This is a sample itinerary for our Wine and Chocolate Tours from Barcelona.
Final itinerary and timings might vary due to many factors (cellar availability, traffic conditions, your location and pace, your main interests…)
9AM
- TOUR STARTS
DRIVE TO THE PENEDES COUNTY
Getting out of the city
- Drive
Have your private guide and a dedicated driver pick you up for a nice ride along the Llobregat river, beyond the Barcelona suburbs and across an industrial valley all the way to the Penedès Wine Country. During the ride, your guide can start filling you up about what you’ll see and do during your tour, or you can just take the opportunity to make questions about any other thing you are interested about: our local history, politics, economy, or simple get recommendations on where to go for dinner, shopping or for more sightseeing.
After passing the highway toll, the landscape changes and you can get a glance of the mountain of Montserrat rising in the distance, while the first vineyards start appearing along the road. You’ll be soon arriving to the village where cava (the Catalan sparkling wine that rivals with champagne) was born.
10AM
- Arrive to the cellar
WINE CELLAR
Visit & Tasting
1.5 hours
- Walk
Wine has been produced in our area already since the Roman times 2000 years ago, and the Penedès county was leading in incorporating new ideas to its production during the time of the industrial revolution. The phylloxera plague having destroyed the French crops gave the opportunity to our local cellars to develop and grow, but it’s been during the last couple of decades that the young generations have gone for quality and authenticity instead of cheap production.
The Penedès Wine Country is where over 90% of the Spanish sparkling wine is produced, and in this area almost every family is somehow related to wine making. You’ll be taken to a family-owned cellar where you’ll learn the history of the family and the cellar, as well as visit their wine making facilities where you’ll learn everything about how cava is made. If you are lucky, you might even cross the grand-father of the family, that still likes to check out how the business goes every day. The visit ends, of course, with a tasting of their specialties.
11.30AM
- Drive to the chocolate factory
CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Visit & Tasting
11.45AM
- Walk
Cacao was used considered a luxury product by the Aztecs, a food of the Gods and even a payment method such as gold, and it remained a luxury when it first arrived to Europe after the discovery of America. Companies like the one you’ll be visiting helped making cacao available to a larger portion of the population while still caring for the product and its quality.
In the center of the village stands this family-owned chocolate factory open since 1840 that is now a great example of the combination of old and modern: traditional recipes that are now enhanced with the use of the newest technologies. The visit includes a spectacular video show in giant screens that teaches you how chocolate was discovered and how it evolved to be what it is nowadays, and also tell you about the history of the company, one of the oldest in Catalonia. They’ll explain you how cocoa is processed, show you the lab where they prepare their new creations, and you’ll be able to taste some of their products and compare between different types of chocolates. You’ll also have some time for shopping at their shop (and the best part is that there are free samples also there!). It’s a visit suitable for adults as much as kids – although kids, of course, are considered VIP guests here!
1PM
- Drive
DRIVE BACK TO BARCELONA
Getting out of the city
- Drive
After the visit, you’ll drive back to Barcelona. Isn’t it nice to have a private driver to drive you back, so you don’t have to worry about having too much wine?
Enjoy the ride back to Barcelona commenting the day and asking your guide any other questions you might have or recommendations you might need for the rest of your stay. Or simply lay back and relax!
2PM
- TOUR ENDS