Jean Leon, Torres & Freixenet Vineyards

Torres - it's at the top of a hill and one can view the valley, other small wineries and the little town of Penedes.

The have their own little train to take you for a tour.

Their own wine grapes

The train takes you inside a dark room, which has thousands of barrels stored, before the bottling process.

The bottling process & storage

Inside the tasting & training room

& the tasting begins - which cheese goes with which wine???

 FREIXENET - Freixenet is the world's top producer of Spanish sparkling wine or cava. Having expanded tremendously within years (make around 90 million bottles a year!) with hardly any space left to develop their estate, Freixenet has expanded vertically in literal terms - it goes levels underground!

Let's go for a ride:)

The barrels

The old old bottles!

Old is gold:) Who likes mature wine?

Way underground! 

The little left of the ceiling - the temperature is controlled/ chilly because of the wines.

 JEAN LEON - one of the most fascinating 'hollywood like' stories, inspiring and surely makes you want to know more about his wines - vineyard managed and run by Torres.

On the way to Jean Leon

We were welcomed by the bottles!

Wine Grapes - Green used for White Wine

Black grapes for Red wine

Who likes Sauvignon Blanc - We actually tried the grapes!

The classiest barrels ever!

The barrel process - crushing of the grapes is now done by machines.

The barrels

The tasting & training by one of the Jean Leon representatives

Forgot to add this one earlier - Chardonnay Grapes!

Why Should one take a wine tour in Barcelona?

Whilst there's a lot to do in beautiful Barcelona, there's also lots to see if you travel a bit outside the city. A two hour drive from the main city of Barcelona is the Spanish wine region of Penedes - this is home to famous wine brands such as Jean Leon and Torres and Caves Freixenet Winery (there are small wineries around although that's more family oriented and not for commercial use/ visits).

We were in Barcelona for just 3 days and had decided to dedicate half a day to a wine tour and the city tour buses in Barcelona offer day trips, which makes it convenient to be back by mid day and still do a lot for the rest of your day.

Other than being adventurous and beautiful, the wine tours in Barcelona are extremely informative and you will surely go back with a wealth of knowledge on how strong you like your wine, how acidic it is, how long it has been kept in the barrel, how young or old it is  and so on. It surely is an enriching experience for wine drinkers/lovers and should not be missed! Also, you get to buy the bottles, directly from the wineries - however old you like it.

Surely try taking the Jean Leon, Torres & Cava Freixenet day tour as you learn about both, wine and champagne and the stories of each are quite enchanting!

How to plan a Wine tour in Barcelona: try one of the city tour buses and their kiosks in Barcelona, the pick up is from Las Ramblas and it's usually quite early, at around 7am. Day trips are the best.
Duration of tour: Around 7 to 8 hours
Tips: Travel light, I would suggest pack a sandwich or something light because all you get, all day, is wine and cheese and surely you will crave for much more, especially after all the tasting and buzzing!
Wineries to visit: Jean Leon (Fascinating story), Torres & Freixenet
And please plan in advance, atleast book your wine trip a week to 10 days in advance as we struggled a night before - yes, we are that last minute!

Try http://www.barcelonacitytours.com for half/ full day tours!

(Cava in Catalonia is 'champagne' and I will surely be posting lots of pictures in my next post from our little wine tour)