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Drink Of The Week: Rioja, Amontillado, Albarino...

Andy Lynes reveals Spain's must-do destinations for wine-lovers

Sunday 05 February 2006 01:00 GMT
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Spain is one of the fastest evolving and most exciting wine-producing regions in the world. Big investment in the country's viniculture has led to improvements not only to what goes in the bottle but also to visitor facilities, making the vineyards of Spain a must-do destination for oenophiles.

Winemaker Alejandro Fernandez invites the public to visit his Condado de Haza estate in Roa, Burgos (00 34 947 525 254; www.condadodehaza.com) in July for an annual summer concert of classical music and Spanish flamenco.

The state-of-the-art visitor centre at pioneering Catalonian winery Jean Leon in Torrelavit, Penedès (00 34 938 995 512; www.jeanleon.com) has been designed by renowned architect Domingo Triay to follow the curves of the surrounding mountains

Sample five types of top-quality sherry after touring the cellars of El Maestro Sierra in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucia (00 34 956 342 433; www.maestrosierra.com).

The Gonzalez family has been producing wine in La Rioja since 1915. At the family's Dinastia Vivanco vineyard in Briones, La Rioja (00 34 941 322 323; www.dinastiavivanco.com), in addition to the bodega, you can visit the estate's Museum of Wine.

Spanish wine expert John Radford has described the Dominio de Pingus winery in Valladolid, Castille-Leon (00 34 983 680 189) as resembling a pink flying saucer.

Martin Codax in Cambados, Galicia (00 34 986 526 040; www.martincodax.com) is a group of producers who make some of the best Albarino wine in Spain and a powerful grape liquor flavoured with herbs.

Amontillado sherry is aged for more than 50 years at Bodegas Gutierrez Colosia in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Andalucia (00 34 956 852 852; www.gutierrez-colosia.com) to produce the rare Colosia Palo Cortado wine.

The Tunnel of the Seasons allows visitors to the famous Miguel Torres in Vilafranca del Penedès, Barcelona (00 34 938 177 400; www.torres.es) the chance to experience the annual lifecycle of a vine for themselves.

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