The people of Madrid like to have a good time, and that good time can often include drinking a glass of two of wine, either to wash can often include drinking a glass of two of wine, either to wash down a meal or make an evening go well. You will never find vineyards around Madrid as the soil and climate doesn’t suit, most of the grapes for wine are grown in the far south of Spain where the dry and mountainous landscape helps to produce some of the world’s finest grapes, which are transported by road to Madrid, usually in huge refrigerated trucks.
Related article: Taste some of Madrid’s wine culture
The best wine is in Madrid
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Madrid is home to a number of first-class wineries, particularly known not only for the red and white wines but also for producing first-class Brandy. If you have the time to visit one of these wineries, or even want to show a visitor to the city around them, you’ll be sure of a first-class welcome. Usually the procedure of tasting wines is pretty simple. Every winery is proud of their history, and the professional winery guide will usually give you a brief rundown of the particular winery’s history, how many different types of wines or brandies they produce and how many cases of wine they produce every year. Once the background of the winery has been explained, then its time to get down to tasting the wines, with most wineries providing a typical three glasses of wine to taste, usually two reds and one white. Often they will provide a bonus tasting of either brandy or another form of rich dessert wine. No matter what the combination, you can be sure that you and your guests will leave the winery a lot more knowledgable about wines and wine making as well as feeling at least a little light headed.
Photo via Visualhunt
Three of the city’s largest and best-known wineries in Madrid that are worth visting are Bernabeleva Calle Avila on San Martin de Valdeiglesais 28680, Bodegas Nueva Valverde on 6 Calle de Santo Domingo de Silos, 28036 and Bodegas Sanviveron 26 Calle de Hinojosa del Duque, Fuenlabrada 28946. Apart from these large wineries, there are also day trip tours that make it an even more immersive experience, to destination locations such as Ribera del Duero as well as to the larger Madrid Wine Region, one of which is offered by Gourmet Madrid. Depending on your budget and your bandwidth (some tours visit multiple wineries and can take up to 10 hours in total), there are different options for all levels of wine enthusiasts.
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