Come and enjoy a unique chance to discover Spain’s wine producing tradition at the harvest festival. Take part in the numerous proposals included in the Wine Routes and feel like a wine expert for a few days as you help collect and tread grapes, or enjoy delicious tasting sessions.
The grape harvest is one of the most important moments in the production of a good wine. This is when the raw materials are gathered to prepare the wines of the year. It is a major celebration on all the Wine Routes to be found around Spain. Here, however, are some suggestions for you to come and experience it on five of them:
Navarre Wine Route
It is located in the Region of Navarre, in northern Spain, and the Navarre Wine Harvest Festival is held every September. The main celebrations take place in Olite, where there are concerts, tasting sessions, a shop window-dressing competition for wine harvest themes, and many establishments offer the chance to sample tapas, main dishes and desserts related with the grape. Furthermore, all the Olite wineries have open days for visits.
Other very interesting options are outings to the vineyards. You can explore them on foot, by bike or on horseback… For the more daring there is even the option to take a balloon flight over them. A real experience!
Penedès Wine and Cava (sparkling wine) Route
This route is in the Region of Catalonia and offers the chance to enjoy the wine harvest to the full. Its wineries and accommodation establishments offer a host of activities during September and October and, amongst other things, you will be able to discover the full wine production process and the techniques used to achieve an excellent quality wine. These options are available, for example, at the wineries of Castellroig and Caves Nadal, or at Ca La Laia, where you can spend a wine-tourism day with tasting sessions, visits to the Catalonia Wine Culture Museum (Vinseum) and the Parés Baltà, Can Feixes and Capità Vidal wineries. At the Jean Leon Winery, for its part, there are recreational workshops where you will learn how to differentiate wines by their aroma.
Another option is to explore the vineyards of Sant Sadurní, which many consider to be the capital of Cava sparkling wine. The Cal Feru wine centre offers a visit to the Raventós Blanc and Vilarnau wineries. Furthermore, in October Sant Sadurní celebrates its Cava Week.
Jumilla Wine Route
This route runs through the Region of Murcia, in southeastern Spain, and celebrates its Wine Harvest Festival during the week of 15 August. The best thing about it is the participatory nature of activities, where you can take part in grape collection and treading, as well as the production and tasting of wine. A parade, wine fair and an offering of grapes and the first young wine to the “Niño de las Uvas” completes a programme where even the youngest visitors will have fun, with the inclusion of a children’s parade.
Montilla-Moriles Wine Route
Set in Cordoba, in the Region of Andalusia, the Montilla–Moriles Wine Route celebrates a “flamenco tasting” event for the Wine Harvest Festival. These tasting sessions take place at the Navarro de Montilla Winery and are a real spectacle with the participation of major figures from the world of flamenco.
The festival also offers other attractions such as open days at wineries, the wine producers’ skills competition and the Wine and Tapas Fiesta, a wonderful opportunity to discover the typical tapas of southern Spain, accompanied by regional wines.
