TRAVEL REPORTS
by Shirley Cuesta
VISIT TO GANDIA WINERY - 5th October 2007
The wine tasting trip on 5th October took us to the bodega of Vicente Gandia at Hoya de Cadenas near Utiel. We arrived there by a circuitous route as the map provided by the winery did not show all the little dirt track roads which we had to navigate. We did get to see a lot of vineyards though.
This winery is the largest in the Valencian area and one of the oldest. The founder of the dynasty, Vicente Gandia Pla, began shipping wines from the port of Valencia in 1885. The company moved on to making and shipping wines in bulk and in 1971 began to bottle wines under the brand name of Castillo de Liria. They purchased the historic winery and vineyards of Hoya de Cadenas and went on to produce many new blends, the latest being the Viejas Bobal, launched in October 2006. The Bobal grape is Utiel-Requena´s flagship varietal.
We visited the old finca and then went on to the actual wine processing plant before trying out the different wines. Many of our group did stock up on a few of these offers.
We had an excellent lunch in Utiel and then a brief stop at Requena. La Vila is the medieval heart of the town, some of the original walls of the castle still stand.. The warren of little streets are above a labyrinth of caves. Some of us found the carniceria of Emilio with its award winning sausages. There the old men sat on a bench drinking wine whilst their wives discussed the various sausages with the owner before making their purchases. This little town is well worth another visit.
Shirley Cuesta
Photographs by Robin Garbett
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