Luxury and design spanish wine tour: 10 days-09 nights
Spain is an outstanding country to visit for wine and art lovers. For design and architecture, Spain is experiencing a Renaissance and an atmosphere of creativity and investment has attracted superstar architects from around the world to build design wineries including Frank Gehry, Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid, Philippe Mazières as well as local celebrity architects like Santiago Calatrava and Rafael Moneo. We have created this gourmet tour with an extra special focus on painting, sculpture and architecture – a luxury tour for wine lovers who also love art and design. This tour commences in Madrid where you will stay in a chic boutique hotel located in the art triangle (Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia museums) facing the lovely Retiro Park and Gardens. You´ll explore Madrid with your own private art guide who will show you around the Picasso and Salvador Dali collections of the Reina Sofia, and the Velazquez and El Greco galleries of the Prado. The prestigious wine regions of Ribera del Duero and Rioja are next and you will taste wines in a 13th century Romanesque Abbey, visit one of Europe’s most beautiful Gothic Cathedrals, and stay in an outrageous ultra modern hotel designed by Frank Gehry in a small medieval hamlet. While in Rioja, one of Spain´s prettiest wine regions, you´ll take in some excellent restaurants with up-and-coming chefs such as at the stylish La Galeria in Logroño. The scenery changes dramatically over the next couple days as you travel into Basque Country, with lush hills, pine forests and dramatic coastlines along the Atlantic. You´ll visit aristocratic San Sebastian with its postcard-perfect, tidy half-moon bay and charming old town. San Sebastian is gourmet paradise. We’ll organize a gastronomic tasting menu for you at our favorite three Michelin starred eatery Akelarre. Frank Gehry´s tremendous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is on the agenda, before flying to bohemian Barcelona. You´ll enjoy a special private wine tour to the high-end boutique cellars of Priorat, and private guided art tours in Barcelona’s best contemporary art museums such as the Picasso museum and Joan Miró foundation.
Day 1 – Madrid
Collection at Madrid airport . Check into your fashionable hotel located just steps from Madrid’s major art museums and beautiful Retiro Park.
In the afternoon, your own private guide will take you on an art tour of Madrid. You´ll visit the Prado Museum, Spain´s most famous museum, and take in various galleries focusing on the Spanish masters like El Greco, Goya, Zurbarán and Velazquez. Carry on to the Reina Sofia to see a collection of modern Spanish masters like Picasso (including Guernica), Salvador Dalì, Antoni Tàpies, Juan Gris, Eduardo Chillida, and avant-garde culptor Pablo Gargallo.
After your art tour, enjoy the evening on your own in Madrid with our suggestions. For dinner you have a range of authentic Spanish restaurants serving hearty fare at classic such as Casa Lucio, as well as creative eateries offering innovative tasting menus like at our favorite Viridiana.Day 2 – Madrid
Late breakfast at your luxurious hotel. The day is yours to explore Madrid on your own. There are a variety of wonderful museums to visit such as the Impressionist Sorolla museum (one of Madrid´s best kept secrets), the pretty Decorative Arts museum (with furniture, crystal and tapestries dating back to the 15th century) and of course the Thyssen Museum (private art collection spanning everything from 11th century Italian painting all the way to Pop Art). Madrid is also home to some excellent contemporary galleries such as the new Caixa Forum and the trendy Casa Encendida.
In This evening, we have some fabulous food and wine in store for you. You will enjoy a private Spanish wine masterclass with your own sommelier and chef. You´ll start with an aperitif of cava before taking your wine flight of Spain´s wine regions such as Toro, Bierzo, Rias Baixas and the Penedès. After your tasting, a selection of tantalizing Basque Pintxos will be served.
Day 3 – Madrid-Abadia Retuerta -Burgos
Breakfast at your Hotel . Today destination: wine country! Travel north into the plains of Spain crossing the plateaus of Castille and visiting a stunning winery such as Abadia Retuerta. You´ll visit the vineyards by 4X4, taste Cru wines in a 13th century monastic dining hall in the Romanesque Abbey. Lunch is next in a contemporary dining room in a converted mill, next to a stream.
After a satisfying wine lunch, sit back and travel on to Burgos, your base for the evening and the location of one of the world’s most spectacular gothic cathedrals. After checking in to your beautiful boutique hotel set on the river facing the old town, your driver guide will take you on a short walk to the cathedral for you to enjoy on your own. The evening is free in Burgos.
Day 4 – Burgos-El Ciego – Briones- El Ciego
Breakfast at your fancy Hotel an early travel further north into the historic wine producing region of La Rioja. Your first stop is to the landmark López de Heredia winery known for its Viña Tondonia brand. This is one of the classic wine estates of Haro and the property dates back to the 1800´s. It is also home to a new and futuristic design extension created by Zaha Hadid. Enjoy a private tour and tasting of a few of the flagship reserva wines, and continue on to another of our favorite wineries like Roda.
Roda has created the cult wine Cirsion, one of the priciest wines in the region. You´ll tour the beautiful and contrasting estate and finish with a tasting of Roda, Cirsion and their excellent olive oil Dauro. Lunch is in a converted wine cave in the medieval hill town of Briones.
After lunch, visit the darling church and handful of streets in Briones and take in the views of the vineyard-covered valley below. There is an enormous wine museum in Briones that you could visit on your own in the afternoon.
In the early evening, arrive to El Ciego, a tiny hamlet where the Marques de Riscal winery and luxury new design hotel is located. The decor is ultra modern and apart from the hotel you also have a Caudelie wine spa. The evening is yours to dine in the hotel´s gourmet restaurant.
Day 5 – El Ciego- Laguardia- Samaniego- Logroño- El Ciego
Leisurely breakfast in the “wine city” as the Riscal hotel is called, and begin your day with a visit to a Laguardia winery like beautiful Campillo. Your private tour will include a walk in the vines, followed by a technical tour and tasting of select wines.
On the drive to medieval Samaniego, you´ll also see the dazzling Ysios estate. Stop for some photos, this is one of the most beautiful wineries in Spain. Resembling a battleship, the aluminum titanium-esque roof reflects the sunlight off the limestone of the Cantabrian mountains. Your wine tasting tour of La Rioja will conclude with a private tour and tasting at the high-end Remirez de Ganuza estate.
After a morning of wine, design and beautiful scenery, you´ll be famished! We´ll have a creative tasting menu lunch waiting for you in the wine town of Logroño, sit back and relax! In the late afternoon before returning to your hotel you will spend some time exploring lovely Laguardia. Probably the most preserved medieval village in la Rioja, you can enjoy some free time to walk along the ancient wall, have a coffee outside in the plaza, take in the views, and see its collection of splendid country churches. The evening is free at your hotel.
Day 6- La Rioja-San Sebastian-Bilbao
Breakfast at your Hotel , Today’s highlights include gourmet cuisine and coastal scenery. From La Rioja, travel north into Basque Country and spend the day in beautiful San Sebastian. The most elegant and charming town in Northern Spain, San Sebastian is a heaven for gourmets and foodies. The town is the epicentre of the “Nueva Cocina Vasca”, or new Basque Cuisine. Chefs like Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana and Martin Berasetegui (all holders of three Michelin stars) have firmly placed San Sebastian on the gastro-travellers map.
Your driver will first take you to Igueldo mountain for you to take in the breathtaking views of San Sebastian below. Then, head down to the parte vieja (old town) and enjoy a scenic walk along the beach and an aperitif of Txakoli wine at one of the myriad Pintxos bars. After free time to explore, your driver will take you to Pedro Subijana´s gastronomic temple of Akelarre where a vanguard tasting menu lunch awaits. Your table directly looks over the sparkling sea, and today’s lunch will be quite a memorable treat.
In the late afternoon after a long lunch, travel west to Bilbao where you will stay the night in a design hotel that directly faces the cutting edge Guggenheim. Free evening in Bilbao.
Day 7 – Bilbao-Barcelona
Wake up to views overlooking the shimmering and undulating titanium waves of Frank Gehry´s masterpiece museum- the Guggenheim Bilbao. You´ll enjoy a free morning to see this exceptional contemporary museum on your own. See prime examples of Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art and Arte Povera. Lunch is at the museum’s gastronomic restaurant whose consulting chef is famed Martin Berasetegui.
After a superb wine lunch, you´ll take a short 45-minute flight to Barcelona, and switch gears for the bustling and glamorous streets of Barcelona’s Eixample quarter tonight. Your local driver will be waiting for you at the airport and you will be chauffeured to your luxurious hotel right on the elegant Passeig de Gracia.
Tonight is yours to relax and enjoy on your own in Barcelona. Catalonia is on a par with Basque Country regarding high-end and exciting cuisine and you have an array of wonderful Michelin starred eateries, as well as enchanting local seafood restaurants.
Day 8 – Barcelona
Breakfast at your Luxury Hotel . An art tour of Barcelona is planned for today. With your own private driver and separate art guide you will discover the highlights of Barcelona including the Picasso Museum, the Miró Museum, and Gaudi´s Parc Guell home of works of Picasso, Joan Miró and Gaudí
Before returning to your hotel, your driver and guide will take you to the whimsical Parc Guell, a park landscaped by Modernista master Antoni Gaudi from the year 1900-1914. The park is enormous and offers various treats such as views over Barcelona, as well as some beau mosaics. In the late afternoon, you will be dropped back at your hotel for a free evening.
Day 9 – Barcelona-Priorat-Barcelona
The famed wine region of Priorat is the highlight of the day. Located about an hour and 45 minutes south of Barcelona, the Priorat is the most expensive wine region in Spain and home to cult producers like Alvaro Palacios, Costers del Siurana and Mas Doix. The region is located within a lush protected national park, and the vineyards grow on picturesque mountain terraces.
Your driver and wine guide will take you on a sumptuous wine tasting experience in the Priorat and you´ll begin your tour with a visit to our favorite estate, Costers del Siurana, famed for their Clos de l ´Obac brand. With the owners themselves, visit the vineyards by jeep, to really understand the nature of Priorat winemaking (old vines, harvesting by hand, etc). Tour the winery and then finish with a tasting of 4-5 of the best wines.
Lunch is in the same hamlet of Gratallops at the Costers del Siurana´s tiny winemaker’s restaurant, fantastic. After lunch, stretch your legs and get some fresh air in Scala Dei where the remains of the 11th century priory are located (this is the symbol on the Priorat appellation label). Carry on to Barcelona for a free late afternoon anf freee evening with our suggestions.
Day 10 -Barcelona-city of origin
- At your preferred time today, your private driver will transfer you to the airport for your outbound flight. This concludes an extraordinary art, wine and design tour of Spain!
The Trip includes
- Private transportation throughout the itinerary
- Luxury Accomodation described in a bed and breakfast basis
- All meals and dinners with wine as specified in the itinerary
- Wineries visits described including guided tour
- Bilingual expert guide from The Wine Colours for 10 full days
- Entrance fees to Prado and Reina Sofia in Madrid
- Entrance fees to Museo Picasso and Joan Miro Foundation in Barcelona
- Entrance fees to Guggemheim Museum in Bilbao
- Taxes
It is NOT included
- Any flight
- Tips, personal expenses such as minibar or telephone
- Any service , meal or drink not specified in the itinerary
Pricing will be based on:
Pricing will vary according to group size, season, duration and your specific requirements. Itineraries will be quoted individually. This is a SAMPLE TOUR ITINERARY.