Travel with Julie

Wine Regions Of Spain

Cava grapes courtesy of Flickr

To know Spanish wines is to love Spanish wines!  But understanding the different wine regions, wine labels and grape varieties of Spain is no easier task than understanding those of France or Italy.  The way I tackle this challenge is to start by breaking down the regions.  Here are the top regions you might want to start with:

Due north of Madrid and just below the Cantabrian Mountains sits the Rioja region (one of my favorites). Here, wine making has a long history dating as far back as the 11th century.  Today, Rioja wines are internationally recognized wines with Tempranillo being the most well known.  The principal wine regions of Rioja are Rioj Alta (producing fruitier wines), Rioja Alavesa (known for fuller bodied wines with higher acidity) and Rioa Baja (yielding a higher alcoholic wine).

A lesser known region is Ribera del Duero, centered between Madrid and Burgos. Many consider its wines as the finest of Spanish reds.  Similar to Rioja, Ribero del Duero wines are full bodied and long lived.

Southwest of Barcelona is home to the Penedes wine region. This region is most famous for its production of Cava, Spanish champagne.  While champagne is called champagne because it is made in the Champagne region of France, Cava is called Cava because the cellar which it is made in is called a cava.  Some of the best known producers are Codorniu and Freixenet.

Located on the northwestern corner of Spain is the region called Rias Baixas where one of the finest white wines is produced, Albarino.  Albarino wines are known as the "wines of the sea" due to their production being so close to the Atlantic Ocean.

Head south to Andalucia into Spain's "sherry triangle" consisting of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar for the biggest sherry producing area in the world.  Many sherry bodegas can be found within this triangle for tours and tastings.

 

Planning a trip to Spain?  Click here to find out how I can help make your vacation a unique postcard in your travel scrapbook!

How to Celebrate New Year's Eve Spanish Style

After learning Italians like to wear red underwear and throw things out their windows on New Year's Eve, I thought it would be interesting to find out how to spend New Year's Eve (Noche Vieja) Spanish-style!   Here are the top 10 traditions you might consider:

1. Dress yourself up in fancy new clothes and gather with friends and family to offer up prayers.  The prayers are considered to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck in the year ahead.
2. Wearing a brightly colored costume, step out into the street and indulge in dancing and wild merriment.  Invite your friends to join you--dancing in groups is preferred.  (You may want to give your neighbors a little warning before you try this one at home :)...just sayin'!)
3. Watch a fireworks show.
4. Bake a special cake.  The cake must be shaped like a ring with goodies and gifts baked inside.  Divide the cake among your friends.  Those who find the hidden goodies are supposedly blessed with good luck throughout the new year.
5. Construct a large doll out of old clothes stuffed with straw.  At midnight, take the doll into the street and light it on fire.  The burning of the doll represents the end of the "old person" and the beginning of a "new person." (Do yourself a favor and be sober when you explain this one to the police--you know they are going to show up for this one!)
6. At the strike of midnight, eat 12 grapes--one grape per chime.  If you can successfully eat one grape per chime while following the rhythm and not choking or laughing too much, you can look forward to a year of happiness and luck.
7. Drink cava (Spain's bubbly).
8. Wear red underwear.  (Yes, the Spaniards also believe that wearing red underwear brings about good luck for the year--as long as it's been bought for you by someone else!)
9. Head out to a disco or bar (but only after midnight!).
10. Stay up all night celebrating, followed by eating churros con chocolate at sunrise.

What I Learned About Bullfighting In Madrid

Until recently, the bullring was only open for spectators imbibing the sport of killing bulls.  Today, Madrid's Plaza de Toros has opened its doors to tourists.  With guided tours in several languages, the guide walks you through the stadium and onto the ground floor, explaining the ritual of bullfighting.

I braced myself for the smell of death.  A blood-stained arena. Thankfully, I found neither.  Plaza de Toros is a grand structure, beautiful in its own right.  Inside, the stadium resembles many U.S. stadiums used for baseball and football. Seating is a tad archaic with cement tiers lined with numbers to correspond with spectator tickets--then again, it was built in 1929.  A colorfully decorated section is offered for the president of the bullfight. From the spectator's viewpoint, there is little extravagance offered inside the stadium, seemingly symbolic of the sacrifices made in them--the sacrifice of death.

Sacrificing bulls is a practice dating back to pre-historic times.  The sport as we know it today started in village squares and became a more formalized sport in the late 18th century. There are hundreds of bullrings throughout Spain (smaller towns offering 'portable' versions).  The oldest stadium is in Ronda, a province in Andalucia (southern Spain).

According to our guide, six bulls and three matadores (bullfighters) are selected for each event.  Each matador and his team of assistants parade across the arena in ceremony.  Following the fanfare, the first bull is released. The first bullfighter's assistants engage the bull using large capes to see how the bull responds.  If the crowd is not pleased (indicated by whistling), the bull will be removed and a replacement brought out.

Once a suitable bull is located, two picadores (lancers on horseback) enter the arena who maneuver around the bull piercing the bull's shoulders to agitate and weaken the animal.  Then, it is time for the matador (literally meaning "killer") to enter.   The matador will use his cape to encourage the bull to charge him, maintaining a rigid pose and guiding the bull around his body.

As the bull tires (through both blood loss and exertion), the matador will attempt to drive a sword through the shoulder blades and directly into the animal's heart, killing it. If, however, the matador fails in his attempt, his assistants move in to finish the job.

Following the killing of the bull, the crowd acts as judge by cheering.  If seen as successful, the matador will be awarded with one of the bull's ears.  Two ears is considered an ultimate award.

It is a brutal and gory sport.  One that celebrates man's fear and triumph over death.  It only comforts me a little to know that the dead animals are immediately removed from the arena and sold to area restaurants--at least their suffering is not totally in vain.

Every year 250,000 bulls die this slow and tortuous death for sheer entertainment.  For all the "rich" culture throughout Spain, this is one ritual I cannot conceive.  A tour of the bullring is as close as I will ever come to being a spectator of the sport.  Thankfully, I am not alone.  This summer, lawmakers in Catalonia (northeast Spain) banned the pageant starting in 2012.  At this time, it is the only significant national movement to do away with bullfighting.

There's not much that a foreigner (such as myself) can do about changing this longstanding ritual.  But for those desiring to make their voices heard on the subject, a petition in support of banning bullfighting can be signed.  The deadline for signatures is January 1, 2011.