Ribera del Duero
You can choose to take a day trip to Ribera del Duero from Madrid or have us arrange an overnight stay in this lovely wine region. A wine tour here is an exploration of the many expressions of tempranillo that this now high-quality wine-producing region offers. We will show you great wineries and you will enjoy wine tastings along the Duero route plus you will also visit the beautiful, historic town of Segovia to marvel at its impressive Roman aqueduct and quaint streets and plazas.
Important work in front of the barrel-shaped building that is Cair winery
The Duero river gives life to vineyards at many points along its 900 km length from Soria in Spain to Porto in Portugal, where it disgorges into the Atlantic as the Douro. The Ribera wine region has seen the number of vineyards rise to nearly 300 today from just 9 when the region was given DO status in 1982. The area has actually produced wine since the 12th century but was named “wine region of the year” in just 2012 by Wine Enthusiast magazine, so it is only recently receiving international recognition and appearing more on wine lovers’ radar.
Sample Ribera del Duero Tour
Taking a Ribera del Duero tour with us from Madrid means meeting you at your hotel after an early breakfast and transferring you to the small bus we use to travel to the region. After leaving the main highway we will use small country lanes and pass through quaint villages to arrive at our first winery, Dominio de Cair, which you can see has an innovative barrel-shaped atrium.
Cellar air shafts for the Val Sotillo winery 
Try different barrel toast levels at Cair
This winery is a modern new-build and fairly high-tech with nicely developed infrastructure for visitors’ enjoyment. The tasting you see below is designed to show you the results of French and American oak on Tempranillo (a.k.a. Tinto Fino). This oak exercise is fun and instructive; you can also feel the differences in oak texture with stave samples and you can see the varying levels of toast that barrels are subjected to. The wine is very nice too FYI!
As with most of the wineries in this area, Dominio de Cair has some old vines, 60 to 100-year-old vineyards are being used in many of their wines. The oldest vineyards with low yields are being selected only for premium lines such as grand reserve and special creations by the winemakers. But even some of the ready-to-drink-now table wines are often produced from vines which are over 40 years old.
The very well respected Protos winery is the most visited in Ribera del Duero
After we have enjoyed our tour and tasting at Dominio de Cair we will wind our way through the rolling countryside of Ribera del Duero for 20 minutes or so until we arrive at the Val Sotillo winery. At this historic Ismael Arroyo winery, you will be shown around by one of the Arroyo family. The first thing that you will notice on arrival are the chimneys on the hillside which provide ventilation for the underground cellars, some of which are 30 meters under the surface.
Ramon Arroyo is the current owner-manager, as his influential winemaker father sadly passed away recently at the ripe old age of 88. Ramon will proudly show you around his extensive underground cellars first. Opening an old, rickety door in the hillside he will lead you deep inside the earth, many of our clients will have to bend down in some places. Old equipment and huge disused barrels are on show along with their impressive current stock of the “normal” 225-liter barrels. We will walk the tunnels lined with oak and bottles and hear the stories of how wine has been made here for hundreds of years.
Facebook album of our Ribera del Duero trip
We will then try this historic wine which is now garnering awards and high scores in many quarters, we will taste a few examples from the Val Sotillo portfolio before driving to a local restaurant for some lunch (and a glass or two of the wine of course).
After a hearty lunch in a local, non-touristy restaurant we will have the chance for one more winery on our Ribera del Duero tour schedule, and what a view it has. The Legaris winery has a view of the spectacular Peñafiel Castle from the terrace. This beautifully restored 11th-century castle serves as a lovely backdrop as you taste excellent wine, basking in the Ribera del Duero sunshine.
Legaris has been designed in a minimalist style and is surrounded by its own vineyards. After a tour of the production area, learning even more about Ribera del Duero wine, we will enjoy a tasting of 3 wines which will show us the differences between several wine qualities. After we say goodbye to Legaris we will drive around 45 minutes to the historic town of Segovia. The main attraction here is the famous Roman aqueduct. As you drive in you will see the impressive cathedral, huge city walls and arriving in the town center the size of the aqueduct will astound you.
We will visit the impressive Roman aqueduct in Segovia on our way back
Here we will let you wander around for 45 minutes or so and we recommend you walk the winding streets from the aqueduct up to the “Plaza Mayor” main square. You will see plenty of historic buildings on this 10-minute stroll up to the square and the main square itself is surrounded by impressive structures which include the huge cathedral.
After our time in Segovia, we head back to Madrid where we drop you off at your hotel. You will have a free night in the old center and if you are traveling somewhere with us tomorrow we will leave you with instructions on your pick up time for tomorrow.
While we are in Ribera del Duero we are only 90 minutes drive from La Rioja. So instead of going back to Madrid why not add a couple of days in Spain’s most famous wine region? We can easily arrange a combo trip where we drive you 90 minutes north at the end of today so you can continue your Spanish wine exploration and enjoy many more expressions of tempranillo.
