closer yet...

And Richard in the entry door...

The monks were some of the original wine makers in the region and this is their wine cellar underneath the monastery. It is now part of the restaurant...

The inner courtyard or cloister of the monastery...

And the sacred sanctuary within the monastery...

We headed out the next morning to a winery called "Matarromera". Excellent wine and as we were tasting the owner Carlo Moro happened in and introduced himself. So we were fortunate enough to learn even more straight from him. He also encouraged us to visit his other winery called Emina just down the road. So we did and found even more excellent wine to taste and buy. They also had a museum that really educated us to the Spanish wine making ins and outs.

Tasting wine in Matarromero Winery---look at all that wine!!!

Now at Emina Winery...

And Richard imbibing at Emina. We learned that Emina means the amount of wine each monk could have a day without getting drunk. And it was about a third of a bottle of wine. We were surprised that it was that much!

After a long nap (which we are very good at, especially after so much wine), we drove into the little town nearby of Penefiel to visit the large castle on top of the hill. The castle was a fortress built in the 15th century. The tour of the castle also had a wine museum so we learned even more...

Another wine that we have liked very much comes from the winery called Protos. And Protos is right beneath the castle...

And touring Protos was really impressive as it tunnels for over a mile underground/beneath the castle with it's aging wine cellars. It was the original winery of this Ribera del Duero region.
Here are just a few pictures of the many, many barrels of wine:

         
So needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the monastery experience and the wine region. And to prove it, we bought many great bottles of wine to bring back to Ecstasea for the summer!