Discovering Wine Country & Inland Galicia Short Break

Moving away from the coast we follow the course of the river into the Miño river valley, a magical land on both sides of the river Miño a natural border separating Galicia from Northern Portugal.  Starting the day with a winery visit and tasting in the sub-zone of Condado de Tea (Tea County) which is part of the D.O. Rias Baixas. We will take a picturesque walk down at the river, following along a beautiful woodland path coming out where the rapids are and we will see the wall-like construction (Pesqueira) jutting out into the current tides with conical nets hooked to them. They have been used since Roman times to catch the lamprey eel a delicacy in the area. People come from all over at the season of the lamprea to taste it. On both sides of the miño, they prepare the lamprey eel and they both make wine from the same grape Albariño/Alvarinho. You will get a taste of the wine made on each side of the river border and you will actually walk right across into Portugal´s D.O.C. Vinho Verde wine country!

Exploring deeper inland Galicia we encounter a sacred wine country… D.O. Ribeira Sacra. The Romans first cultivated the vineyards alongside the banks of the rivers Sil and Miño. The monks continued it on, but then the area was abandoned for years. Fortunately, Ribeira Sacra has undergone a renaissance over the last three decades since people been coming back and replanting the terrace and making some of the best wines in the world. Such a hard land to cultivate taking years to build and with a steep slope incline of up to 86 degrees! No wonder the area is known as heroic viticulture. The most well-known grapes varieties are Mencia (red) and Godello (white), but Albariño (white) is also planted here as well as other local indigenous varieties.

You will take a wine country walk to a viewpoint to admire the views of the river and vines then visit a winery with a VIP tasting including lunch at the restaurant of the winery. Then down to Sil river to take a boat ride to admire the vines from a different angle.

Your journey continues on to the neighbour wine region D.O. Ribeiro. Another day of walking thru old wine country roads to learn the history of the oldest Appellation of Origin in Galicia. The heart of the wine country is a quaint town called Ribadavia with an interesting Jewish past which played a big part in the production of wine and is part of the Sephardic routes in Spain. Here we will taste the blended whites and reds as well the mono-varietal of the Treixadura grape (white).

Our trip comes to an end with a special show cooking farewell dinner of creative Galician cuisine.

For those who will like to extend their trip, we have add-ons down to Porto, Lisbon over to Seville and could end up in Madrid the capital city of Spain. Let us know and we can suggest the best way to combine the add-on either pre-tour of post-tour just ask one of our tour specialists.

NOTE:  We have also a Small Group Version of this tour, with chauffeur transportation and some more activities and excursions. If you are more interested in a tour of this sort please check …Southern Galicia Coastal & Wine Country Walking Trails.

Car Rental Details: (2 – 3 people)