Wine tour | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

We went for a tour at a winery called “Bodega La Cepa De Pelayo” which is a new Bodega located in Alcafá Del Jucar, Spain.

The tour was very detailed and took us through the entire Bodega.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and explained the entire process in detail.

Tour guide explaining the processes of the wine making in the Bodega

We began with a tour with the extraction process, known as “debourbage”and how the grape is separated from the juice.

The juice is then transferred to different vats where the alcoholic fermentation starts.

Shelley and Ray in front of the fermentation vats

We then went to the barrel storage area where the wine is aged.

Finally we went to a large hall set up for the wine tasting. We found our seats and learned about the etiquette of wine tasting. Our tour guide was very good and explained everything very clearly.

Tour guide explaining the wine tasting etiquette

We learned about the colour of the wine, the smell, look, texture and taste. We were taught how to swirl the glass to release the aromas of the wine.

We tried several different wines including a white, rose and red.

The wine tasting was very entertaining and a lot of fun.

“Hasta luego y que tengas un gran dia”

We went to the world renown Gonzalez Byass Bodega (winery) for a tour in Jerez Spain. The bodega is well-known for its sherry and it’s brand Tio Pepe. Its origins began in 1835 and was founded by Manuel María González Angel. Later a partnership with Robert Blake Byass created the Gonzalez Byass name. The winery is located on a large property which is beautifully landscaped.

img_20161018_112041441_hdr — A view of the Gonzalez Byass Winery property in Jerez

The entrance to the main building is decorated with historic pictures of the winery which began in 1835.

img_20161018_101500319 — Entrance area of main building in the Gonzalez Byass Winery

When we finished exploring the historic photos in the main entrance, we were met by our guide. He was very enlightening and had a great sense of humor. We began our tour in a circular style reception area which was very unique.

img_20161018_103337904_hdr — Reception area of the winery

The guide explained to us the design of the reception area was mirrored similar to Saint Peter’s Square in Rome. The building was constructed this way to impress the visiting royal family of Spain.

We walked throughout the reception area looking at the different symbols of countries. The symbols on each barrel represented each country that Gonzalez Byass Winery exported their products to.

img_20161018_102202213 — Different countries Gonzalez Byass Winery exports their products to.

We walked around until we located Canada on one of the Barrels.

img_20161018_102247008 — The Canada Barrel at the Gonzalez Byass Winery

We then headed into another area of the winery which had a display of the equipment used to create wine over the years.

img_20161018_103630380_hdr — An exhibit of some of the wine making equipment

The guide provided us with the history of the Bodega and how it is known for their sherry. We then entered into the area of the Bodega where the sherry barrels are kept.

img_20161018_104907181 — Sherry barrels in Bodega

The barrels are painted black to make it easy to locate leaks. The wine will leave a shiny streak on the barrel making it very easy to find the leak.

Each aisle contains four rows of matte black barrels which contain wine from four different years. The wine in each barrel is replaced and mixed with another barrel to make the sherry. There is an intricate and scientific process for making the perfect sherry.

img_20161018_105114204 — There are different sherries in selected aisles.

We walked throughout the aisles looking at the different barrels of sherry.

img_20161018_104606267 — Shelley in the Bodega barrel area

There is also a special section in the barrel storage area for the royal sherry. The Queen of Spain attended the Bodega and had grapes crushed and put into a specially made barrel.