Lake train and La Cuineta in Pobla de Segur

Unbeknowst to many, the north western corner of Catalonia, much like the north western corner of my own country, has its own ‘lake district’. Minus the howling winds and grey skies which can dampen the walking clothes if not the spirits. Also little known is the train line that winds its way from the Catalan central plain at Lleida to the small town of la Pobla de Segur and the foothills of the Pyrenees. I’ve been wanting to discover this region for some time and a stunning, meandering journey and a great little restaurant lay ahead of us. The line, now known as the Tren dels Llacs (Train of the Lakes) serves more as a tourist route than any meaningful rail service and my original intention was to take the vintage train, a decision that due to a week day was taken out of our hands and I’m pleased meant we avoided the Saturday crowds and kitsch costumes for the tourist’s benefit.Instead we took the significantly cheaper and quieter Catalan Railway daily service and benefited from an almost empty carriage and a private journey.

There’s no lie ins to catch this service which leaves Lleida at 9.10am and if you miss it, it’s tomorrow before you get your next opportunity. The high speed train got us from Barcelona to the start in time with enough time to check out the impressive station façade at Lleida before our connection.

Lleida train station

As the train pulls out of Lleida for about 20 minutes you cross the Catalan Central Depression and acres of farmland and crops before the real stunning scenery opens up and the aquamarine lakes that give this route its name come into view.

As the train pushes steadily higher and weaves its way through 41 tunnels and over 31 bridges, there is nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the gushing rivers, sheer rock faces, lush forest and those vivid lakes.

Pobla de Segur is the end of the line, sitting on the edge of the Pantamo de Talam lake. This town is more of a jumping off point for the rest of the Pyrenees rather than worthy of a long visit in its own right. However, the once a day train means at least one overnight stay is required unless you want to hop on the return train half an hour later. The spectacular lakeside position, the lake and the clean air to be inhaled and the finding of La Cuineta meant there was really nowhere better to spend a couple of relaxing days.

Pantano de Talam lake

La Pobla de Segur is not exactly overflowing with fantastic places to eat, but what they do have is La Cuineta, serving up great food and showing what’s possible with only two pairs of hands. With Montse in the kitchen and Núria out front, for the past 8 years the restaurant has been an addition to the family butchers and delicatessen in the town. After marrying her butcher husband in 1980 the shop followed in 1987 but keen cook Montse always wanted somewhere she could cook for other people and most importantly be able to see them enjoying their food. Today there is only one table in La Cuineta that she can’t see from the kitchen.

So what is she cooking up? We were there for the lunch menu, although we enjoyed this so much we returned for dinner the following evening, where Montse told us the menu is whatever comes to mind that morning and what she has available.

The rice with seasonal vegetables and prawns tempted us both to start. Let’s not label this either a risotto or a paella as it was neither. It was a mound of slightly sticky al dente rice that sang with freshness, countryside and juicy prawns.

Rice with seasonal vegetables and prawns

Montse’s own plots provide much of the produce, what she can’t procure herself she tries to get as locally as possible and doesn’t understand buying in from outside when the local area can give her so much.

The main courses were light which was welcome following that generous rice dish. My partner’s choice of crispy skinned chicken and brilliantly crunchy potato croquettes were memorable, that chicken skin was salty seduction.

Roast chicken and crispy potato croquettes

Preparing bacallà, salt cod, is something I’ll never get round to at home, too much soaking and preparing, so I love to take advantage of it on a menu. Here in one of my favourite forms, creamy, crunchy croquetes and a simple leaf salad. I’ve rarely had a main that was lighter than a started but it works and why not?

Salt cod croquettes

Desserts were included in the 12€ menu, although drinks were extra but generous 500ml bottles of water and coke. Makes a change from those piddly 200ml rations.

‘Filiberto’ was the name of this lurid pink dessert of yogurt, cubes of vanilla ice cream and a sauce that was almost identical to what used to grace a ’99′ ice cream cone as a child. A slightly odd combination on paper but for flavour and nostalgia it was terrific.

‘Filiberto’

A slightly too runny lemon mousse made up in taste for what it lacked in wobble.

Lemon mousse

Not everything at La Cuineta was a shining star, the chocolate cake I had for dessert the following night was almost tasteless and almost certainly bought in. Yet this place is so genuine, unpretentious, run with love and care and the only place the chef has ever brought me an extra plate of ‘seconds’ of the main course (without any mention of me blogging I may add) that it’s difficult not to love it.
La Cuineta, Passeig de La Riba s/n, La Pobla de Segur, 25500

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Barcelona BBQ spaces

As you may have seen elsewhere on this blog I contribute monthly to the miniguide in Barcelona. I usually reserve the article just for my Facebook page or the archive here. But, as the summer ‘sweat without even moving’ season has arrived and I’m fantasising about cold beers and mustering the energy and appetite to make some food, it seems a shame not to share useful Barcelona information for one of the other seasons we’re in….that of barbeque season.

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Festa de Calçots in Valls

The post-Christmas festivities, although tinged with sadness at leaving loved ones back on the island, are not tainted in Barcelona by the January blues. The welcome light and sun that greets you after 8 days of constant grey and drizzle in northern England lifts your spirits, as does the realisation that once again the calçots season is upon us.

Now I have written about calçots many times but I thought the ‘Festa de Calçots’ in Valls was worth a mention. The people of this sleepy town an hour inland of Barcelona claim to be the creators of the calçotada and as such hold an annual festival on the last Sunday of every January to celebrate their wonderful invention. As such, we decided to hop on the one bus that day heading out to the town to see what they were cooking up.

A cold wind was whipping through town so we took initial refuge with some too-thick-to-drink hot chocolate and churros doughnuts whilst the town got warmed up. 

Churros

Tucked away in various corners of the town were judging contests for calçots growers and sauce makers and the judges were taking it all very seriously.

The crowds were also scrambling to sample the product from the demonstrations in national dress of how to make this rich, mouthwatering nutty and garlicky sauce.

As with all Catalan festivals the gegants (giants) were out in force and paraded through the town followed by a band which always includes quite possibly the worst sounding reed instrument, the shawm, which evoked memories of the unwelcome Sunday morning wake up call I used to get when living in Poble Sec. What Catalonia has in abundance in good food it lacks in its folk music and incredibly dull national dance la sardana. Thankfully the tradition of building castles from people, castellers, is much more impressive, even when in this case it’s a simple pilar of one column of brave souls.

Gegants

Castellers

Holding off for those tasty onions a little longer we went to observe some less wise folk than us who’d volunteered themselves for the calçots eating competition and were looking to eat the usual 2+ kilos winning quantity. I don’t envy the inevitable stomach cramps and wind that must follow that hefty portion.

Calcots eating competition

With Catalan flags flying proudly more locals in national costume roasted the calçots on open fires and wrapped them in foil for visitors to enjoy.

For our 8€ tickets we snapped up our bag containing the onions, bread, nuts, a half bottle of red wine and fruit, standard fayre at any calçotada, and grabbed a few steps to tuck in with bibs round our necks, also standard calçotada practice. This is messy work.

However, although quite bursting from the contents of our goodie bag the highlight of the day for me were the locals making the most of the open fires when the calçot roasting was over with. Not wanting to feel left out we nipped into the butcher’s shops doing a swift abnormal Sunday trade and snapped up some morcilla and botifarra sausages and lomo pork loin for the barbeque. Definitely not something you’d find happening on the streets of England in January.

The other highlight of my day was being interviewed in Spanish for Catalan television for my thoughts as an outsider on the festival. Sadly I didn’t make the final cut but the film gives you a real feel for the festa even if you don’t understand a word they’re saying la-gran-festa-de-la-calcotada

As we whiled away the remaining time for the one returning bus to Barcelona we took a stroll through the now suddenly eerily deserted town in a poor effort at burning off the days eating, sank a few boozy carajillo coffees and cava in a local bar and were bid farewell by what now seems to be an obligatory Catalan sunset at the end of a heartily good day out.

Festa de Calçots in Valls, last Sunday of every January. Buses run from Sants Estació.

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Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat

Head out of Barcelona in almost every direction and you will encounter the belt of industry that circles the city. The container port, chemical plants, factories, hypermarkets, converging motorways and airport must be crossed before reaching the riches of the Catalan countryside. However, south of the city in the Llobregat river delta, ensnared by all of the above, is an oasis of agriculture in the protected nature park of the Baix Llobregat (pronounced bash-youbraygat). Easily reached from the city by bike or train, here old masia farmhouses and horticulture whisk you away from the hum of traffic and modern life in the background.

Artichokes are king here and those from El Prat, the location of this park, are renowned in Catalonia. The peak harvest had passed and parched fields of dried flowers were generally all that remained, although others were blossoming in time for the next harvest.

Orchards of olives, apples and figs are dotted around the plantations and the intoxicating perfume of the ripening figs combined with being a good distance away from the hum of the traffic gives the feeling of a Mediterranean paradise. This is truly local produce as well and I urge you to look for fruit and vegetables from this region when out making purchases. It’s worth making a trip out here for a walk or cycle, but be warned there is no shade or shelter and  the late afternoon July sun was quite punishing. Go armed with a better map than I did also if on two wheels, getting stuck amongst the chemical plants of Zona Franca on the return journey and unable to find any exit that didn’t take me onto a roaring highway slightly took the charm off the trip. But like a good Yorkshire homing pidgeon I got there in the end. Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat – arrive by RENFE to Cornellà, metro to Cornellà-Centre or FGC to Cornellà-Riera

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La Costa Dorada in Sitges

The world could learn a lot from the town of Sitges. What I perceived as a ghetto of hedonistic, holidaying, gay folk whose partying and two weeks in the sun got in the way of residents lives was completely shattered after my first visit. Instead, this picture postcard, seaside town is a melting pot of all walks of life and I am completely infatuated with it. Sit on the main street, especially in summer, and you will see couples of all persuasions taking a stroll, old people walking dogs, groups of holiday friends, babies in buggies and screaming toddlers. And of course there are the well turned out fellas whose saunter past wafts their cologne in your direction which leaves an after-taste on your tongue and curious of where their night is going to take them. This is a truly mixed bag of harmonious living (although I’m not naive enough to think this is always the case). Take note Uganda!

My love of this place means any visitors in town now get the obligatory trip on the train to spend the day there. It’s worth noting that this is not just a summer resort. Whilst it is of course more jumping in the summer and at times you’ll struggle to get on the beach, this is not a town that completely shuts down out of season and is equally enjoyable in the cooler months.

The train drops you straight in the centre of town, and the station looks stunning in the summer as the bougainevillea hangs over the walls adjoining the tracks. From here you can leisurely take in the quaint streets, boutiques and gift shops and try and resist the temptations of some of the several patisseries. Being Easter when I last went it was still too chilly for a swim but at least stick those feet in the ocean for a paddle. With many cafés and restaurants to choose from and without any recommendations it was difficult to know where to satisfy our hunger. Some fine looking paella at La Costa Dorada finally lured us in. Looking out onto the San Sebastian beach this was a perfect setting for taking in the ocean and doing a favourite pastime of mine, people watching. At 17€ each for the paella we plumped for the menu del día at 25€ which also gave us a starter platter to share, dessert, drink and bread. Who could turn down an offer like that?

The starters missed the photographs, we were famished and got stuck straight in to the plate of calamars, croquetes and the xato salad I could’ve happily eaten more of and forfeited the rest of the meal. Xato is a salad of salt cod, served here with bitter frisée lettuce, olives and romesco sauce. However, that wasn’t all and a large pan of mussels in tomato sauce arrived, tender and juicy in a creamy tomato sauce that was soaked up by the bread.

We probably could’ve stopped there but the star performer was on it’s way. I’ve never had a paella since I’ve been here, always suspicious of their authenticity and tourists connotations. I should probably stop being such a snob. A steaming dish of saffron rice with mussels, clams, prawns, langoustines and peas landed on our table so we took a deep-breath to aid our starters’ digestion and got stuck in. Heavenly marine flavours and the perfectly cooked rice (although lacking the true paella crust on the bottom) was so good we fought off our increasingly stuffed stomachs to finish.

Thankfully desserts were of a much lighter note and we both chose the Catalan staple crema catalana. Similar to the neighbouring French crème brulée and our lesser known ‘burnt custard’, this is spiked with cinnamon and lemon flavours and has a satisfying crack to get into it. Not overly sweet or filling after the feast prior this was a perfect end to the meal. And to end a post about Sitges here’s a photo that captures the perfect end to a day there. La Costa Dorada, Playa San Sebastian 27, Sitges

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La Vinya Nova

Some days in life are just pure magic and this weekend’s visit to La Vinya Nova was one of them.

As the bus drops you at the side of the motorway at Collbató it’s difficult to imagine the stunning setting that awaits you. A short wander through the sleepy town brings you to a path which weaves and meanders round the foothills of Montserrat and brings you to the restaurant, a masia or ‘countryhouse’ which lies at its end. I pitied those driving up to La Vinya Nova as in their vehicle they missed out on fully appreciating the powder pink and virginal white blossom, the rows of olive trees, the majestic mountain at almost touching distance and the uninterrupted royal blue sky.

Don’t be tempted along the way to sample one of those olives dangling from the branches of the low lying trees, I’ve already done it for you and can say categorically that they are best left until ripened. Imagine biting into a super sour, acidic blackberry and you’re somewhere near. The sharp aftertaste lingered with me for the remainder of the walk. Your reward for the 45 minute walk is the masia, sat in this wonderful setting. I tried to ignore the car park on our left as we approached closer as it tarnished the beauty of the place but regardless it is a beautiful location. Tables were laid outside, under trees that still bear the leafless signs of winter although the bright, warming sunshine and luminous light made it feel like anything but a mid-February day. Over-ripe tomatoes, garlic and olive oil were laid amongst the place settings ready to make the pa amb tomaquet that accompanies every Catalan meal.

As we waited for all the guests to arrive I wandered alone round the masia to find the calçots being cooked over open coals.

Although we were to eat outside I stumbled across this charming dining room as I ambled around. What a beautiful place to eat on a cold day, log fire blazing and the light streaming in through the window.This being the middle of the calçot season we were here for the calçotada menu to celebrate three birthdays. It was one of lifes simple pleasures to sit in the open air with almost 40 other people, the wine, conversation and laughter flowed, as did a seemingly non-stop succession of plates of food.

Toasted bread came first and was quickly brushed with the cut garlic, a squeeze of tomato, a good glug of olive oil and some salt as we helped ourselves to the plates of crisp, fresh salad, and embutits of ham, fuet and bull blanc.

This was really Catalonia on a plate, especially when a plate of escalivada arrived comprising of roasted peppers and aubergines alongside cold baked potatoes and allioli.

Then came the main star, the calçots, blackened and ready to be ripped from their charred casings, dipped in the romesco sauce and lowered into our mouths without getting those black bits all down our fronts, none of the usual calçotada bibs here.Jeans were already starting to tighten by this point but there was no stopping at that. Huge cassola of veal chops, botifarra and morcilla sausages sat on top of white beans and chickpeas cooked with parlsey appeared on the table.

The beans, drenched in all that meat fat and with the herb were incredibly moreish and what a great combination sausages and beans are. The cutlets, although a little dry in parts also disappeared rapidly.

And still the end wasn’t in sight. For a long, protracted finish we were brought baskets of fresh fruit, for me a clementine which was perfect after the richness of all the meats and then finally something new to me, a plate of carquinyolis, small, hard biscuits with almonds and spiced with cinnamon and lemon which were just amazing when dipped in the moscatell desert wine. A tallat coffee rounded everything off to perfection. It also came with a perfect price, 25€ per head.

As the afternoon wore on and the wine went slowly to our heads, we made our way back the way we came, the sun setting in the distance and Montserrat now bathed in a pink/orange glow.

As a final note, I strongly advise making the trip to Collbató to visit La Vinya Nova. I even more strongly suggest formulating a good plan of how to get back and where to pick up the bus to return to Barcelona. We didn’t. And after getting separated and being slightly fuzzy from the wine we eventually muddled through and made a slight detour through Martorell to get us home. In reality, this did little to dampen the magic of a marvellous day.

La Vinya Nova, at the end of Av de la Vinya Nova, Collbató

How to get there:

Take the Barcelona metro to Maria Cristina. Make sure you are then stood on Diagonal in the direction of traffic going out of the city. Take the bus going to Igualada from here. You need to get off the bus at Collbató. From there follow the map given on the restaurant website.

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Sevillian Cycling Adventures

It was a pleasure to be asked by my friend, Stuart Holliday, to write a guest post for Moonraker Morsels. Stuart has a keen interest in Spain having himself lived in Barcelona for several months in the past and his parents live further south of here in Alicante. Not to be put off after a very eventful journey across the country earlier in 2010 when the Icelandic ash cloud scuppered a friend and his trip home from Morroco, Stuart returned to the peninsula at the latter end of the year, so to kick off 2011 here he shares with us his Andalucian cycling and eating adventures:

“Back in early November, I took myself to the Ronda in Andalucia to start altitude training to help my marathon running for London in April 2011. After a busy couple of months in England, I needed to get some fresh air and stretch the legs and took a route along a triangle from Seville, to Ronda, to Cordoba and back to Seville. I clocked 500 kilometres in 10 days, doing some hard climbs and seeing some stunning scenery.

Where my holiday relates to Moonraker Morsels is the fuel I needed to help me with this mission and to allow myself some pleasure in what I ate along the way. I love Spain and Spanish food and having not spent much time in Andalucia I was looking forward to eating both seasonal and regional food in the South of the country.

After breakfasts of fruit and muesli with stiff coffees, sustinance on my ride of energy gels, some dried fruit or Spanish Opal fruits and occasional lunches of sandwiches I would often stop into a tapas bar for a little re-fuelling. The finest of which was in the town of Setenil, perched high atop a sheer rock face, with beautiful narrow cobbled streets and some fine bars carved into the hard stone. In the Bar Rodriguez I had a dish of pork cooked in a rich red wine sauce that fell apart as you touched it with a knife. With a little bread and a cold coca cola, it immediately replenished me on the second day when I was 75 kilometres into a 100 KM ride.

Pork Dish at Bar Rodriguez

The next day I only rode for 30 KM to visit the beautiful Grazalema where I tried the Andalucian delicacy of fried courgette in honey. Rather like tempura, this was a dish I kept finding on menus wherever I stopped off. I intended to eat as little meat as possible on the trip, which in Spain is not always possible. This is a country who eat the most amount of pork per head in Europe and if you say you’re a vegetarian, you still may be served meat in a ‘vegetarian’ dish.

Plaza in Grazalema

However, I found Andalucia to be better than most other parts of Spain for veggie options. This was the case in Carmona, 30 KM east of Seville, where I had the most amazing chickpea and spinach tapa.

Chickpea & Spinach

Though the photo doesn’t look so appetising, I can tell you this was only €2 and possibly the tastiest thing I had on the trip. Again, I’d had 100 kilometres in the saddle and I managed a further 3 tapa dishes, one of tuna and onions, a slice of potato omelette and a plate of local olives that kept me of sound mind for the night.

I have to guide you to Bar Alfalfa in Seville if you go to this beautiful city.

Alfalfa bar, Seville

As the name suggests, they are veggie friendly, and my friends and I ate an amazing selection of mainly vegetarian dishes. Stunning aubergine marinated in balsamic vinegar, Manchego cheese in a separate dish, goat’s cheese served with pesto.

Aubergine marinated in balsamic vinegar and Manchego cheese.

Goat's cheese and Pesto

All of which were cheap at €3 to €4 and as delicious as the photos allude. It was possible to get typical Spanish hams in Alfalfa. The infamous bellota being the pick of the bunch, from pigs fed on a diet of acorns.

Finally, being November, all of the major towns had locals selling roasted chestnuts, presented to you in rolled up paper cones.

Chestnuts seller, Seville

Cooked in sea salt they were hot and deliciously sweet when opened. This picture was taken in Seville, but chestnuts abound in this part of Spain.”

Bar Rodriguez, C/ Giner de Los Ríos, 7, Setenil

Bar Alfalfa, C/ Candilejo, 1, Seville

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La Crêperie bretonne in beautiful Girona

One of things I love about Barcelona is it’s close proximity and well connected and cheap trains to so many other beautiful towns, countryside and coastline. As I, like many other Barcelonins, have holidays at the moment I’ve been taking advantage of the free time I have and checking out some of these places.

Earlier this week myself and two friends made the hour and a half journey up to Girona. Once again just the train journey alone did not disappoint as we passed through rugged hills with distant mountains, pine forests and rich, green landscape. I could honestly just make a day of taking the train around Catalonia and gazing out of the window.

The main pull to Girona is it’s small, historic town about 10 minutes walk from the railway station.

On the way we dropped one friend at the cinema museum www.museudelcinema.org whilst we carried on across the Onyar river, where we admired the delightful painted residences, to explore the narrow streets, Jewish quarter and the city’s very own ‘great wall’.

The wall, a partial remainder of the city’s fortifications, encompasses half of the historic town and gave us outstanding views of the city, it’s outlying suburbs and the foothills of the Pyrenees in the distance.

We followed the walls for a while, descending from them to enjoy the shaded, park like areas and climbing again until we reached the impressive St Mary’s Cathedral.

Girona's restored city wall

St Mary's Cathedral

The city gave us a feeling that we were more in the southern regions of France than in Spain (and indeed many would argue that we are not in Spain either), it’s winding streets and shops reminiscent of the times I’ve passed through  Montélimar and Perpignan.

It was perhaps apt then that with weary feet, parched throats and hungry bellies that we had lunch at the delightful La Crêperie bretonne (well, I know Brittany is almost 1000 miles away but you get the French connection).

This is probably the most charming cafe I have ever eaten in and despite being a chain, there are also branches in Colliure, Figueres, Valenica, Vigo and luckily for me Barcelona. I was reliable informed by my companion that this Girona cafe is very different from the Barcelona outlet.

The preparation area inside a vintage blue bus draws your attention immediately as you walk in

and the cafe then leads you through a treasure trove of last century’s French advertising boards, vintage tables and chairs, yet another bus (this time the bathroom) and many other delightful objects and nik-naks.

Being lunchtime there was a ‘menu’ option (savoury galette, sweet crêpe and drink for 9.50€), our cinema buff friend had joined us again and as there were three galettes of the day to choose from we plumped for one of each.

Whilst we waited for our order our friend regaled us with details, pictures and videos of his morning at the cinema museum, clearly excited by the number of exhibits of pre-cinema contraptions and moving picture machines and the interactiveness of the displays, he eager to ditch us once again and see the remainder once he’d refueled.

The thin, folded, buckwheat galettes, one of ham, emmental and egg ‘La Complête’,

La Complête

the second with fried potatoes, sausage, bacon, shallots and a bechamel style sauce ‘La Savoyarde’

La Savoyarde

and lastly with spinach, raisins, walnuts and goats cheese ‘La Vegetarienne’, were delicious and deceptively filling.

La Vegetarienne

Luckily we still had space for the sweet crêpes for dessert, this time we were less willing to share and closely guarded the one we had individually ordered, mine with Nutella, my friend’s with chocolate and film guy chose a super-sweet ‘dulce de leche’ type caramel.

Sweet, sweet caramel

An envelope of Nutella

Oh, so chocolatey

We did eventually sacrifice a small corner each so we could sample each others, but they weren’t handed over without a fight.

This really was a lovely place to have lunch. We also saw very generous, mouthwatering looking salads being served and there is a busy terrace outside, although I feel you would definitely miss some of the cafe’s charm being outdoors if this was your first visit.

Satisified and happy, but slightly slower than the morning we headed back out into the afternoon sunshine and finished out respective stroll and muesum visit.

La Crêperie bretonne, Cort Reial 14, Girona – No smoking

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Torres vineyard tour and wine tasting

Under an hour away from Barcelona by train lies the D.O. wine producing region of Penedès, a beautiful area of rolling hills, quaint, historic small towns, vast vineyards and the looming presence of Montserrat in the distance.

Distant Montserrat behind the Penedès landscape

There are a number of wine producers in this area, many of which offer tours and tasting, although not all are easily accessible without a car, hence the reason for choosing Torres for our visit which can be reached by taking the train to Vilafranca del Penedès and a short taxi journey from the station there. Public transport reliant cava lovers can also visit, tour and taste at the cellers of Freixenet a few stops before Vilafranca at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and will be dropped off immediately outside.

There are various tours available at Torres, we chose the Standard Winery Tour and the option to sample a few of the wines, a dessert wine and  brandy to round off the visit.

The tour begins in a mini-cinema with the showing of a film about the family and vineyard history, which set the tone for the light and flowery descriptions used for the vineyard from there on in. We then moved onto the ‘Tunnel of Aromas’, a bizarre room with projected, blurry images of burning vines, grapes and wine production amongst others which were unidentifiable .

The Tunnel of Aromas

These images were accompanied by the ‘aromas’, supposedly the scent of burning vines, followed by spring flowers and then grape juice before fermentation. Unfortunately the acrid scent of the first fragrance masked any chance of picking out the later ones.

In keeping with the somewhat strange experience of this tunnel, we had fantasies of a Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory experience and sightings of Oompah Loompahs when a motorised ‘train’ then arrived to take us around the vineyard. Sadly, they were to remain just fantasies, although bizarre goings on were not confined solely to this tunnel.

The train led us out of the tunnel and onto a tour of the vineyards itself, an automated voice gave us brief information about the site and various buildings we passed, such as the harvest collection area, machinery for separating the grapes from the stems and bottling the vintages.

Harvest collection depot

Machinery to separate the grapes from their stems

The previous bizarre projected images made another appearance as we entered the first of two cellars, this time there were no ‘aromas’ but yet more flowery descriptions of monks creating the first wines, accompanied by their ghostly images projected on the glass of the cellar walls. Personally I would’ve been happier with this information and a view and detail of the said cellar.

Luckily, we were briefly released from the ‘ghost train’ and a real guide took us into the second cellar of the tour, this time providing us with interesting and informative detail about the maturation, storage and sales of the wine. This was the highlight of the tour and overall the whole experience would’ve benefitted from having a real guide, which is available on the VIP tour.

After a brief return to the train we arrived back at the main reception where we had the opportunity to sample some of the Torres creations.

For the tasting there is the option to sample four noble and reserve wines, or one of the prestigious wines and a brandy or dessert wine. We made the most of being a group and got tickets to sample all of these and enjoyed sniffing and slurping the following: the prestigious wines Mas La Plana and Milmanda; the reserve wines Marimar Estate Chardonnay, Santa Digna C.S. Rosé, Atrium Merlot 2008 and Gran Coronas C. B. 2006;

Marimar Estate Chardonnay and Santa Digna C.S. Rosé

the dessert wine Floralis Moscatel and finally the Torres 10 brandy.

Floralis Moscatel and Torres '10' brandy

This is only the second time I’ve been wine tasting and being very unknowledgeable about wines, as with my previous experience I loved having the guidance about flavours and aromas and information about the grapes and production, which always leave me eager to extend my knowledge.

Overall this was a fun afternoon out, in a beautiful location and an interesting ‘taster’ of a wine tour, sadly it just left me craving a more indepth visit and wishing it had had a little more substance. A hint to myself and anyone interested in doing such a tour to maybe choose more than the standard tour in future.

As a final note about Torres, I think it’s worth mentioning and commending them on the steps they are taking to reduce their environmental impact, details of which were mentioned on the tour and futher details of which are on their website http://www.torres.es

Torres vineyard tour, Pacs del Penedès

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‘Lactium’ – Cheese and tranquility in Vic

In  desperate need of a bit of quiet time and with the lure of a celebration of cheese, I took myself off to Vic for the afternoon last Sunday to check out the ‘Lactium’ cheese fair being held there.  The fair was a showcase and opportunity to taste a wide variety of artesan cheese from producers from around Catalonia.

Despite the ominous black clouds looming overhead the rain held off so I was able to enjoy a stroll up and down the vast array of stalls sampling cube after cube of predominantly sheep and goat’s milk cheeses, as well as creamy cheesecakes and delicious yogurts.

The selection was vast and there were far too many producers to list and name here, however all seemed to produce cheeses of outstanding quality, many had won prizes at this and previous events and a huge number were creating products with unpasturised milk. It was also interesting to see equipment that has been used in traditional cheese making in the past.

Having not quite had my fill of cheese I then took the opportunity to sample a taster plate and a glass of wine from the Pla de Bages region that was being offered in the tasting tent.

Seven pieces of cheese, including a delicious soft cheese accompanied by fruit, membrillo, a slice of walnut and sultana bread and the most delicious, fresh almonds and hazlenuts I have ever tasted, with a powerful peppery glass of red alongside. For 5 euros this was the best and cheapest lunch I have had in a long time.

By this time I realised that there’s probably only so much cheese a girl can eat in one day but not wanting to go home empty handed I had to make the incredibly difficult decision of what to choose. In the end I choose the El Cuirol, a strong, tangy, lemony goat’s cheese, slightly tinged with blue on the crust, produced by Formatges Cuirol in La Nou in the moutainous region of Bergueda.

After the cheese bonanza I took a stroll around Vic itself, the surrounding area of pine forests and crags made for a beautiful journey on the train approaching the town. Vic itself has a compact historical centre of narrow and on Sunday deserted cobbled streets and roman remains which were perfect for the Sunday peace I was craving. I particularly loved the enormous, arch bordered square,  roman bridge and temple.

Roman bridge

Roman temple

‘Lactium’ cheese festival, Vic. Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd May.

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